Overall
- Waterloo-Cedar Falls
- 87.1
- Lafayette
- 87.2
Diff +0.2 RPP
Waterloo-Cedar Falls vs Lafayette
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Lafayette is 0.2% more expensive than Waterloo-Cedar Falls.
0.2% more expensive
Lafayette, LA is 0.2% more expensive than Waterloo-Cedar Falls, IA on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 87.2 vs 87.1). A $100,000 salary in Waterloo-Cedar Falls buys about the same as $100,175 in Lafayette; the largest component gap is services.
- Overall RPP 87.1 (Waterloo-Cedar Falls) vs 87.2 (Lafayette)
- $100k in Waterloo-Cedar Falls ≈ $100,175 purchasing power in Lafayette
- Services drives the gap (-12.4 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair IA:LA 87.1→87.2
PHOTO-FINISH · CROSS-STATE · SPLIT-BUDGET · BOTH-BELOW · PP-PAR
- PHOTO-FINISH Photo finish
- CROSS-STATE IA × LA
- 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
Lafayette
87.2
Cost Index
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Waterloo-Cedar Falls, IA and Lafayette, LA are a photo finish on overall price level, only 0.2 RPP points apart. A salary conversion is therefore a fine adjustment, not evidence of a fundamentally different cost regime.
Services creates the largest separation: Lafayette is 12.4 points lower. But services and rents 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 $100,175 in Lafayette, but it is not a personal spending weight.
Category Breakdown
Goods
- Waterloo-Cedar Falls
- 93.7
- Lafayette
- 93.7
Diff -0.0 RPP
Services
- Waterloo-Cedar Falls
- 83.7
- Lafayette
- 71.2
Diff -12.4 RPP
Rents
- Waterloo-Cedar Falls
- 63.1
- Lafayette
- 58.8
Diff -4.3 RPP
| Category | Waterloo-Cedar Falls | Lafayette | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 87.1 | 87.2 | +0.2 |
| Goods | 93.7 | 93.7 | -0.0 |
| Services | 83.7 | 71.2 | -12.4 |
| Rents | 63.1 | 58.8 | -4.3 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Waterloo-Cedar Falls 87.1
Lafayette 87.2
Goods
Waterloo-Cedar Falls 93.7
Lafayette 93.7
Services
Waterloo-Cedar Falls 83.7
Lafayette 71.2
Rents
Waterloo-Cedar Falls 63.1
Lafayette 58.8
Vertical line = national average (100)
How the Price Gap Changed
Waterloo-Cedar Falls and Lafayette share 17 published annual releases from 2008 through 2024. Their overall gap held broadly steady, moving from 0.8 to 0.2 RPP points. Lafayette remained the higher-index metro in the latest release.
Services changed the most within this pair: its gap moved 12.5 points between the first and latest shared releases (0.1 to 12.4 points). This describes a relative price-index history, not a forecast or a household budget.
| Release Year | Waterloo-Cedar Falls RPP | Lafayette RPP | Relative Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 90.4 | 89.6 | 0.8 points Waterloo-Cedar Falls higher |
| 2012 | 91.0 | 93.6 | 2.6 points Lafayette higher |
| 2016 | 90.5 | 93.8 | 3.3 points Lafayette higher |
| 2020 | 91.0 | 90.4 | 0.6 points Waterloo-Cedar Falls higher |
| 2024 | 87.1 | 87.2 | 0.2 points Lafayette 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 Lafayette for the same purchasing power:
| In Waterloo-Cedar Falls | In Lafayette | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $50,087 | +$87 |
| $75,000 | $75,131 | +$131 |
| $100,000 | $100,175 | +$175 |
| $150,000 | $150,262 | +$262 |
$ in Waterloo-Cedar Falls = in Lafayette
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (87.1 → 87.2), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Lafayette more expensive than Waterloo-Cedar Falls?
Lafayette is 0.2% more expensive than Waterloo-Cedar Falls. The overall cost index is 87.2 vs 87.1 (national average = 100).
What salary in Lafayette equals $100K in Waterloo-Cedar Falls?
A $100,000 salary in Waterloo-Cedar Falls has the same purchasing power as $100,175 in Lafayette. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Waterloo-Cedar Falls and Lafayette?
Rents in Waterloo-Cedar Falls are indexed at 63.1 while Lafayette is at 58.8 (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.