Overall
- Sioux City
- 86.5
- Paducah
- 86.1
Diff -0.4 RPP
Sioux City vs Paducah
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Paducah is 0.4% less expensive than Sioux City.
0.4% less expensive
Paducah, KY-IL is 0.4% less expensive than Sioux City, IA-NE-SD on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 86.1 vs 86.5). A $100,000 salary in Sioux City buys about the same as $99,572 in Paducah; the largest component gap is rents.
- Overall RPP 86.5 (Sioux City) vs 86.1 (Paducah)
- $100k in Sioux City ≈ $99,572 purchasing power in Paducah
- Rents drives the gap (-9.1 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair IA:KY 86.5→86.1
PHOTO-FINISH · CROSS-STATE · SPLIT-BUDGET · BOTH-BELOW · PP-PAR
- PHOTO-FINISH Photo finish
- CROSS-STATE IA × KY
- 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.
Sioux City
86.5
Cost Index
Paducah
86.1
Cost Index
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Sioux City, IA-NE-SD and Paducah, KY-IL are a photo finish on overall price level, only 0.4 RPP points apart. A salary conversion is therefore a fine adjustment, not evidence of a fundamentally different cost regime.
Rents creates the largest separation: Paducah is 9.1 points lower. But goods 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 Sioux City corresponds to $99,572 in Paducah.
Category Breakdown
Goods
- Sioux City
- 94.0
- Paducah
- 96.0
Diff +2.0 RPP
Services
- Sioux City
- 82.7
- Paducah
- 76.9
Diff -5.8 RPP
Rents
- Sioux City
- 57.8
- Paducah
- 48.8
Diff -9.1 RPP
| Category | Sioux City | Paducah | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 86.5 | 86.1 | -0.4 |
| Goods | 94.0 | 96.0 | +2.0 |
| Services | 82.7 | 76.9 | -5.8 |
| Rents | 57.8 | 48.8 | -9.1 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Sioux City 86.5
Paducah 86.1
Goods
Sioux City 94.0
Paducah 96.0
Services
Sioux City 82.7
Paducah 76.9
Rents
Sioux City 57.8
Paducah 48.8
Vertical line = national average (100)
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in Sioux City would need to be in Paducah for the same purchasing power:
| In Sioux City | In Paducah | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $49,786 | $-214 |
| $75,000 | $74,679 | $-321 |
| $100,000 | $99,572 | $-428 |
| $150,000 | $149,358 | $-642 |
$ in Sioux City = in Paducah
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (86.5 → 86.1), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Paducah more expensive than Sioux City?
Paducah is 0.4% less expensive than Sioux City. The overall cost index is 86.1 vs 86.5 (national average = 100).
What salary in Paducah equals $100K in Sioux City?
A $100,000 salary in Sioux City has the same purchasing power as $99,572 in Paducah. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Sioux City and Paducah?
Rents in Sioux City are indexed at 57.8 while Paducah is at 48.8 (national average = 100). Sioux 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.