Cost of living comparison
compared to
Ames vs. Amherst Cost of Living Summary
Ames is 12.5% cheaper than Amherst.
Ames vs. Amherst Cost Breakdown
If you lived in Ames instead of Amherst, you would:
pay 7.1% more for restaurants
|
Amherst
|
Ames
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant |
$20.00
|
$18.00
|
|
|
Fast food combo meal
McDonalds, or similar
|
$9.00
|
$12.00
|
|
| Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz) |
$2.65
|
$2.67
|
|
| Bottle of water (11 fl. oz) |
$2.00
|
$2.31
|
|
Amherst vs. Ames - Cost of restaurants
pay 5.9% more for groceries
|
Amherst
|
Ames
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Bread
1 loaf
|
$3.27
|
$3.58
|
|
| Local cheese (8 oz) |
$8.27
|
$5.14
|
|
| Milk (1 gallon) |
$3.94
|
$3.28
|
|
|
Eggs
1 dozen
|
$4.66
|
$3.42
|
|
| Boneless chicken breast (1 lb) |
$7.25
|
$6.15
|
|
| Apples (1 lb) |
$2.19
|
$2.63
|
|
| Bananas (1 lb) |
$0.64
|
$0.83
|
|
| Oranges (1 lb) |
$1.50
|
$3.00
|
|
| Tomatoes (1 lb) |
$2.14
|
$2.33
|
|
| Potatoes (1 lb) |
$1.46
|
$2.00
|
|
| Onions (1 lb) |
$1.65
|
$1.89
|
|
Amherst vs. Ames - Cost of groceries
pay 3.7% less for transportation
|
Amherst
|
Ames
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Gasoline (1 gallon) |
$3.64
|
$3.58
|
|
| Monthly public transit pass |
$28.00
|
$35.00
|
|
| New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition) |
$36,344.34
|
$25,000.00
|
|
| Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles) |
$14.65
|
$18.68
|
|
Amherst vs. Ames - Cost of transportation
pay 37.0% less for housing
|
Amherst
|
Ames
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Internet connection
50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl
|
$89.37
|
$71.25
|
|
| 1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area |
$1,825.00
|
$1,020.00
|
|
| 1-Bedroom apartment outside city center |
$1,333.33
|
$822.75
|
|
|
Utilities for two
(700 sq ft apartment)
including electric, gas, water, heating
|
$161.67
|
$136.55
|
|
Amherst vs. Ames - Cost of housing
pay 39.4% more for childcare
|
Amherst
|
Ames
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Private preschool for 1 child, monthly |
$1,493.75
|
$1,364.44
|
|
| Middle school for 1 child, two semesters |
$17,000.00
|
$36,151.80
|
|
Amherst vs. Ames - Cost of childcare
pay 8.1% less for entertainment and sports
|
Amherst
|
Ames
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Domestic/local beer (1 pint) |
$6.00
|
$4.00
|
|
| Cappuccino in mid-range area |
$4.75
|
$5.00
|
|
|
Pack of cigarettes
Marlboro or similar
|
$10.50
|
$13.00
|
|
| Monthly membership at local gym |
$120.00
|
$68.33
|
|
| Movie ticket to theater/cinema |
$10.50
|
$16.00
|
|
Amherst vs. Ames - Cost of entertainment and sports
pay 8.8% more for clothing
|
Amherst
|
Ames
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Regular jeans
Levi's brand
|
$45.00
|
$57.94
|
|
|
Regular dress
from H&M or similar store
|
$39.77
|
$44.06
|
|
|
Running shoes
Nike or Adidas
|
$90.00
|
$90.00
|
|
| Men's business shoes (leather) |
$107.83
|
$106.02
|
|
Amherst vs. Ames - 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 October 2026). How we calculate this
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