Overall
- Watertown-Fort Drum
- 87.7
- Dubuque
- 87.3
Diff -0.4 RPP
Watertown-Fort Drum vs Dubuque
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Dubuque is 0.4% less expensive than Watertown-Fort Drum.
0.4% less expensive
Dubuque, IA is 0.4% less expensive than Watertown-Fort Drum, NY on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 87.3 vs 87.7). A $100,000 salary in Watertown-Fort Drum buys about the same as $99,587 in Dubuque; the largest component gap is services.
- Overall RPP 87.7 (Watertown-Fort Drum) vs 87.3 (Dubuque)
- $100k in Watertown-Fort Drum ≈ $99,587 purchasing power in Dubuque
- Services drives the gap (-51.0 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair NY:IA 87.7→87.3
PHOTO-FINISH · CROSS-STATE · SPLIT-BUDGET · BOTH-BELOW · PP-PAR
- PHOTO-FINISH Photo finish
- CROSS-STATE NY × 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.
Watertown-Fort Drum
87.7
Cost Index
Dubuque
87.3
Cost Index
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Watertown-Fort Drum, NY and Dubuque, IA are a photo finish on overall price level, only 0.4 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 51.0 points lower. But rents 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 Watertown-Fort Drum to $99,587 in Dubuque, but it is not a personal spending weight.
Category Breakdown
Goods
- Watertown-Fort Drum
- 99.7
- Dubuque
- 93.7
Diff -6.0 RPP
Services
- Watertown-Fort Drum
- 132.2
- Dubuque
- 81.2
Diff -51.0 RPP
Rents
- Watertown-Fort Drum
- 53.2
- Dubuque
- 64.0
Diff +10.9 RPP
| Category | Watertown-Fort Drum | Dubuque | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 87.7 | 87.3 | -0.4 |
| Goods | 99.7 | 93.7 | -6.0 |
| Services | 132.2 | 81.2 | -51.0 |
| Rents | 53.2 | 64.0 | +10.9 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Watertown-Fort Drum 87.7
Dubuque 87.3
Goods
Watertown-Fort Drum 99.7
Dubuque 93.7
Services
Watertown-Fort Drum 132.2
Dubuque 81.2
Rents
Watertown-Fort Drum 53.2
Dubuque 64.0
Vertical line = national average (100)
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in Watertown-Fort Drum would need to be in Dubuque for the same purchasing power:
| In Watertown-Fort Drum | In Dubuque | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $49,794 | $-206 |
| $75,000 | $74,690 | $-310 |
| $100,000 | $99,587 | $-413 |
| $150,000 | $149,381 | $-619 |
$ in Watertown-Fort Drum = in Dubuque
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (87.7 → 87.3), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Dubuque more expensive than Watertown-Fort Drum?
Dubuque is 0.4% less expensive than Watertown-Fort Drum. The overall cost index is 87.3 vs 87.7 (national average = 100).
What salary in Dubuque equals $100K in Watertown-Fort Drum?
A $100,000 salary in Watertown-Fort Drum has the same purchasing power as $99,587 in Dubuque. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Watertown-Fort Drum and Dubuque?
Rents in Watertown-Fort Drum are indexed at 53.2 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.