Overall
Diff -10.9 RPP
Merced vs Dubuque
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Dubuque is 11.1% less expensive than Merced.
11.1% less expensive
Dubuque, IA is 11.1% less expensive than Merced, CA on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 87.3 vs 98.3). A $100,000 salary in Merced buys about the same as $88,861 in Dubuque; the largest component gap is services.
- Overall RPP 98.3 (Merced) vs 87.3 (Dubuque)
- $100k in Merced ≈ $88,861 purchasing power in Dubuque
- Services drives the gap (-77.1 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair CA:IA 98.3→87.3
TIER-GAP · CROSS-STATE · SERVICES-LED · BOTH-BELOW · PP-SHIFT
- TIER-GAP Clear tier gap
- CROSS-STATE CA × IA
- SERVICES-LED Services-led gap
- BOTH-BELOW Both below 100
- PP-SHIFT PP shift
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.
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Both metros remain below the U.S. benchmark of 100. This comparison chooses between two below-average price levels; “more expensive” here does not mean nationally expensive.
Merced, CA and Dubuque, IA sit in clearly different price tiers, separated by 10.9 RPP points. At this distance, treating the same nominal salary as equivalent would materially change purchasing power.
Services leads the difference, with Dubuque 77.1 points lower than Merced. 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 service-heavy household, test childcare, health, and other locally supplied costs before relying on rent alone. The BEA ratio converts $100,000 in Merced to $88,861 in Dubuque, but it is not a personal spending weight.
How the Price Gap Changed
Merced and Dubuque share 17 published annual releases from 2008 through 2024. Their overall gap widened, moving from 0.8 to 10.9 RPP points. Merced remained the higher-index metro in the latest release.
Services changed the most within this pair: its gap moved 65.2 points between the first and latest shared releases (11.9 to 77.1 points). This describes a relative price-index history, not a forecast or a household budget.
| Release Year | Merced RPP | Dubuque RPP | Relative Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 94.3 | 93.4 | 0.8 points Merced higher |
| 2012 | 98.6 | 91.8 | 6.8 points Merced higher |
| 2016 | 95.3 | 91.2 | 4.1 points Merced higher |
| 2020 | 98.7 | 89.8 | 9.0 points Merced higher |
| 2024 | 98.3 | 87.3 | 10.9 points Merced 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.
Category Breakdown
Goods
Diff -11.4 RPP
Services
Diff -77.1 RPP
Rents
Diff -14.6 RPP
| Category | Merced | Dubuque | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 98.3 | 87.3 | -10.9 |
| Goods | 105.2 | 93.7 | -11.4 |
| Services | 158.3 | 81.2 | -77.1 |
| Rents | 78.6 | 64.0 | -14.6 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Merced 98.3
Dubuque 87.3
Goods
Merced 105.2
Dubuque 93.7
Services
Merced 158.3
Dubuque 81.2
Rents
Merced 78.6
Dubuque 64.0
Vertical line = national average (100)
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in Merced would need to be in Dubuque for the same purchasing power:
| In Merced | In Dubuque | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $44,430 | $-5,570 |
| $75,000 | $66,646 | $-8,354 |
| $100,000 | $88,861 | $-11,139 |
| $150,000 | $133,291 | $-16,709 |
$ in Merced = in Dubuque
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (98.3 → 87.3), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
Merced
98.3
Cost Index
Dubuque
87.3
Cost Index
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Dubuque more expensive than Merced?
Dubuque is 11.1% less expensive than Merced. The overall cost index is 87.3 vs 98.3 (national average = 100).
What salary in Dubuque equals $100K in Merced?
A $100,000 salary in Merced has the same purchasing power as $88,861 in Dubuque. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Merced and Dubuque?
Rents in Merced are indexed at 78.6 while Dubuque is at 64.0 (national average = 100). Merced 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.