Cost of living comparison

United States

compared to

Russia

Saint Petersburg vs. Des Moines Cost of Living Summary

Saint Petersburg is 29.7% cheaper than Des Moines.

Restaurants: pay 58.5% less in Saint Petersburg
Groceries: pay 33.6% less in Saint Petersburg
Transportation: pay 1.2% less in Saint Petersburg
Housing: pay 46.8% less in Saint Petersburg
Childcare: pay 49.1% less in Saint Petersburg
Entertainment and Sports: pay 52.8% less in Saint Petersburg
Clothing: pay 33.8% more in Saint Petersburg

Expenses including restaurants, entertainment and sports, childcare, housing, groceries, and transportation are lower in Saint Petersburg.

Saint Petersburg vs. Des Moines Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Saint Petersburg instead of Des Moines, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 58.5% less for restaurants

	Des Moines	Saint Petersburg
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$17.00	$9.53 RUB696.67	-43.9%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$12.00	$5.96 RUB435.42	-50.4%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$2.61	$0.99 RUB72.57	-61.9%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$2.15	$0.48 RUB34.93	-77.8%
Average			-58.5%

Des Moines vs. Saint Petersburg - Cost of restaurants

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pay 33.6% less for groceries

	Des Moines	Saint Petersburg
Bread 1 loaf	$3.03	$0.84 RUB61.53	-72.2%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$6.36	$5.68 RUB415.52	-10.6%
Milk (1 gallon)	$3.56	$4.33 RUB316.46	+21.5%
Eggs 1 dozen	$3.61	$1.66 RUB121.01	-54.1%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$3.67	$2.29 RUB167.20	-37.7%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.77	$0.79 RUB57.76	-55.3%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.65	$0.77 RUB56.33	+18.2%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.66	$0.81 RUB59.28	-51.2%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.59	$1.49 RUB109.26	-6.0%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.75	$0.42 RUB30.76	-43.5%
Onions (1 lb)	$1.36	$0.28 RUB20.75	-79.2%
Average			-33.6%

Des Moines vs. Saint Petersburg - Cost of groceries

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pay 1.2% less for transportation

	Des Moines	Saint Petersburg
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$2.93	$2.76 RUB201.79	-5.9%
Monthly public transit pass	$58.00	$50.21 RUB3,670.59	-13.4%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$26,000.00	$35,737.37 RUB3M	+37.5%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$11.94	$9.17 RUB670.55	-23.2%
Average			-1.2%

Des Moines vs. Saint Petersburg - Cost of transportation

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pay 46.8% less for housing

	Des Moines	Saint Petersburg
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$57.86	$7.63 RUB557.58	-86.8%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$1,214.00	$783.62 RUB57,284.89	-35.5%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$912.50	$441.53 RUB32,277.23	-51.6%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$108.83	$94.44 RUB6,903.67	-13.2%
Average			-46.8%

Des Moines vs. Saint Petersburg - Cost of housing

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pay 49.1% less for childcare

	Des Moines	Saint Petersburg
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$1,369.17	$373.01 RUB27,268.15	-72.8%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$11,812.00	$8,803.31 RUB644K	-25.5%
Average			-49.1%

Des Moines vs. Saint Petersburg - Cost of childcare

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pay 52.8% less for entertainment and sports

	Des Moines	Saint Petersburg
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$5.00	$2.98 RUB217.71	-40.4%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$5.47	$2.43 RUB177.70	-55.6%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$7.14	$2.78 RUB202.91	-61.2%
Monthly membership at local gym	$71.67	$39.87 RUB2,914.36	-44.4%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$15.00	$5.65 RUB413.21	-62.3%
Average			-52.8%

Des Moines vs. Saint Petersburg - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 33.8% more for clothing

	Des Moines	Saint Petersburg
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$56.67	$93.20 RUB6,813.57	+64.5%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$41.00	$48.79 RUB3,566.48	+19.0%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$73.00	$115.24 RUB8,424.64	+57.9%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$138.33	$129.44 RUB9,462.49	-6.4%
Average			+33.8%

Des Moines vs. Saint Petersburg - Cost of clothing

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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: June 2026

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