Cost of living comparison

compared to

Iowa vs. Indonesia Cost of Living Summary

Iowa is 3.6 times more expensive than Indonesia overall.

Restaurants
pay 5.5 times more in Iowa
Groceries
pay 92.8% more in Iowa
Transportation
pay 2.3 times more in Iowa
Housing
pay 3.7 times more in Iowa
Childcare
pay 7.2 times more in Iowa
Entertainment and Sports
pay 3.2 times more in Iowa
Clothing
pay 38.8% more in Iowa

The cost of childcare, restaurants, housing, entertainment and sports, transportation, and groceries in Iowa are more expensive than in Indonesia. Notably, childcare, restaurants, and housing are significantly more expensive in Iowa.

Iowa vs. Indonesia Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Iowa instead of Indonesia, you would:

pay 5.5 times more for restaurants

 
Indonesia
Iowa
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant $1.75
IDR29,172.01
$15.83
 
Fast food combo meal
McDonalds, or similar
$3.16
IDR52,561.93
$10.57
 
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz) $0.60
IDR10,058.79
$2.46
 

Improve prices ·

pay 92.8% more for groceries

 
Indonesia
Iowa
Bread
1 loaf
$1.20
IDR19,939.01
$2.77
 
Local cheese (8 oz) $4.49
IDR74,765.91
$5.89
 
Milk (1 gallon) $4.86
IDR80,843.18
$3.33
 

Improve prices ·

pay 2.3 times more for transportation

 
Indonesia
Iowa
Gasoline (1 gallon) $2.89
IDR48,096.34
$3.02
 
Monthly public transit pass $11.28
IDR187,740.42
$38.07
 
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition) $25,317.01
IDR421,473,804.46
$28,093.10
 

Improve prices ·

pay 3.7 times more for housing

 
Indonesia
Iowa
Internet connection
50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl
$21.83
IDR363,423.85
$65.62
 
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area $278.11
IDR4,629,867.18
$1,069.66
 
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center $163.62
IDR2,723,842.74
$852.78
 

Improve prices ·

pay 7.2 times more for childcare

 
Indonesia
Iowa
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly $103.11
IDR1,716,627.24
$1,152.45
 
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters $6,023.79
IDR100,283,149.85
$18,898.50
 

Improve prices ·

pay 3.2 times more for entertainment and sports

 
Indonesia
Iowa
Domestic/local beer (1 pint) $2.64
IDR44,026.51
$4.44
 
Cappuccino in mid-range area $1.59
IDR26,431.16
$5.43
 
Pack of cigarettes
Marlboro or similar
$2.30
IDR38,354.08
$8.55
 

Improve prices ·

pay 38.8% more for clothing

 
Indonesia
Iowa
Regular jeans
Levi's brand
$42.70
IDR710,856.45
$55.34
 
Regular dress
from H&M or similar store
$28.41
IDR473,014.50
$41.65
 
Running shoes
Nike or Adidas
$69.59
IDR1,158,583.69
$81.56
 

Improve prices ·
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: December 2025
Share this

Compare countries by overall cost of living

See the cost of living in Indonesia vs. United States. This provides a comparison of the average cost of living from cities within Indonesia and United States.

Help us improve these prices

MyLifeElsewhere is a collaborative project. Please enter price information for your location to help assist us in making these comparisons more accurate. Learn more

ASK THE ELSEWHERE COMMUNITY

Join the Elsewhere community and ask a question about Iowa or Indonesia. It's a free, question-and-answer based forum to discuss what life is like in countries and cities around the world.