Cost of living comparison
compared to
Iowa vs. Albany Cost of Living Summary
Iowa is 14.2% cheaper than Albany.
- Restaurants
-
pay 19.8% less in Iowa
- Groceries
-
pay 21.1% less in Iowa
- Transportation
-
pay 20.4% less in Iowa
- Housing
-
pay 23.6% less in Iowa
- Childcare
-
pay 11.8% less in Iowa
- Entertainment and Sports
-
pay 2.4% less in Iowa
- Clothing
-
pay 0.3% less in Iowa
Expenses including housing, groceries, transportation, restaurants, childcare, and entertainment and sports are lower in Iowa.
Iowa vs. Albany Cost Breakdown
If you lived in Iowa instead of Albany, you would:
pay 19.8% less for restaurants
|
Albany
|
Iowa
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant |
$24.00
|
$15.83
|
|
|
Fast food combo meal
McDonalds, or similar
|
$14.25
|
$10.57
|
|
| Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz) |
$2.71
|
$2.46
|
|
| Bottle of water (11 fl. oz) |
$2.02
|
$1.82
|
|
Albany vs. Iowa - Cost of restaurants
pay 21.1% less for groceries
|
Albany
|
Iowa
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Bread
1 loaf
|
$3.93
|
$2.77
|
|
| Local cheese (8 oz) |
$7.62
|
$5.89
|
|
| Milk (1 gallon) |
$3.94
|
$3.33
|
|
|
Eggs
1 dozen
|
$5.68
|
$3.30
|
|
| Boneless chicken breast (1 lb) |
$6.74
|
$4.57
|
|
| Apples (1 lb) |
$2.27
|
$1.96
|
|
| Bananas (1 lb) |
$0.65
|
$0.65
|
|
| Oranges (1 lb) |
$2.63
|
$1.93
|
|
| Tomatoes (1 lb) |
$2.17
|
$1.93
|
|
| Potatoes (1 lb) |
$1.22
|
$0.99
|
|
| Onions (1 lb) |
$1.64
|
$1.30
|
|
Albany vs. Iowa - Cost of groceries
pay 20.4% less for transportation
|
Albany
|
Iowa
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Gasoline (1 gallon) |
$3.44
|
$3.02
|
|
| Monthly public transit pass |
$65.00
|
$38.07
|
|
| New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition) |
$36,787.68
|
$28,093.10
|
|
| Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles) |
$16.15
|
$15.46
|
|
Albany vs. Iowa - Cost of transportation
pay 23.6% less for housing
|
Albany
|
Iowa
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Internet connection
50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl
|
$80.55
|
$65.62
|
|
| 1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area |
$1,426.00
|
$1,069.66
|
|
| 1-Bedroom apartment outside city center |
$1,280.00
|
$852.78
|
|
|
Utilities for two
(700 sq ft apartment)
including electric, gas, water, heating
|
$161.67
|
$133.13
|
|
Albany vs. Iowa - Cost of housing
pay 11.8% less for childcare
|
Albany
|
Iowa
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Private preschool for 1 child, monthly |
$1,766.67
|
$1,152.45
|
|
| Middle school for 1 child, two semesters |
$17,000.00
|
$18,898.50
|
|
Albany vs. Iowa - Cost of childcare
pay 2.4% less for entertainment and sports
|
Albany
|
Iowa
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Domestic/local beer (1 pint) |
$5.50
|
$4.44
|
|
| Cappuccino in mid-range area |
$5.80
|
$5.43
|
|
|
Pack of cigarettes
Marlboro or similar
|
$14.75
|
$8.55
|
|
| Monthly membership at local gym |
$38.60
|
$63.76
|
|
| Movie ticket to theater/cinema |
$15.00
|
$13.58
|
|
Albany vs. Iowa - Cost of entertainment and sports
pay 0.3% less for clothing
|
Albany
|
Iowa
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Regular jeans
Levi's brand
|
$54.80
|
$55.34
|
|
|
Regular dress
from H&M or similar store
|
$39.77
|
$41.65
|
|
|
Running shoes
Nike or Adidas
|
$86.67
|
$81.56
|
|
| Men's business shoes (leather) |
$107.83
|
$106.86
|
|
Albany vs. Iowa - Cost of clothing
The statistics used to build this comparison are calculated using data from users just like you.
We average the price of thousands of data points entered by users across the world.
Learn more about our data sources. Page last updated: December 2025
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