Overall
Diff -20.9 RPP
New York-Newark-Jersey City vs Des Moines-West Des Moines
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Des Moines-West Des Moines is 18.5% less expensive than New York-Newark-Jersey City.
18.5% less expensive
Des Moines-West Des Moines, IA is 18.5% less expensive than New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 91.7 vs 112.6). A $100,000 salary in New York-Newark-Jersey City buys about the same as $81,466 in Des Moines-West Des Moines; the largest component gap is rents.
- Overall RPP 112.6 (New York-Newark-Jersey City) vs 91.7 (Des Moines-West Des Moines)
- $100k in New York-Newark-Jersey City ≈ $81,466 purchasing power in Des Moines-West Des Moines
- Rents drives the gap (-63.9 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair NY:IA 112.6→91.7
TIER-GAP · CROSS-STATE · RENT-LED · BENCH-CROSS · PP-STEEP
- TIER-GAP Clear tier gap
- CROSS-STATE NY × 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 New York-Newark-Jersey City would need to be in Des Moines-West Des Moines for the same purchasing power:
| In New York-Newark-Jersey City | In Des Moines-West Des Moines | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $40,733 | $-9,267 |
| $75,000 | $61,100 | $-13,900 |
| $100,000 | $81,466 | $-18,534 |
| $150,000 | $122,200 | $-27,800 |
$ in New York-Newark-Jersey City = in Des Moines-West Des Moines
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (112.6 → 91.7), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ and Des Moines-West Des Moines, IA sit in clearly different price tiers, separated by 20.9 RPP points. At this distance, treating the same nominal salary as equivalent would materially change purchasing power.
This route crosses the national benchmark: New York-Newark-Jersey City 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 63.9 points lower than New York-Newark-Jersey City. 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 New York-Newark-Jersey City corresponds to $81,466 in Des Moines-West Des Moines.
Category Breakdown
Goods
Diff -16.5 RPP
Services
Diff -42.4 RPP
Rents
Diff -63.9 RPP
| Category | New York-Newark-Jersey City | Des Moines-West Des Moines | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 112.6 | 91.7 | -20.9 |
| Goods | 110.3 | 93.7 | -16.5 |
| Services | 127.0 | 84.6 | -42.4 |
| Rents | 148.6 | 84.7 | -63.9 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
New York-Newark-Jersey City 112.6
Des Moines-West Des Moines 91.7
Goods
New York-Newark-Jersey City 110.3
Des Moines-West Des Moines 93.7
Services
New York-Newark-Jersey City 127.0
Des Moines-West Des Moines 84.6
Rents
New York-Newark-Jersey City 148.6
Des Moines-West Des Moines 84.7
Vertical line = national average (100)
New York-Newark-Jersey City
112.6
Cost Index
Des Moines-West Des Moines
91.7
Cost Index
How the Price Gap Changed
New York-Newark-Jersey City and Des Moines-West Des Moines share 17 published annual releases from 2008 through 2024. Their overall gap widened, moving from 18.3 to 20.9 RPP points. New York-Newark-Jersey City remained the higher-index metro in the latest release.
Rents changed the most within this pair: its gap moved 20.7 points between the first and latest shared releases (84.5 to 63.9 points). This describes a relative price-index history, not a forecast or a household budget.
| Release Year | New York-Newark-Jersey City RPP | Des Moines-West Des Moines RPP | Relative Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 113.5 | 95.1 | 18.3 points New York-Newark-Jersey City higher |
| 2012 | 113.8 | 95.5 | 18.3 points New York-Newark-Jersey City higher |
| 2016 | 113.7 | 94.6 | 19.1 points New York-Newark-Jersey City higher |
| 2020 | 115.6 | 93.8 | 21.8 points New York-Newark-Jersey City higher |
| 2024 | 112.6 | 91.7 | 20.9 points New York-Newark-Jersey City 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 New York-Newark-Jersey City?
Des Moines-West Des Moines is 18.5% less expensive than New York-Newark-Jersey City. The overall cost index is 91.7 vs 112.6 (national average = 100).
What salary in Des Moines-West Des Moines equals $100K in New York-Newark-Jersey City?
A $100,000 salary in New York-Newark-Jersey City has the same purchasing power as $81,466 in Des Moines-West Des Moines. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between New York-Newark-Jersey City and Des Moines-West Des Moines?
Rents in New York-Newark-Jersey City are indexed at 148.6 while Des Moines-West Des Moines is at 84.7 (national average = 100). New York-Newark-Jersey City 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.