Overall
- Waterloo-Cedar Falls
- 87.1
- St. Joseph
- 86.4
Diff -0.7 RPP
Waterloo-Cedar Falls vs St. Joseph
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. St. Joseph is 0.8% less expensive than Waterloo-Cedar Falls.
0.8% less expensive
St. Joseph, MO-KS is 0.8% less expensive than Waterloo-Cedar Falls, IA on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 86.4 vs 87.1). A $100,000 salary in Waterloo-Cedar Falls buys about the same as $99,225 in St. Joseph; the largest component gap is rents.
- Overall RPP 87.1 (Waterloo-Cedar Falls) vs 86.4 (St. Joseph)
- $100k in Waterloo-Cedar Falls ≈ $99,225 purchasing power in St. Joseph
- Rents drives the gap (-7.8 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair IA:MO 87.1→86.4
PHOTO-FINISH · CROSS-STATE · SPLIT-BUDGET · BOTH-BELOW · PP-PAR
- PHOTO-FINISH Photo finish
- CROSS-STATE IA × MO
- 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
St. Joseph
86.4
Cost Index
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Waterloo-Cedar Falls, IA and St. Joseph, MO-KS 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: St. Joseph is 7.8 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 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 Waterloo-Cedar Falls corresponds to $99,225 in St. Joseph.
Category Breakdown
Goods
- Waterloo-Cedar Falls
- 93.7
- St. Joseph
- 94.2
Diff +0.5 RPP
Services
- Waterloo-Cedar Falls
- 83.7
- St. Joseph
- 88.3
Diff +4.6 RPP
Rents
- Waterloo-Cedar Falls
- 63.1
- St. Joseph
- 55.4
Diff -7.8 RPP
| Category | Waterloo-Cedar Falls | St. Joseph | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 87.1 | 86.4 | -0.7 |
| Goods | 93.7 | 94.2 | +0.5 |
| Services | 83.7 | 88.3 | +4.6 |
| Rents | 63.1 | 55.4 | -7.8 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Waterloo-Cedar Falls 87.1
St. Joseph 86.4
Goods
Waterloo-Cedar Falls 93.7
St. Joseph 94.2
Services
Waterloo-Cedar Falls 83.7
St. Joseph 88.3
Rents
Waterloo-Cedar Falls 63.1
St. Joseph 55.4
Vertical line = national average (100)
How the Price Gap Changed
Waterloo-Cedar Falls and St. Joseph share 17 published annual releases from 2008 through 2024. Their overall gap narrowed, moving from 2.2 to 0.7 RPP points. Waterloo-Cedar Falls remained the higher-index metro in the latest release.
Rents changed the most within this pair: its gap moved 12.6 points between the first and latest shared releases (4.8 to 7.8 points). This describes a relative price-index history, not a forecast or a household budget.
| Release Year | Waterloo-Cedar Falls RPP | St. Joseph RPP | Relative Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 90.4 | 92.6 | 2.2 points St. Joseph higher |
| 2012 | 91.0 | 91.0 | 0.0 points Waterloo-Cedar Falls higher |
| 2016 | 90.5 | 88.7 | 1.8 points Waterloo-Cedar Falls higher |
| 2020 | 91.0 | 87.8 | 3.2 points Waterloo-Cedar Falls higher |
| 2024 | 87.1 | 86.4 | 0.7 points Waterloo-Cedar Falls 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 St. Joseph for the same purchasing power:
| In Waterloo-Cedar Falls | In St. Joseph | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $49,612 | $-388 |
| $75,000 | $74,418 | $-582 |
| $100,000 | $99,225 | $-775 |
| $150,000 | $148,837 | $-1,163 |
$ in Waterloo-Cedar Falls = in St. Joseph
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (87.1 → 86.4), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is St. Joseph more expensive than Waterloo-Cedar Falls?
St. Joseph is 0.8% less expensive than Waterloo-Cedar Falls. The overall cost index is 86.4 vs 87.1 (national average = 100).
What salary in St. Joseph equals $100K in Waterloo-Cedar Falls?
A $100,000 salary in Waterloo-Cedar Falls has the same purchasing power as $99,225 in St. Joseph. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Waterloo-Cedar Falls and St. Joseph?
Rents in Waterloo-Cedar Falls are indexed at 63.1 while St. Joseph is at 55.4 (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.