Waterloo, IA
Waterloo-Cedar Falls, IA Metro Area
Figures are medians for the whole Waterloo-Cedar Falls, IA Metro Area, not the city proper.
Among the 300 U.S. metros CityLedger tracks, Waterloo ranks 118th for affordability — how far a typical paycheck stretches after local prices — and 179th for income. A household earns $72,382 a year while median rent runs $1,047/mo, making it moderately affordable for what residents earn. Affordability and price level are different lenses: the raw cost of living here runs 13% below the U.S. average.
Its strongest card is commute (2nd of 300), while household income is the soft spot (179th). Housing usually decides a move: rent ranks 59th and home prices 43rd among the 300 metros CityLedger tracks.
For your salary & household
Enter your pay and household size to see what it's really worth here — the numbers update live and the link stays shareable.
On $75,000 for just you in Waterloo, your take-home is worth about $67,155 once local prices are factored in — local prices stretch it further than the U.S. average.
Take-home estimates a single filer taking the standard deduction (2025 federal brackets, FICA, and state income tax) and isn't tax advice. “Real value” rebases take-home to average U.S. prices using the BEA cost-of-living index; the per-person figure uses the OECD square-root equivalence scale.
The numbers
Income & cost
- Median income
- 179th of 300↑14.7%$72,382
- Cost of living?The local price level vs. the U.S. average of 100 (BEA). Lower means cheaper. This is raw prices, not adjusted for income.
- 18th of 30087 (US=100)
- Cost-adj. income?Median household income divided by the local price level — what the typical paycheck is really worth here.
- $83,143
- Per-capita income
- $37,798
- Full-time pay
- $41,285
Housing
- Median rent
- 59th of 300↑26.8%$1,047/mo
- Home value
- 43rd of 300↑34%$212,400
- Property tax
- $2,774/yr · 1.3%
- Sales tax
- 6.94%
Jobs & education
- Unemployment
- 129th of 3004.2%
- Bachelor's+
- 169th of 30032%
- Avg commute
- 2nd of 30016.5 min
People
- Population
- 170,081
- Population change
- +0.9%
- Median age
- 37.4 yrs
- Foreign-born
- 6.2%
- Broadband
- 93.3%
Environment & risk
- Air quality (AQI)
- 177th of 30048
- Natural-hazard loss
- 88th of 300$10/$10k
Health
- Fair/poor health
- 119th of 30017.6%
- Uninsured (18–64)
- 7.1%
Sources: U.S. Census Bureau (ACS), U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, U.S. EPA, FEMA, CDC, NOAA — every figure's source is listed on our methodology page. Data built 2026-06-14. ↑↓ mark the change since 2019.
How CityLedger scores it
Transparent weights — see our methodology.
Strengths
- + Cost of living
- + Rent
- + Home prices
- + Commute
- + Hazard safety
Watch-outs
- —
Climate
30-year normals (1991–2020) from the nearest station — waterloo muni ap.
What jobs pay in Waterloo
Median annual wage by occupation (BLS OEWS 2025) — half of workers in each role earn more, half less.
- Family medicine physicians
- $287,990
- Pharmacists
- $138,690
- IT managers
- $132,210
- Lawyers
- $126,570
- Financial managers
- $125,690
- Software developers
- $113,970
- Civil engineers
- $97,430
- General & operations managers
- $82,400
- Police officers
- $78,970
- Web developers
- $78,140
- Registered nurses
- $76,920
- Accountants & auditors
- $73,530
- Electricians
- $63,420
- Plumbers
- $62,200
- Elementary school teachers
- $60,780
- Secondary school teachers
- $60,440
- Truck drivers (heavy)
- $58,730
- Carpenters
- $55,840
- Maintenance & repair workers
- $50,940
- Construction laborers
- $49,950
- Customer service reps
- $39,530
- Janitors
- $34,510
- Retail salespersons
- $31,270
- Cashiers
- $29,320
- Waiters & waitresses
- $21,490
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, OEWS 2025 — annual median wage. Cross-industry, all experience levels.
Where new residents move from
The states sending the most people to the Waterloo metro, by estimated movers (U.S. Census 2022 migration flows, 5-year). Moves from elsewhere in Iowa are excluded to show where out-of-state arrivals originate.
- Wisconsin377
- Illinois365
- California267
- Nevada187
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2022 Migration Flows (5-year).
Cities like Waterloo
Closest matches across cost, income, size, education, and age — tap to compare.
Waterloo metro — frequently asked
- What is the median rent in the Waterloo metro?
- Median gross rent across the Waterloo-Cedar Falls, IA Metro Area is $1,047 a month (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2024). That figure covers the whole metro area, not just the city of Waterloo.
- What is the median household income in the Waterloo metro?
- A typical household in the Waterloo-Cedar Falls, IA Metro Area earns $72,382 a year (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2024).
- Is Waterloo expensive to live in?
- The overall cost of living in the Waterloo-Cedar Falls, IA Metro Area runs about 13% below the U.S. average (BEA Regional Price Parities, 2024) — prices are lower than average, before accounting for local pay.
- Does a paycheck go far in the Waterloo metro?
- After adjusting for local prices, the median household income is worth about $83,143 (versus its face value of $72,382). CityLedger rates the Waterloo-Cedar Falls, IA Metro Area moderately affordable for what residents earn.
- What is the typical home value in the Waterloo metro?
- The median home value across the Waterloo-Cedar Falls, IA Metro Area is $212,400 (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2024).
- What is the unemployment rate in the Waterloo metro?
- The unemployment rate in the Waterloo-Cedar Falls, IA Metro Area is 4.2% (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2024).