Cost of living comparison
compared to
Jersey City vs. Des Moines Cost of Living Summary
Jersey City is 43.5% more expensive than Des Moines.
Jersey City vs. Des Moines Cost Breakdown
If you lived in Jersey City instead of Des Moines, you would:
pay 3.9% less for restaurants
|
Des Moines
|
Jersey City
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant |
$17.00
|
$18.00
|
|
|
Fast food combo meal
McDonalds, or similar
|
$12.00
|
$13.00
|
|
| Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz) |
$2.61
|
$2.28
|
|
| Bottle of water (11 fl. oz) |
$2.15
|
$1.78
|
|
Des Moines vs. Jersey City - Cost of restaurants
pay 44.1% more for groceries
|
Des Moines
|
Jersey City
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Bread
1 loaf
|
$3.03
|
$4.05
|
|
| Local cheese (8 oz) |
$6.36
|
$8.73
|
|
| Milk (1 gallon) |
$3.56
|
$4.83
|
|
|
Eggs
1 dozen
|
$3.61
|
$5.33
|
|
| Boneless chicken breast (1 lb) |
$3.67
|
$5.62
|
|
| Apples (1 lb) |
$1.77
|
$2.87
|
|
| Bananas (1 lb) |
$0.65
|
$0.89
|
|
| Oranges (1 lb) |
$1.66
|
$2.16
|
|
| Tomatoes (1 lb) |
$1.59
|
$2.37
|
|
| Potatoes (1 lb) |
$0.75
|
$1.41
|
|
| Onions (1 lb) |
$1.36
|
$1.51
|
|
Des Moines vs. Jersey City - Cost of groceries
pay 50.7% more for transportation
|
Des Moines
|
Jersey City
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Gasoline (1 gallon) |
$2.93
|
$3.30
|
|
| Monthly public transit pass |
$58.00
|
$110.00
|
|
| New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition) |
$26,000.00
|
$35,911.24
|
|
| Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles) |
$11.94
|
$19.40
|
|
Des Moines vs. Jersey City - Cost of transportation
pay 89.0% more for housing
|
Des Moines
|
Jersey City
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Internet connection
50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl
|
$57.86
|
$63.75
|
|
| 1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area |
$1,214.00
|
$3,437.50
|
|
| 1-Bedroom apartment outside city center |
$912.50
|
$2,442.86
|
|
|
Utilities for two
(700 sq ft apartment)
including electric, gas, water, heating
|
$108.83
|
$103.54
|
|
Des Moines vs. Jersey City - Cost of housing
pay 82.3% more for childcare
|
Des Moines
|
Jersey City
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Private preschool for 1 child, monthly |
$1,369.17
|
$2,250.00
|
|
| Middle school for 1 child, two semesters |
$11,812.00
|
$23,666.67
|
|
Des Moines vs. Jersey City - Cost of childcare
pay 22.7% more for entertainment and sports
|
Des Moines
|
Jersey City
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Domestic/local beer (1 pint) |
$5.00
|
$7.00
|
|
| Cappuccino in mid-range area |
$5.47
|
$5.50
|
|
|
Pack of cigarettes
Marlboro or similar
|
$7.14
|
$11.98
|
|
| Monthly membership at local gym |
$71.67
|
$66.00
|
|
| Movie ticket to theater/cinema |
$15.00
|
$17.00
|
|
Des Moines vs. Jersey City - Cost of entertainment and sports
pay 19.3% more for clothing
|
Des Moines
|
Jersey City
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Regular jeans
Levi's brand
|
$56.67
|
$67.90
|
|
|
Regular dress
from H&M or similar store
|
$41.00
|
$63.33
|
|
|
Running shoes
Nike or Adidas
|
$73.00
|
$77.50
|
|
| Men's business shoes (leather) |
$138.33
|
$133.75
|
|
Des Moines vs. Jersey City - 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: July 2026
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