Cost of living comparison
compared to
Springfield vs. Iowa City Cost of Living Summary
Springfield is 25.7% more expensive than Iowa City.
Springfield vs. Iowa City Cost Breakdown
If you lived in Springfield instead of Iowa City, you would:
pay 44.6% more for restaurants
|
Iowa City
|
Springfield
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant |
$14.00
|
$23.00
|
|
|
Fast food combo meal
McDonalds, or similar
|
$9.00
|
$14.25
|
|
| Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz) |
$2.83
|
$2.65
|
|
| Bottle of water (11 fl. oz) |
$2.19
|
$2.00
|
|
Iowa City vs. Springfield - Cost of restaurants
pay 31.3% more for groceries
|
Iowa City
|
Springfield
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Bread
1 loaf
|
$2.71
|
$2.75
|
|
| Local cheese (8 oz) |
$4.65
|
$8.27
|
|
| Milk (1 gallon) |
$3.02
|
$3.94
|
|
|
Eggs
1 dozen
|
$3.51
|
$3.50
|
|
| Boneless chicken breast (1 lb) |
$4.77
|
$4.99
|
|
| Apples (1 lb) |
$1.52
|
$2.19
|
|
| Bananas (1 lb) |
$0.54
|
$0.64
|
|
| Oranges (1 lb) |
$1.24
|
$2.50
|
|
| Tomatoes (1 lb) |
$2.20
|
$2.14
|
|
| Potatoes (1 lb) |
$0.92
|
$1.46
|
|
| Onions (1 lb) |
$1.08
|
$1.65
|
|
Iowa City vs. Springfield - Cost of groceries
pay 32.5% more for transportation
|
Iowa City
|
Springfield
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Gasoline (1 gallon) |
$3.83
|
$3.73
|
|
| Monthly public transit pass |
$16.00
|
$54.00
|
|
| New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition) |
$35,473.37
|
$36,344.34
|
|
| Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles) |
$20.00
|
$16.15
|
|
Iowa City vs. Springfield - Cost of transportation
pay 35.8% more for housing
|
Iowa City
|
Springfield
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Internet connection
50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl
|
$82.25
|
$72.00
|
|
| 1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area |
$1,199.75
|
$1,816.67
|
|
| 1-Bedroom apartment outside city center |
$1,075.75
|
$1,700.00
|
|
|
Utilities for two
(700 sq ft apartment)
including electric, gas, water, heating
|
$206.36
|
$161.67
|
|
Iowa City vs. Springfield - Cost of housing
pay 7.5% less for childcare
|
Iowa City
|
Springfield
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Private preschool for 1 child, monthly |
$1,266.67
|
$1,493.75
|
|
| Middle school for 1 child, two semesters |
$23,429.75
|
$17,000.00
|
|
Iowa City vs. Springfield - Cost of childcare
pay 0.6% less for entertainment and sports
|
Iowa City
|
Springfield
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Domestic/local beer (1 pint) |
$5.00
|
$6.00
|
|
| Cappuccino in mid-range area |
$5.67
|
$6.46
|
|
|
Pack of cigarettes
Marlboro or similar
|
$8.89
|
$13.50
|
|
| Monthly membership at local gym |
$49.33
|
$28.49
|
|
| Movie ticket to theater/cinema |
$13.50
|
$15.00
|
|
Iowa City vs. Springfield - Cost of entertainment and sports
pay 10.3% less for clothing
|
Iowa City
|
Springfield
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Regular jeans
Levi's brand
|
$64.22
|
$50.00
|
|
|
Regular dress
from H&M or similar store
|
$50.56
|
$39.77
|
|
|
Running shoes
Nike or Adidas
|
$100.00
|
$112.50
|
|
| Men's business shoes (leather) |
$115.00
|
$107.83
|
|
Iowa City vs. Springfield - 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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