Quality of life comparison

compared to

If you lived in Macau instead of Iowa, you would:

Economy

be 28.8% less likely to be unemployed

In Iowa, 3.3% of the labor force is unemployed as of 2025. In Macau, that number is 2.4% as of 2025.

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make 19.1% more money

Iowa has a GDP per capita of $63,747 as of 2024, while in Macau, the GDP per capita is $75,902 as of 2025.

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Sources: World Bank (2025), Bureau of Labor Statistics (2025), Bureau of Economic Analysis (2024). How we calculate this

Compare further: Iowa vs. Macau

Cost of Living Comparison · 7 categories - 2026 data
Macau is 5.4% cheaper than Iowa
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Size Comparison · See true size
Iowa is about 5,131 times bigger than Macau.
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Moving from Iowa to Macau · Cost, visas & climate
Compare cost of living, salary and climate.
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Macau: At a glance

Macau is a sovereign country in East/Southeast Asia, with a total land area of approximately 28 sq km. Colonized by the Portuguese in the 16th century, Macau was the first European settlement in the Far East. Pursuant to an agreement signed by China and Portugal on 13 April 1987, Macau became the Macau Special Administrative Region (SAR) of the People's Republic of China on 20 December 1999. In this agreement, China promised that, under its "one country, two systems" formula, China's political and economic system would not be imposed on Macau, and that Macau would enjoy a "high degree of autonomy" in all matters except foreign affairs and defense for the subsequent 50 years.
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How big is Macau compared to Iowa? See an in-depth size comparison.

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