Quality of life comparison

compared to

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

Economy

make 34.1% less money

Iowa has a GDP per capita of $63,747 as of 2024, while in Estonia, the GDP per capita is $42,000 as of 2023.

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be 92.4% more likely to be unemployed

In Iowa, 3.3% of adults are unemployed as of 2025. In Estonia, that number is 6.3% as of 2023.

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be 2.1 times more likely to live below the poverty line

In Iowa, 10.5% live below the poverty line as of 2023. In Estonia, however, that number is 22.5% as of 2022.

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The statistics above were calculated using the following data sources: The World Factbook, Bureau of Labor Statistics, US Census Bureau (American Community Survey), Bureau of Economic Analysis.

Compare further: Iowa vs. Estonia

Cost of Living Comparison · 7 categories - 2026 data
Estonia is 11.1% cheaper than Iowa
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Size Comparison · See true size
Iowa is about 3.2 times bigger than Estonia.
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Estonia: At a glance

Estonia is a sovereign country in Europe, with a total land area of approximately 42,388 sq km. After centuries of Danish, Swedish, German, and Russian rule, Estonia attained independence in 1918. Forcibly incorporated into the USSR in 1940 - an action never recognized by the US - it regained its freedom in 1991 with the collapse of the Soviet Union. Since the last Russian troops left in 1994, Estonia has been free to promote economic and political ties with the West. It joined both NATO and the EU in the spring of 2004, formally joined the OECD in late 2010, and adopted the euro as its official currency on 1 January 2011.
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How big is Estonia compared to Iowa? See an in-depth size comparison.

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