Overall
- Sierra Vista-Douglas
- 89.2
- Cedar Rapids
- 89.0
Diff -0.3 RPP
Sierra Vista-Douglas vs Cedar Rapids
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Cedar Rapids is 0.3% less expensive than Sierra Vista-Douglas.
0.3% less expensive
Cedar Rapids, IA is 0.3% less expensive than Sierra Vista-Douglas, AZ on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 89.0 vs 89.2). A $100,000 salary in Sierra Vista-Douglas buys about the same as $99,686 in Cedar Rapids; the largest component gap is rents.
- Overall RPP 89.2 (Sierra Vista-Douglas) vs 89.0 (Cedar Rapids)
- $100k in Sierra Vista-Douglas ≈ $99,686 purchasing power in Cedar Rapids
- Rents drives the gap (+9.5 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair AZ:IA 89.2→89.0
PHOTO-FINISH · CROSS-STATE · SPLIT-BUDGET · BOTH-BELOW · PP-PAR
- PHOTO-FINISH Photo finish
- CROSS-STATE AZ × IA
- SPLIT-BUDGET Split budget
- BOTH-BELOW Both below 100
- PP-PAR PP near-par
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.
Sierra Vista-Douglas
89.2
Cost Index
Cedar Rapids
89.0
Cost Index
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Sierra Vista-Douglas, AZ and Cedar Rapids, IA are a photo finish on overall price level, only 0.3 RPP points apart. A salary conversion is therefore a fine adjustment, not evidence of a fundamentally different cost regime.
Rents creates the largest separation: Cedar Rapids is 9.5 points higher. But rents move against the overall direction, so this is a split budget rather than a clean across-the-board winner.
Comparable population context is incomplete for this pair, so no market-scale explanation is inferred from the price indexes.
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.
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 Sierra Vista-Douglas corresponds to $99,686 in Cedar Rapids.
Category Breakdown
Goods
- Sierra Vista-Douglas
- 96.2
- Cedar Rapids
- 93.7
Diff -2.5 RPP
Services
- Sierra Vista-Douglas
- 91.9
- Cedar Rapids
- 84.0
Diff -8.0 RPP
Rents
- Sierra Vista-Douglas
- 61.9
- Cedar Rapids
- 71.4
Diff +9.5 RPP
| Category | Sierra Vista-Douglas | Cedar Rapids | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 89.2 | 89.0 | -0.3 |
| Goods | 96.2 | 93.7 | -2.5 |
| Services | 91.9 | 84.0 | -8.0 |
| Rents | 61.9 | 71.4 | +9.5 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Sierra Vista-Douglas 89.2
Cedar Rapids 89.0
Goods
Sierra Vista-Douglas 96.2
Cedar Rapids 93.7
Services
Sierra Vista-Douglas 91.9
Cedar Rapids 84.0
Rents
Sierra Vista-Douglas 61.9
Cedar Rapids 71.4
Vertical line = national average (100)
How the Price Gap Changed
Sierra Vista-Douglas and Cedar Rapids share 17 published annual releases from 2008 through 2024. Their overall gap held broadly steady, moving from 0.9 to 0.3 RPP points. Sierra Vista-Douglas remained the higher-index metro in the latest release.
Services changed the most within this pair: its gap moved 10.5 points between the first and latest shared releases (2.5 to 8.0 points). This describes a relative price-index history, not a forecast or a household budget.
| Release Year | Sierra Vista-Douglas RPP | Cedar Rapids RPP | Relative Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 93.8 | 92.9 | 0.9 points Sierra Vista-Douglas higher |
| 2012 | 93.5 | 93.7 | 0.2 points Cedar Rapids higher |
| 2016 | 93.0 | 91.1 | 1.8 points Sierra Vista-Douglas higher |
| 2020 | 88.5 | 91.2 | 2.7 points Cedar Rapids higher |
| 2024 | 89.2 | 89.0 | 0.3 points Sierra Vista-Douglas 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.
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in Sierra Vista-Douglas would need to be in Cedar Rapids for the same purchasing power:
| In Sierra Vista-Douglas | In Cedar Rapids | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $49,843 | $-157 |
| $75,000 | $74,765 | $-235 |
| $100,000 | $99,686 | $-314 |
| $150,000 | $149,529 | $-471 |
$ in Sierra Vista-Douglas = in Cedar Rapids
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (89.2 → 89.0), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Cedar Rapids more expensive than Sierra Vista-Douglas?
Cedar Rapids is 0.3% less expensive than Sierra Vista-Douglas. The overall cost index is 89.0 vs 89.2 (national average = 100).
What salary in Cedar Rapids equals $100K in Sierra Vista-Douglas?
A $100,000 salary in Sierra Vista-Douglas has the same purchasing power as $99,686 in Cedar Rapids. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Sierra Vista-Douglas and Cedar Rapids?
Rents in Sierra Vista-Douglas are indexed at 61.9 while Cedar Rapids is at 71.4 (national average = 100). Cedar Rapids 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.