Overall
- Waterloo-Cedar Falls
- 87.1
- Dubuque
- 87.3
Diff +0.3 RPP
Waterloo-Cedar Falls vs Dubuque
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Dubuque is 0.3% more expensive than Waterloo-Cedar Falls.
0.3% more expensive
Dubuque, IA is 0.3% more expensive than Waterloo-Cedar Falls, IA on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 87.3 vs 87.1). A $100,000 salary in Waterloo-Cedar Falls buys about the same as $100,311 in Dubuque; the largest component gap is services.
- Overall RPP 87.1 (Waterloo-Cedar Falls) vs 87.3 (Dubuque)
- $100k in Waterloo-Cedar Falls ≈ $100,311 purchasing power in Dubuque
- Services drives the gap (-2.5 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair IA:IA 87.1→87.3
PHOTO-FINISH · SAME-STATE · SPLIT-BUDGET · BOTH-BELOW · PP-PAR
- PHOTO-FINISH Photo finish
- SAME-STATE Same state · 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.
Waterloo-Cedar Falls
87.1
Cost Index
Dubuque
87.3
Cost Index
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Waterloo-Cedar Falls, IA and Dubuque, 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.
Services creates the largest separation: Dubuque is 2.5 points lower. 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 service-heavy household, test childcare, health, and other locally supplied costs before relying on rent alone. The BEA ratio converts $100,000 in Waterloo-Cedar Falls to $100,311 in Dubuque, but it is not a personal spending weight.
Category Breakdown
Goods
- Waterloo-Cedar Falls
- 93.7
- Dubuque
- 93.7
Diff 0.0 RPP
Services
- Waterloo-Cedar Falls
- 83.7
- Dubuque
- 81.2
Diff -2.5 RPP
Rents
- Waterloo-Cedar Falls
- 63.1
- Dubuque
- 64.0
Diff +0.9 RPP
| Category | Waterloo-Cedar Falls | Dubuque | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 87.1 | 87.3 | +0.3 |
| Goods | 93.7 | 93.7 | 0.0 |
| Services | 83.7 | 81.2 | -2.5 |
| Rents | 63.1 | 64.0 | +0.9 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Waterloo-Cedar Falls 87.1
Dubuque 87.3
Goods
Waterloo-Cedar Falls 93.7
Dubuque 93.7
Services
Waterloo-Cedar Falls 83.7
Dubuque 81.2
Rents
Waterloo-Cedar Falls 63.1
Dubuque 64.0
Vertical line = national average (100)
How the Price Gap Changed
Waterloo-Cedar Falls and Dubuque share 17 published annual releases from 2008 through 2024. Their overall gap narrowed, moving from 3.0 to 0.3 RPP points. Dubuque remained the higher-index metro in the latest release.
Goods changed the most within this pair: its gap moved 5.5 points between the first and latest shared releases (5.5 to 0.0 points). This describes a relative price-index history, not a forecast or a household budget.
| Release Year | Waterloo-Cedar Falls RPP | Dubuque RPP | Relative Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 90.4 | 93.4 | 3.0 points Dubuque higher |
| 2012 | 91.0 | 91.8 | 0.8 points Dubuque higher |
| 2016 | 90.5 | 91.2 | 0.7 points Dubuque higher |
| 2020 | 91.0 | 89.8 | 1.2 points Waterloo-Cedar Falls higher |
| 2024 | 87.1 | 87.3 | 0.3 points Dubuque 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 Waterloo-Cedar Falls would need to be in Dubuque for the same purchasing power:
| In Waterloo-Cedar Falls | In Dubuque | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $50,156 | +$156 |
| $75,000 | $75,233 | +$233 |
| $100,000 | $100,311 | +$311 |
| $150,000 | $150,467 | +$467 |
$ in Waterloo-Cedar Falls = in Dubuque
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (87.1 → 87.3), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Dubuque more expensive than Waterloo-Cedar Falls?
Dubuque is 0.3% more expensive than Waterloo-Cedar Falls. The overall cost index is 87.3 vs 87.1 (national average = 100).
What salary in Dubuque equals $100K in Waterloo-Cedar Falls?
A $100,000 salary in Waterloo-Cedar Falls has the same purchasing power as $100,311 in Dubuque. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Waterloo-Cedar Falls and Dubuque?
Rents in Waterloo-Cedar Falls are indexed at 63.1 while Dubuque is at 64.0 (national average = 100). Dubuque 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.