Iowa vs Texas

Household income

Currently in

Moving to

Your $100,000 in Iowa is worth

$113,895

at national prices · RPP 87.8BEA RPP SARPPSource: BEA Regional Price Parities · SARPP · 2024 vintage · released February 2026 · Official API

The same income in Texas is worth

$102,987

at national prices · RPP 97.1BEA RPP SARPPSource: BEA Regional Price Parities · SARPP · 2024 vintage · released February 2026 · Official API

Your income goes −$10,908 less far in Texas (−9.6% purchasing power).

Show the math

adjusted = income ÷ (RPP ÷ 100)

Iowa: $100,000 ÷ (87.8 ÷ 100) = $113,895

Texas: $100,000 ÷ (97.1 ÷ 100) = $102,987

difference: $102,987 − $113,895 = −$10,908

Where the difference comes from

Price level by component, 100 = US average. Higher means more expensive.

Regional price parity by component for the two states, with the percentage difference.
Component	Iowa	Texas	Difference
All items	87.8	97.1	+10.6%
Housing rents	65.3	96.5	+47.8%
Goods	93.7	98.1	+4.7%
Utilities	83.3	87.5	+5.0%
Other services	92.9	97.1	+4.5%

BEA Regional Price Parities · SARPP · 2024 · rel. February 2026 · Official API

Housing reality check

Typical rent and home price in each state — tangible context beyond the index.

IowaMedian rent$972/moMedian home$208,000

TexasMedian rent$1,403/moMedian home$283,800

US Census ACS 5-Year Estimates · ACS5 · 2024 · rel. December 2025 · Official API

Tax at a glance

Hand-curated, tax year 2026 · verified 2026-07-20

Income and sales tax for the two states.
Tax	Iowa	Texas
Income tax (top rate)	3.80%	None
Sales tax (combined avg)	6.94%	8.20%

Tax Foundation (income & sales) · Tax · 2026 · rel. tax year 2026 · Manually maintained · verified 2026-07-20

Official API Manually maintained2 of 3 metrics sourced from official APIs, 1 manually maintained. How every number is calculated →

Iowa vs Texas: the read

The bottom line

Move a $100,000 income from Iowa to Texas and its purchasing power changes from $113,895 to $102,987 in national-average terms — a loss of $10,908. Iowa is the cheaper of the two, running at 87.8 on the price index versus 97.1.

Where the difference comes from

The widest gap is housing rents: Iowa sits at 65.3 and Texas at 96.5 (100 = national). Iowa has the edge there, and it's the main reason the two states diverge.

Housing

Median rent runs $972 in Iowa against $1,403 in Texas, and the typical home $208,000 versus $283,800. Iowa is the more affordable place to buy.

Taxes

On tax, Iowa has 3.80% top income tax and a combined sales tax of 6.94%; Texas has no wage income tax and 8.20%. That income-tax difference can outweigh a chunk of the cost-of-living gap for higher earners.

Full profiles: Iowa ·Texas. Every figure here is sourced on the pages linked above.

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