Overall
- Iowa City
- 91.5
Diff -6.7 RPP
Prescott Valley-Prescott vs Iowa City
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Iowa City is 6.9% less expensive than Prescott Valley-Prescott.
6.9% less expensive
Iowa City, IA is 6.9% less expensive than Prescott Valley-Prescott, AZ on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 91.5 vs 98.3). A $100,000 salary in Prescott Valley-Prescott buys about the same as $93,134 in Iowa City; the largest component gap is rents.
- Overall RPP 98.3 (Prescott Valley-Prescott) vs 91.5 (Iowa City)
- $100k in Prescott Valley-Prescott ≈ $93,134 purchasing power in Iowa City
- Rents drives the gap (-14.8 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair AZ:IA 98.3→91.5
TIER-NEAR · CROSS-STATE · RENT-LED · BOTH-BELOW · PP-SHIFT
- TIER-NEAR Near tier
- CROSS-STATE AZ × IA
- RENT-LED Rent-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.
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in Prescott Valley-Prescott would need to be in Iowa City for the same purchasing power:
| In Prescott Valley-Prescott | In Iowa City | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $46,567 | $-3,433 |
| $75,000 | $69,851 | $-5,149 |
| $100,000 | $93,134 | $-6,866 |
| $150,000 | $139,701 | $-10,299 |
$ in Prescott Valley-Prescott = in Iowa City
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (98.3 → 91.5), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
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.
Iowa City, IA is 6.9% less expensive than Prescott Valley-Prescott, AZ, a meaningful but not extreme shift. The move decision turns on which budget category creates the 6.7-point overall gap.
Rents leads the difference, with Iowa City 14.8 points lower than Prescott Valley-Prescott. 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 Prescott Valley-Prescott corresponds to $93,134 in Iowa City.
Category Breakdown
Goods
- Iowa City
- 93.7
Diff -2.5 RPP
Services
- Iowa City
- 83.7
Diff -7.8 RPP
Rents
- Iowa City
- 84.0
Diff -14.8 RPP
| Category | Prescott Valley-Prescott | Iowa City | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 98.3 | 91.5 | -6.7 |
| Goods | 96.2 | 93.7 | -2.5 |
| Services | 91.5 | 83.7 | -7.8 |
| Rents | 98.8 | 84.0 | -14.8 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Prescott Valley-Prescott 98.3
Iowa City 91.5
Goods
Prescott Valley-Prescott 96.2
Iowa City 93.7
Services
Prescott Valley-Prescott 91.5
Iowa City 83.7
Rents
Prescott Valley-Prescott 98.8
Iowa City 84.0
Vertical line = national average (100)
Prescott Valley-Prescott
98.3
Cost Index
Iowa City
91.5
Cost Index
How the Price Gap Changed
Prescott Valley-Prescott and Iowa City share 17 published annual releases from 2008 through 2024. Their overall gap held broadly steady, moving from 7.3 to 6.7 RPP points. Prescott Valley-Prescott remained the higher-index metro in the latest release.
Services changed the most within this pair: its gap moved 11.6 points between the first and latest shared releases (3.8 to 7.8 points). This describes a relative price-index history, not a forecast or a household budget.
| Release Year | Prescott Valley-Prescott RPP | Iowa City RPP | Relative Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 103.0 | 95.7 | 7.3 points Prescott Valley-Prescott higher |
| 2012 | 96.5 | 96.5 | 0.1 points Prescott Valley-Prescott higher |
| 2016 | 98.6 | 95.4 | 3.2 points Prescott Valley-Prescott higher |
| 2020 | 93.2 | 95.6 | 2.4 points Iowa City higher |
| 2024 | 98.3 | 91.5 | 6.7 points Prescott Valley-Prescott 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 Iowa City more expensive than Prescott Valley-Prescott?
Iowa City is 6.9% less expensive than Prescott Valley-Prescott. The overall cost index is 91.5 vs 98.3 (national average = 100).
What salary in Iowa City equals $100K in Prescott Valley-Prescott?
A $100,000 salary in Prescott Valley-Prescott has the same purchasing power as $93,134 in Iowa City. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Prescott Valley-Prescott and Iowa City?
Rents in Prescott Valley-Prescott are indexed at 98.8 while Iowa City is at 84.0 (national average = 100). Prescott Valley-Prescott 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.