Cost of living comparison
compared to
Ames vs. Frankfurt Cost of Living Summary
Ames is 12.2% cheaper than Frankfurt.
Ames vs. Frankfurt Cost Breakdown
If you lived in Ames instead of Frankfurt, you would:
pay 8.5% less for restaurants
|
Frankfurt
|
Ames
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant |
$16.80
€15.00
|
$18.00
|
|
|
Fast food combo meal
McDonalds, or similar
|
$13.44
€12.00
|
$12.00
|
|
| Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz) |
$3.79
€3.38
|
$2.67
|
|
| Bottle of water (11 fl. oz) |
$3.63
€3.25
|
$2.31
|
|
Frankfurt vs. Ames - Cost of restaurants
pay 35.7% more for groceries
|
Frankfurt
|
Ames
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Bread
1 loaf
|
$2.19
€1.96
|
$3.58
|
|
| Local cheese (8 oz) |
$6.86
€6.13
|
$5.14
|
|
| Milk (1 gallon) |
$5.33
€4.76
|
$3.28
|
|
|
Eggs
1 dozen
|
$3.91
€3.49
|
$3.42
|
|
| Boneless chicken breast (1 lb) |
$5.44
€4.86
|
$6.15
|
|
| Apples (1 lb) |
$1.42
€1.27
|
$2.63
|
|
| Bananas (1 lb) |
$0.95
€0.85
|
$0.83
|
|
| Oranges (1 lb) |
$0.89
€0.79
|
$3.00
|
|
| Tomatoes (1 lb) |
$1.74
€1.55
|
$2.33
|
|
| Potatoes (1 lb) |
$0.80
€0.71
|
$2.00
|
|
| Onions (1 lb) |
$0.90
€0.80
|
$1.89
|
|
Frankfurt vs. Ames - Cost of groceries
pay 44.0% less for transportation
|
Frankfurt
|
Ames
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Gasoline (1 gallon) |
$8.53
€7.61
|
$3.58
|
|
| Monthly public transit pass |
$70.54
€62.99
|
$35.00
|
|
| New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition) |
$32,914.63
€29,389.37
|
$25,000.00
|
|
| Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles) |
$22.39
€20.00
|
$18.68
|
|
Frankfurt vs. Ames - Cost of transportation
pay 26.9% less for housing
|
Frankfurt
|
Ames
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Internet connection
50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl
|
$47.15
€42.10
|
$71.25
|
|
| 1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area |
$1,318.90
€1,177.64
|
$1,020.00
|
|
| 1-Bedroom apartment outside city center |
$1,097.23
€979.71
|
$822.75
|
|
|
Utilities for two
(700 sq ft apartment)
including electric, gas, water, heating
|
$296.80
€265.01
|
$136.55
|
|
Frankfurt vs. Ames - Cost of housing
pay 40.7% more for childcare
|
Frankfurt
|
Ames
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Private preschool for 1 child, monthly |
$1,086.75
€970.36
|
$1,364.44
|
|
| Middle school for 1 child, two semesters |
$22,920.26
€20,465.43
|
$36,151.80
|
|
Frankfurt vs. Ames - Cost of childcare
pay 2.4% less for entertainment and sports
|
Frankfurt
|
Ames
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Domestic/local beer (1 pint) |
$5.60
€5.00
|
$4.00
|
|
| Cappuccino in mid-range area |
$4.49
€4.01
|
$5.00
|
|
|
Pack of cigarettes
Marlboro or similar
|
$9.74
€8.70
|
$13.00
|
|
| Monthly membership at local gym |
$66.94
€59.77
|
$68.33
|
|
| Movie ticket to theater/cinema |
$16.80
€15.00
|
$16.00
|
|
Frankfurt vs. Ames - Cost of entertainment and sports
pay 1.6% less for clothing
|
Frankfurt
|
Ames
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Regular jeans
Levi's brand
|
$86.76
€77.46
|
$57.94
|
|
|
Regular dress
from H&M or similar store
|
$33.49
€29.90
|
$44.06
|
|
|
Running shoes
Nike or Adidas
|
$84.22
€75.20
|
$90.00
|
|
| Men's business shoes (leather) |
$106.17
€94.80
|
$106.02
|
|
Frankfurt vs. Ames - 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 November 2026). How we calculate this
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