Overall
Diff -21.9 RPP
Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim vs Des Moines-West Des Moines
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Des Moines-West Des Moines is 19.3% less expensive than Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim.
19.3% less expensive
Des Moines-West Des Moines, IA is 19.3% less expensive than Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 91.7 vs 113.6). A $100,000 salary in Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim buys about the same as $80,747 in Des Moines-West Des Moines; the largest component gap is rents.
- Overall RPP 113.6 (Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim) vs 91.7 (Des Moines-West Des Moines)
- $100k in Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim ≈ $80,747 purchasing power in Des Moines-West Des Moines
- Rents drives the gap (-85.7 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair CA:IA 113.6→91.7
TIER-GAP · CROSS-STATE · RENT-LED · BENCH-CROSS · PP-STEEP
- TIER-GAP Clear tier gap
- CROSS-STATE CA × IA
- RENT-LED Rent-led gap
- BENCH-CROSS Benchmark cross
- PP-STEEP Steep PP convert
Instrument codes from this pair's BEA Regional Price Parities (overall · goods · services · rents · national benchmark 100 · purchasing-power conversion), not a ranking or recommendation.
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim would need to be in Des Moines-West Des Moines for the same purchasing power:
| In Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim | In Des Moines-West Des Moines | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $40,373 | $-9,627 |
| $75,000 | $60,560 | $-14,440 |
| $100,000 | $80,747 | $-19,253 |
| $150,000 | $121,120 | $-28,880 |
$ in Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim = in Des Moines-West Des Moines
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (113.6 → 91.7), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA and Des Moines-West Des Moines, IA sit in clearly different price tiers, separated by 21.9 RPP points. At this distance, treating the same nominal salary as equivalent would materially change purchasing power.
This route crosses the national benchmark: Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim is above 100 while Des Moines-West Des Moines is below it. That makes the move a change of price regime, not merely a rank swap.
Rents leads the difference, with Des Moines-West Des Moines 85.7 points lower than Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim. Goods, services, and rents all point in the same broad direction, making the headline comparison more transferable across household types.
Comparable population context is incomplete for this pair, so no market-scale explanation is inferred from the price indexes.
For a housing-sensitive move, validate the rent gap first: HUD Fair Market Rent and the actual unit size can overturn what the blended index implies. On the BEA ratio alone, $100,000 in Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim corresponds to $80,747 in Des Moines-West Des Moines.
Category Breakdown
Goods
Diff -12.9 RPP
Services
Diff -74.0 RPP
Rents
Diff -85.7 RPP
| Category | Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim | Des Moines-West Des Moines | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 113.6 | 91.7 | -21.9 |
| Goods | 106.6 | 93.7 | -12.9 |
| Services | 158.6 | 84.6 | -74.0 |
| Rents | 170.4 | 84.7 | -85.7 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim 113.6
Des Moines-West Des Moines 91.7
Goods
Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim 106.6
Des Moines-West Des Moines 93.7
Services
Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim 158.6
Des Moines-West Des Moines 84.6
Rents
Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim 170.4
Des Moines-West Des Moines 84.7
Vertical line = national average (100)
Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim
113.6
Cost Index
Des Moines-West Des Moines
91.7
Cost Index
How the Price Gap Changed
Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim and Des Moines-West Des Moines share 17 published annual releases from 2008 through 2024. Their overall gap widened, moving from 18.2 to 21.9 RPP points. Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim remained the higher-index metro in the latest release.
Services changed the most within this pair: its gap moved 46.7 points between the first and latest shared releases (27.3 to 74.0 points). This describes a relative price-index history, not a forecast or a household budget.
| Release Year | Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim RPP | Des Moines-West Des Moines RPP | Relative Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 113.3 | 95.1 | 18.2 points Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim higher |
| 2012 | 112.1 | 95.5 | 16.6 points Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim higher |
| 2016 | 111.3 | 94.6 | 16.7 points Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim higher |
| 2020 | 113.9 | 93.8 | 20.1 points Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim higher |
| 2024 | 113.6 | 91.7 | 21.9 points Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim higher |
Annual BEA Regional Price Parity releases; a higher index means a higher price level relative to the national average of 100. Selected years shown from the full shared series.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Des Moines-West Des Moines more expensive than Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim?
Des Moines-West Des Moines is 19.3% less expensive than Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim. The overall cost index is 91.7 vs 113.6 (national average = 100).
What salary in Des Moines-West Des Moines equals $100K in Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim?
A $100,000 salary in Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim has the same purchasing power as $80,747 in Des Moines-West Des Moines. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim and Des Moines-West Des Moines?
Rents in Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim are indexed at 170.4 while Des Moines-West Des Moines is at 84.7 (national average = 100). Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim has higher rents.
Data sources
- BEA Regional Price Parities (RPP), the cost-of-living indices shown on this page
- U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey (ACS), gross-rent observations behind the rents component
- BLS Consumer Price Index (CPI), goods and services price relatives
- BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS), labor-driven services component
- HUD Fair Market Rents (FMR), 40th-percentile rent cross-reference
Every figure on PlainCost is rendered directly from BEA Regional Price Parity source data, no number is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, our changelog, or report a data error. Data current as of 2026-08-11. Rankings measure the published cost-of-living index only; we don't recommend where to live or rate any metro's quality of life.