Overall
- St. Joseph
- 86.4
- Waterloo-Cedar Falls
- 87.1
Diff +0.7 RPP
St. Joseph vs Waterloo-Cedar Falls
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Waterloo-Cedar Falls is 0.8% more expensive than St. Joseph.
0.8% more expensive
Waterloo-Cedar Falls, IA is 0.8% more expensive than St. Joseph, MO-KS on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 87.1 vs 86.4). A $100,000 salary in St. Joseph buys about the same as $100,781 in Waterloo-Cedar Falls; the largest component gap is rents.
- Overall RPP 86.4 (St. Joseph) vs 87.1 (Waterloo-Cedar Falls)
- $100k in St. Joseph ≈ $100,781 purchasing power in Waterloo-Cedar Falls
- Rents drives the gap (+7.8 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair MO:IA 86.4→87.1
PHOTO-FINISH · CROSS-STATE · SPLIT-BUDGET · BOTH-BELOW · PP-PAR
- PHOTO-FINISH Photo finish
- CROSS-STATE MO × 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.
St. Joseph
86.4
Cost Index
Waterloo-Cedar Falls
87.1
Cost Index
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
St. Joseph, MO-KS and Waterloo-Cedar Falls, IA are a photo finish on overall price level, only 0.7 RPP points apart. A salary conversion is therefore a fine adjustment, not evidence of a fundamentally different cost regime.
Rents creates the largest separation: Waterloo-Cedar Falls is 7.8 points higher. But services and 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 St. Joseph corresponds to $100,781 in Waterloo-Cedar Falls.
Category Breakdown
Goods
- St. Joseph
- 94.2
- Waterloo-Cedar Falls
- 93.7
Diff -0.5 RPP
Services
- St. Joseph
- 88.3
- Waterloo-Cedar Falls
- 83.7
Diff -4.6 RPP
Rents
- St. Joseph
- 55.4
- Waterloo-Cedar Falls
- 63.1
Diff +7.8 RPP
| Category | St. Joseph | Waterloo-Cedar Falls | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 86.4 | 87.1 | +0.7 |
| Goods | 94.2 | 93.7 | -0.5 |
| Services | 88.3 | 83.7 | -4.6 |
| Rents | 55.4 | 63.1 | +7.8 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
St. Joseph 86.4
Waterloo-Cedar Falls 87.1
Goods
St. Joseph 94.2
Waterloo-Cedar Falls 93.7
Services
St. Joseph 88.3
Waterloo-Cedar Falls 83.7
Rents
St. Joseph 55.4
Waterloo-Cedar Falls 63.1
Vertical line = national average (100)
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in St. Joseph would need to be in Waterloo-Cedar Falls for the same purchasing power:
| In St. Joseph | In Waterloo-Cedar Falls | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $50,391 | +$391 |
| $75,000 | $75,586 | +$586 |
| $100,000 | $100,781 | +$781 |
| $150,000 | $151,172 | +$1,172 |
$ in St. Joseph = in Waterloo-Cedar Falls
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (86.4 → 87.1), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Waterloo-Cedar Falls more expensive than St. Joseph?
Waterloo-Cedar Falls is 0.8% more expensive than St. Joseph. The overall cost index is 87.1 vs 86.4 (national average = 100).
What salary in Waterloo-Cedar Falls equals $100K in St. Joseph?
A $100,000 salary in St. Joseph has the same purchasing power as $100,781 in Waterloo-Cedar Falls. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between St. Joseph and Waterloo-Cedar Falls?
Rents in St. Joseph are indexed at 55.4 while Waterloo-Cedar Falls is at 63.1 (national average = 100). Waterloo-Cedar Falls 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.