Overall
- Wichita
- 88.9
Diff +0.1 RPP
Wichita vs Davenport-Moline-Rock Island
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Davenport-Moline-Rock Island is 0.1% more expensive than Wichita.
0.1% more expensive
Davenport-Moline-Rock Island, IA-IL is 0.1% more expensive than Wichita, KS on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 89.1 vs 88.9). A $100,000 salary in Wichita buys about the same as $100,150 in Davenport-Moline-Rock Island; the largest component gap is rents.
- Overall RPP 88.9 (Wichita) vs 89.1 (Davenport-Moline-Rock Island)
- $100k in Wichita ≈ $100,150 purchasing power in Davenport-Moline-Rock Island
- Rents drives the gap (+2.1 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair KS:IA 88.9→89.1
PHOTO-FINISH · CROSS-STATE · RENT-LED · BOTH-BELOW · PP-PAR
- PHOTO-FINISH Photo finish
- CROSS-STATE KS × IA
- RENT-LED Rent-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.
Wichita
88.9
Cost Index
Davenport-Moline-Rock Island
89.1
Cost Index
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Wichita, KS and Davenport-Moline-Rock Island, IA-IL are a photo finish on overall price level, only 0.1 RPP points apart. A salary conversion is therefore a fine adjustment, not evidence of a fundamentally different cost regime.
Rents leads the difference, with Davenport-Moline-Rock Island 2.1 points higher than Wichita. 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 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 Wichita corresponds to $100,150 in Davenport-Moline-Rock Island.
Category Breakdown
Goods
- Wichita
- 94.0
Diff +0.2 RPP
Services
- Wichita
- 88.5
Diff +1.5 RPP
Rents
- Wichita
- 66.2
Diff +2.1 RPP
| Category | Wichita | Davenport-Moline-Rock Island | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 88.9 | 89.1 | +0.1 |
| Goods | 94.0 | 94.2 | +0.2 |
| Services | 88.5 | 89.9 | +1.5 |
| Rents | 66.2 | 68.3 | +2.1 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Wichita 88.9
Davenport-Moline-Rock Island 89.1
Goods
Wichita 94.0
Davenport-Moline-Rock Island 94.2
Services
Wichita 88.5
Davenport-Moline-Rock Island 89.9
Rents
Wichita 66.2
Davenport-Moline-Rock Island 68.3
Vertical line = national average (100)
How the Price Gap Changed
Wichita and Davenport-Moline-Rock Island share 17 published annual releases from 2008 through 2024. Their overall gap held broadly steady, moving from 0.6 to 0.1 RPP points. Davenport-Moline-Rock Island remained the higher-index metro in the latest release.
Services changed the most within this pair: its gap moved 3.9 points between the first and latest shared releases (5.3 to 1.5 points). This describes a relative price-index history, not a forecast or a household budget.
| Release Year | Wichita RPP | Davenport-Moline-Rock Island RPP | Relative Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 94.2 | 94.8 | 0.6 points Davenport-Moline-Rock Island higher |
| 2012 | 92.5 | 93.2 | 0.7 points Davenport-Moline-Rock Island higher |
| 2016 | 92.1 | 90.7 | 1.4 points Wichita higher |
| 2020 | 92.0 | 91.6 | 0.4 points Wichita higher |
| 2024 | 88.9 | 89.1 | 0.1 points Davenport-Moline-Rock Island 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 Wichita would need to be in Davenport-Moline-Rock Island for the same purchasing power:
| In Wichita | In Davenport-Moline-Rock Island | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $50,075 | +$75 |
| $75,000 | $75,112 | +$112 |
| $100,000 | $100,150 | +$150 |
| $150,000 | $150,224 | +$224 |
$ in Wichita = in Davenport-Moline-Rock Island
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (88.9 → 89.1), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Davenport-Moline-Rock Island more expensive than Wichita?
Davenport-Moline-Rock Island is 0.1% more expensive than Wichita. The overall cost index is 89.1 vs 88.9 (national average = 100).
What salary in Davenport-Moline-Rock Island equals $100K in Wichita?
A $100,000 salary in Wichita has the same purchasing power as $100,150 in Davenport-Moline-Rock Island. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Wichita and Davenport-Moline-Rock Island?
Rents in Wichita are indexed at 66.2 while Davenport-Moline-Rock Island is at 68.3 (national average = 100). Davenport-Moline-Rock Island 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.