Duluth vs Peoria
Metro-area medians — Duluth, MN-WI Metro Area vs Peoria, IL Metro Area — not the cities proper.
Peoria comes out ahead, winning 6 of the 8 clearly-decided measures.
Duluth and Peoria cost about the same to live in, but Peoria households earn about 7% more. Adjusted for local prices, a typical paycheck stretches further in Peoria.
Their widest everyday difference: Peoria has the tighter job market — 3.7% unemployment versus 4.6%.
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, Duluth leaves you about $1,866/yr better off after tax and local prices.
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.
Choose Peoria for
- + Livability (CityLedger)
- + Cost-adjusted income (pay's real value)
- + Median household income
- + Median home value
- + Unemployment
- + Bachelor's degree or higher
More comparisons
Metros closest to Duluth and Peoria on cost, income, size, and education.
Duluth vs Peoria — frequently asked
- Is Duluth cheaper than Peoria?
- They are about even — the overall cost of living in the Duluth and Peoria metros is within 3% of each other (BEA Regional Price Parities), so neither is meaningfully cheaper.
- Which has higher household income, Duluth or Peoria?
- Peoria has the higher median household income — $74,352 versus $69,309 (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS), about 7% more.
- Does a paycheck go further in Duluth or Peoria?
- A paycheck stretches further in Peoria. Adjusted for local prices, the median income is worth $81,499 there versus $78,079 in Duluth.
- Which has cheaper rent, Duluth or Peoria?
- Rents are close — $993/mo in the Duluth metro versus $1,003/mo in Peoria (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS).