Cost of living comparison

compared to

Iowa is 23.3% cheaper than California.

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

Display currency: USD

pay 21.6% less for restaurants

 
California
Iowa
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant $19.89
 
$15.06
 
Fast food combo meal
McDonalds, or similar
$11.74
 
$9.56
 
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz) $2.75
 
$2.17
 

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pay 19.8% less for groceries

 
California
Iowa
Bread
1 loaf
$4.10
 
$2.57
 
Local cheese (8 oz) $6.78
 
$5.42
 
Milk (1 gallon) $4.57
 
$3.44
 

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pay 27.0% less for transportation

 
California
Iowa
Gasoline (1 gallon) $4.84
 
$3.22
 
Monthly public transit pass $67.11
 
$41.67
 
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition) $29,950.13
 
$27,291.62
 

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pay 33.5% less for housing

 
California
Iowa
Internet connection
50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl
$69.38
 
$68.69
 
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area $2,333.22
 
$1,107.08
 
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center $2,022.14
 
$831.82
 

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pay 34.1% less for childcare

 
California
Iowa
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly $1,629.83
 
$1,030.74
 
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters $29,739.09
 
$20,379.75
 

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pay 21.0% less for entertainment and sports

 
California
Iowa
Domestic/local beer (1 pint) $7.06
 
$5.03
 
Cappuccino in mid-range area $5.27
 
$5.05
 
Pack of cigarettes
Marlboro or similar
$10.99
 
$8.26
 

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pay 5.8% less for clothing

 
California
Iowa
Regular jeans
Levi's brand
$52.63
 
$46.34
 
Regular dress
from H&M or similar store
$41.12
 
$41.37
 
Running shoes
Nike or Adidas
$84.49
 
$81.19
 

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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: October 2024
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