Compare cities and metro areas ranked by the 2024 BEA cost-of-living index in Iowa. 8 metro areas are available.
According to the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, Sioux City, IA-NE-SD has the lowest overall Regional Price Parity in this Iowa ranking at 86.5. The national average is 100, so this comparison identifies the lowest relative price level among the metro areas BEA reports; it does not estimate a household budget or citywide inflation.
A data-shaped reading
The sequence below follows the strongest decision signal in this state's component mix, metro spread, retained-release movement, and national-benchmark coverage.
National benchmark coverage
All 8 metros in this ranking sit below 100, with an average overall index of 88.9. That makes the low-price pattern broader than a single outlier. It still does not cover nonmetro communities, and a lower price level says nothing by itself about local wages.
Component driver
Sioux City, IA-NE-SD's rents index is 57.8, compared with 94.0 for goods and 82.7 for services. That places housing 28.6 points below the metro's overall index. This is a deep housing-led discount, so renters capture much more of the headline advantage than owners with a fixed mortgage.
Latest retained release
From 2023 to 2024, Sioux City, IA-NE-SD's overall RPP fell by 1.8 points. The largest component move was rents, which changed by -4.7 points. Because RPP is relative to the national price level, this describes movement against the U.S. benchmark, not literal deflation or inflation in a household's bills.
Strength of the lead
Sioux City, IA-NE-SD's lead over Waterloo-Cedar Falls, IA is 0.6 points, while the listed metros span 5.2 points overall. The top row is a meaningful starting point, but several near-peers deserve a component-by-component check before a relocation decision.
| # | Metro | Overall |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sioux City, IA-NE-SD | 86.5 |
| 2 | Waterloo-Cedar Falls, IA | 87.1 |
| 3 | Dubuque, IA | 87.3 |
| 4 | Ames, IA | 88.8 |
| 5 | Cedar Rapids, IA | 89.0 |
| 6 | Davenport-Moline-Rock Island, IA-IL | 89.1 |
| 7 | Iowa City, IA | 91.5 |
| 8 | Des Moines-West Des Moines, IA | 91.7 |
Source: Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional Price Parities Index where national average = 100
Read our methodology - how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.
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.