Cost of living comparison
compared to
Iowa vs. France Cost of Living Summary
Iowa is 2.2% more expensive than France overall.
Iowa vs. France Cost Breakdown
If you lived in Iowa instead of France, you would:
pay 7.5% less for restaurants
|
France
|
Iowa
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant |
$17.55
€15.62
|
$17.44
|
|
|
Fast food combo meal
McDonalds, or similar
|
$12.68
€11.29
|
$10.71
|
|
| Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz) |
$3.10
€2.76
|
$2.66
|
|
| Bottle of water (11 fl. oz) |
$1.94
€1.73
|
$1.93
|
|
France vs. Iowa - Cost of restaurants
pay 0.4% less for groceries
|
France
|
Iowa
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Bread
1 loaf
|
$1.96
€1.74
|
$2.86
|
|
| Local cheese (8 oz) |
$9.38
€8.35
|
$5.29
|
|
| Milk (1 gallon) |
$5.01
€4.46
|
$3.19
|
|
|
Eggs
1 dozen
|
$4.05
€3.60
|
$3.35
|
|
| Boneless chicken breast (1 lb) |
$5.80
€5.16
|
$4.87
|
|
| Apples (1 lb) |
$1.38
€1.23
|
$2.11
|
|
| Bananas (1 lb) |
$1.06
€0.94
|
$0.65
|
|
| Oranges (1 lb) |
$1.28
€1.14
|
$2.01
|
|
| Tomatoes (1 lb) |
$1.60
€1.43
|
$1.93
|
|
| Potatoes (1 lb) |
$0.93
€0.83
|
$1.07
|
|
| Onions (1 lb) |
$1.01
€0.90
|
$1.29
|
|
France vs. Iowa - Cost of groceries
pay 35.2% less for transportation
|
France
|
Iowa
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Gasoline (1 gallon) |
$8.00
€7.12
|
$3.52
|
|
| Monthly public transit pass |
$53.34
€47.48
|
$34.83
|
|
| New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition) |
$33,426.60
€29,750.88
|
$32,592.26
|
|
| Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles) |
$20.80
€18.51
|
$15.02
|
|
France vs. Iowa - Cost of transportation
pay 29.8% more for housing
|
France
|
Iowa
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Internet connection
50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl
|
$31.99
€28.47
|
$67.97
|
|
| 1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area |
$816.57
€726.77
|
$1,095.70
|
|
| 1-Bedroom apartment outside city center |
$649.54
€578.12
|
$867.32
|
|
|
Utilities for two
(700 sq ft apartment)
including electric, gas, water, heating
|
$153.65
€136.76
|
$143.75
|
|
France vs. Iowa - Cost of housing
pay 34.2% more for childcare
|
France
|
Iowa
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Private preschool for 1 child, monthly |
$901.10
€802.01
|
$1,080.37
|
|
| Middle school for 1 child, two semesters |
$12,924.68
€11,503.43
|
$19,409.87
|
|
France vs. Iowa - Cost of childcare
pay 10.4% more for entertainment and sports
|
France
|
Iowa
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Domestic/local beer (1 pint) |
$7.05
€6.28
|
$4.61
|
|
| Cappuccino in mid-range area |
$3.64
€3.24
|
$5.52
|
|
|
Pack of cigarettes
Marlboro or similar
|
$13.52
€12.03
|
$9.16
|
|
| Monthly membership at local gym |
$38.05
€33.86
|
$61.55
|
|
| Movie ticket to theater/cinema |
$12.82
€11.41
|
$13.85
|
|
France vs. Iowa - Cost of entertainment and sports
pay 23.6% less for clothing
|
France
|
Iowa
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Regular jeans
Levi's brand
|
$93.79
€83.48
|
$51.95
|
|
|
Regular dress
from H&M or similar store
|
$44.21
€39.34
|
$38.14
|
|
|
Running shoes
Nike or Adidas
|
$102.75
€91.45
|
$88.30
|
|
| Men's business shoes (leather) |
$129.67
€115.41
|
$107.49
|
|
France vs. Iowa - 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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Compare countries by overall cost of living
See the
cost of living in France vs. United States.
This provides a comparison of the average cost of living from cities within France and United States.
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