Overall
- Waterloo-Cedar Falls
- 87.1
- St. Cloud
- 87.6
Diff +0.6 RPP
Waterloo-Cedar Falls vs St. Cloud
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. St. Cloud is 0.7% more expensive than Waterloo-Cedar Falls.
0.7% more expensive
St. Cloud, MN is 0.7% more expensive than Waterloo-Cedar Falls, IA on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 87.6 vs 87.1). A $100,000 salary in Waterloo-Cedar Falls buys about the same as $100,660 in St. Cloud; the largest component gap is services.
- Overall RPP 87.1 (Waterloo-Cedar Falls) vs 87.6 (St. Cloud)
- $100k in Waterloo-Cedar Falls ≈ $100,660 purchasing power in St. Cloud
- Services drives the gap (+5.0 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair IA:MN 87.1→87.6
PHOTO-FINISH · CROSS-STATE · SERVICES-LED · BOTH-BELOW · PP-PAR
- PHOTO-FINISH Photo finish
- CROSS-STATE IA × MN
- SERVICES-LED Services-led gap
- 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
St. Cloud
87.6
Cost Index
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Waterloo-Cedar Falls, IA and St. Cloud, MN are a photo finish on overall price level, only 0.6 RPP points apart. A salary conversion is therefore a fine adjustment, not evidence of a fundamentally different cost regime.
Services leads the difference, with St. Cloud 5.0 points higher than Waterloo-Cedar Falls. Goods, services, and rents all point in the same broad direction, making the headline comparison more transferable across household types.
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 $100,660 in St. Cloud, but it is not a personal spending weight.
Category Breakdown
Goods
- Waterloo-Cedar Falls
- 93.7
- St. Cloud
- 95.4
Diff +1.7 RPP
Services
- Waterloo-Cedar Falls
- 83.7
- St. Cloud
- 88.7
Diff +5.0 RPP
Rents
- Waterloo-Cedar Falls
- 63.1
- St. Cloud
- 65.1
Diff +1.9 RPP
| Category | Waterloo-Cedar Falls | St. Cloud | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 87.1 | 87.6 | +0.6 |
| Goods | 93.7 | 95.4 | +1.7 |
| Services | 83.7 | 88.7 | +5.0 |
| Rents | 63.1 | 65.1 | +1.9 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Waterloo-Cedar Falls 87.1
St. Cloud 87.6
Goods
Waterloo-Cedar Falls 93.7
St. Cloud 95.4
Services
Waterloo-Cedar Falls 83.7
St. Cloud 88.7
Rents
Waterloo-Cedar Falls 63.1
St. Cloud 65.1
Vertical line = national average (100)
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in Waterloo-Cedar Falls would need to be in St. Cloud for the same purchasing power:
| In Waterloo-Cedar Falls | In St. Cloud | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $50,330 | +$330 |
| $75,000 | $75,495 | +$495 |
| $100,000 | $100,660 | +$660 |
| $150,000 | $150,991 | +$991 |
$ in Waterloo-Cedar Falls = in St. Cloud
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (87.1 → 87.6), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is St. Cloud more expensive than Waterloo-Cedar Falls?
St. Cloud is 0.7% more expensive than Waterloo-Cedar Falls. The overall cost index is 87.6 vs 87.1 (national average = 100).
What salary in St. Cloud equals $100K in Waterloo-Cedar Falls?
A $100,000 salary in Waterloo-Cedar Falls has the same purchasing power as $100,660 in St. Cloud. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Waterloo-Cedar Falls and St. Cloud?
Rents in Waterloo-Cedar Falls are indexed at 63.1 while St. Cloud is at 65.1 (national average = 100). St. Cloud 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.