Dallas vs. Cedar Rapids Cost of Living Summary

Dallas is 34.8% more expensive than Cedar Rapids.

Restaurants
pay 24.2% more in Dallas
Groceries
pay 17.4% more in Dallas
Transportation
pay 49.1% more in Dallas
Housing
pay 53.5% more in Dallas
Childcare
pay 2.1 times more in Dallas
Entertainment and Sports
pay 3.9% more in Dallas
Clothing
pay 8.6% less in Dallas

The cost of childcare, housing, transportation, restaurants, groceries, and entertainment and sports in Dallas are more expensive than in Cedar Rapids. Notably, childcare is significantly more expensive in Dallas.

Dallas vs. Cedar Rapids Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Dallas instead of Cedar Rapids, you would:

pay 24.2% more for restaurants

 
Cedar Rapids
Dallas
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant $15.00
 
$21.00
 
Fast food combo meal
McDonalds, or similar
$10.99
 
$12.00
 
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz) $2.83
 
$3.17
 

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pay 17.4% more for groceries

 
Cedar Rapids
Dallas
Bread
1 loaf
$2.51
 
$3.17
 
Local cheese (8 oz) $7.12
 
$6.56
 
Milk (1 gallon) $2.70
 
$3.82
 

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pay 49.1% more for transportation

 
Cedar Rapids
Dallas
Gasoline (1 gallon) $3.28
 
$3.80
 
Monthly public transit pass $30.00
 
$126.00
 
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition) $36,531.00
 
$36,232.00
 

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pay 53.5% more for housing

 
Cedar Rapids
Dallas
Internet connection
50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl
$69.50
 
$65.42
 
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area $1,156.25
 
$1,782.73
 
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center $719.00
 
$1,400.42
 

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pay 2.1 times more for childcare

 
Cedar Rapids
Dallas
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly $879.75
 
$2,084.15
 
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters $12,631.67
 
$24,380.00
 

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pay 3.9% more for entertainment and sports

 
Cedar Rapids
Dallas
Domestic/local beer (1 pint) $4.50
 
$8.00
 
Cappuccino in mid-range area $5.71
 
$6.19
 
Pack of cigarettes
Marlboro or similar
$9.80
 
$10.00
 

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pay 8.6% less for clothing

 
Cedar Rapids
Dallas
Regular jeans
Levi's brand
$62.47
 
$65.50
 
Regular dress
from H&M or similar store
$63.33
 
$48.56
 
Running shoes
Nike or Adidas
$128.26
 
$122.20
 

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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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