Cost of living comparison
compared to
Eau Claire vs. Fort Wayne Cost of Living Summary
Eau Claire is 0.2% cheaper than Fort Wayne.
Eau Claire vs. Fort Wayne Cost Breakdown
If you lived in Eau Claire instead of Fort Wayne, you would:
pay 8.4% more for restaurants
|
Fort Wayne
|
Eau Claire
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant |
$15.00
|
$18.50
|
|
|
Fast food combo meal
McDonalds, or similar
|
$10.00
|
$10.00
|
|
| Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz) |
$2.26
|
$2.78
|
|
| Bottle of water (11 fl. oz) |
$2.12
|
$1.50
|
|
Fort Wayne vs. Eau Claire - Cost of restaurants
pay 6.5% more for groceries
|
Fort Wayne
|
Eau Claire
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Bread
1 loaf
|
$3.12
|
$3.47
|
|
| Local cheese (8 oz) |
$5.58
|
$6.39
|
|
| Milk (1 gallon) |
$2.82
|
$3.00
|
|
|
Eggs
1 dozen
|
$3.74
|
$3.67
|
|
| Boneless chicken breast (1 lb) |
$4.33
|
$5.98
|
|
| Apples (1 lb) |
$2.67
|
$2.13
|
|
| Bananas (1 lb) |
$0.50
|
$0.56
|
|
| Oranges (1 lb) |
$1.70
|
$1.50
|
|
| Tomatoes (1 lb) |
$2.02
|
$2.20
|
|
| Potatoes (1 lb) |
$1.07
|
$1.28
|
|
| Onions (1 lb) |
$1.32
|
$1.38
|
|
Fort Wayne vs. Eau Claire - Cost of groceries
pay 6.1% more for transportation
|
Fort Wayne
|
Eau Claire
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Gasoline (1 gallon) |
$3.60
|
$3.45
|
|
| Monthly public transit pass |
$40.00
|
$50.00
|
|
| New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition) |
$36,915.00
|
$35,957.00
|
|
| Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles) |
$15.43
|
$20.00
|
|
Fort Wayne vs. Eau Claire - Cost of transportation
pay 5.4% less for housing
|
Fort Wayne
|
Eau Claire
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Internet connection
50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl
|
$59.00
|
$69.50
|
|
| 1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area |
$1,210.00
|
$1,012.50
|
|
| 1-Bedroom apartment outside city center |
$892.33
|
$887.50
|
|
|
Utilities for two
(700 sq ft apartment)
including electric, gas, water, heating
|
$151.91
|
$162.10
|
|
Fort Wayne vs. Eau Claire - Cost of housing
pay 7.6% less for childcare
|
Fort Wayne
|
Eau Claire
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Private preschool for 1 child, monthly |
$1,372.22
|
$1,000.00
|
|
| Middle school for 1 child, two semesters |
$20,000.00
|
$23,429.75
|
|
Fort Wayne vs. Eau Claire - Cost of childcare
pay 1.0% more for entertainment and sports
|
Fort Wayne
|
Eau Claire
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Domestic/local beer (1 pint) |
$4.50
|
$4.00
|
|
| Cappuccino in mid-range area |
$4.55
|
$5.33
|
|
|
Pack of cigarettes
Marlboro or similar
|
$8.69
|
$10.00
|
|
| Monthly membership at local gym |
$50.00
|
$55.00
|
|
| Movie ticket to theater/cinema |
$13.00
|
$11.25
|
|
Fort Wayne vs. Eau Claire - Cost of entertainment and sports
pay 12.4% less for clothing
|
Fort Wayne
|
Eau Claire
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Regular jeans
Levi's brand
|
$53.33
|
$48.33
|
|
|
Regular dress
from H&M or similar store
|
$40.00
|
$30.00
|
|
|
Running shoes
Nike or Adidas
|
$108.33
|
$107.16
|
|
| Men's business shoes (leather) |
$95.00
|
$83.33
|
|
Fort Wayne vs. Eau Claire - 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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