Cost of living comparison
compared to
McKinney vs. Ames Cost of Living Summary
McKinney is 15.6% more expensive than Ames.
McKinney vs. Ames Cost Breakdown
If you lived in McKinney instead of Ames, you would:
pay 3.1% less for restaurants
|
Ames
|
McKinney
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant |
$18.00
|
$19.00
|
|
|
Fast food combo meal
McDonalds, or similar
|
$12.00
|
$11.00
|
|
| Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz) |
$2.67
|
$2.60
|
|
| Bottle of water (11 fl. oz) |
$2.31
|
$1.84
|
|
Ames vs. McKinney - Cost of restaurants
pay 23.1% less for groceries
|
Ames
|
McKinney
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Bread
1 loaf
|
$3.58
|
$2.75
|
|
| Local cheese (8 oz) |
$5.14
|
$5.14
|
|
| Milk (1 gallon) |
$3.28
|
$3.75
|
|
|
Eggs
1 dozen
|
$3.42
|
$4.07
|
|
| Boneless chicken breast (1 lb) |
$6.15
|
$7.00
|
|
| Apples (1 lb) |
$2.63
|
$1.42
|
|
| Bananas (1 lb) |
$0.83
|
$1.33
|
|
| Oranges (1 lb) |
$3.00
|
$1.33
|
|
| Tomatoes (1 lb) |
$2.33
|
$1.17
|
|
| Potatoes (1 lb) |
$2.00
|
$1.00
|
|
| Onions (1 lb) |
$1.89
|
$0.93
|
|
Ames vs. McKinney - Cost of groceries
pay 77.7% more for transportation
|
Ames
|
McKinney
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Gasoline (1 gallon) |
$3.58
|
$3.39
|
|
| Monthly public transit pass |
$35.00
|
$192.00
|
|
| New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition) |
$25,000.00
|
$36,232.00
|
|
| Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles) |
$18.68
|
?? | |
Ames vs. McKinney - Cost of transportation
pay 54.0% more for housing
|
Ames
|
McKinney
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Internet connection
50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl
|
$71.25
|
$68.00
|
|
| 1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area |
$1,020.00
|
$1,692.50
|
|
| 1-Bedroom apartment outside city center |
$822.75
|
$1,400.00
|
|
|
Utilities for two
(700 sq ft apartment)
including electric, gas, water, heating
|
$136.55
|
$155.00
|
|
Ames vs. McKinney - Cost of housing
pay 2.3% less for childcare
|
Ames
|
McKinney
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Private preschool for 1 child, monthly |
$1,364.44
|
$1,333.33
|
|
| Middle school for 1 child, two semesters |
$36,151.80
|
?? | |
Ames vs. McKinney - Cost of childcare
pay 19.2% less for entertainment and sports
|
Ames
|
McKinney
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Domestic/local beer (1 pint) |
$4.00
|
$6.00
|
|
| Cappuccino in mid-range area |
$5.00
|
$5.00
|
|
|
Pack of cigarettes
Marlboro or similar
|
$13.00
|
$11.00
|
|
| Monthly membership at local gym |
$68.33
|
$30.00
|
|
| Movie ticket to theater/cinema |
$16.00
|
$12.00
|
|
Ames vs. McKinney - Cost of entertainment and sports
pay 23.7% less for clothing
|
Ames
|
McKinney
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Regular jeans
Levi's brand
|
$57.94
|
$56.00
|
|
|
Regular dress
from H&M or similar store
|
$44.06
|
$28.50
|
|
|
Running shoes
Nike or Adidas
|
$90.00
|
$86.25
|
|
| Men's business shoes (leather) |
$106.02
|
$60.00
|
|
Ames vs. McKinney - Cost of clothing
We average the price of thousands of data points entered by users across the world. Sources: MyLifeElsewhere's cost-of-living dataset (prices updated November 2026). How we calculate this
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