Cost of living comparison
compared to
Toronto vs. Iowa City Cost of Living Summary
Toronto is 10.0% more expensive than Iowa City.
Toronto vs. Iowa City Cost Breakdown
If you lived in Toronto instead of Iowa City, you would:
pay 10.5% more for restaurants
|
Iowa City
|
Toronto
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant |
$14.00
|
$17.53
CA$24.82
|
|
|
Fast food combo meal
McDonalds, or similar
|
$9.00
|
$10.52
CA$14.89
|
|
| Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz) |
$2.83
|
$2.08
CA$2.94
|
|
| Bottle of water (11 fl. oz) |
$2.19
|
$1.71
CA$2.42
|
|
Iowa City vs. Toronto - Cost of restaurants
pay 9.0% more for groceries
|
Iowa City
|
Toronto
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Bread
1 loaf
|
$2.71
|
$2.74
CA$3.88
|
|
| Local cheese (8 oz) |
$4.65
|
$4.56
CA$6.46
|
|
| Milk (1 gallon) |
$3.02
|
$9.44
CA$13.37
|
|
|
Eggs
1 dozen
|
$3.51
|
$3.54
CA$5.01
|
|
| Boneless chicken breast (1 lb) |
$4.77
|
$5.16
CA$7.30
|
|
| Apples (1 lb) |
$1.52
|
$1.68
CA$2.38
|
|
| Bananas (1 lb) |
$0.54
|
$0.54
CA$0.76
|
|
| Oranges (1 lb) |
$1.24
|
$1.59
CA$2.25
|
|
| Tomatoes (1 lb) |
$2.20
|
$1.95
CA$2.76
|
|
| Potatoes (1 lb) |
$0.92
|
$0.82
CA$1.17
|
|
| Onions (1 lb) |
$1.08
|
$0.73
CA$1.04
|
|
Iowa City vs. Toronto - Cost of groceries
pay 54.1% more for transportation
|
Iowa City
|
Toronto
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Gasoline (1 gallon) |
$3.83
|
$4.68
CA$6.62
|
|
| Monthly public transit pass |
$16.00
|
$109.41
CA$154.90
|
|
| New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition) |
$35,473.37
|
$27,760.48
CA$39,301.90
|
|
| Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles) |
$20.00
|
$12.80
CA$18.12
|
|
Iowa City vs. Toronto - Cost of transportation
pay 7.6% more for housing
|
Iowa City
|
Toronto
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Internet connection
50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl
|
$82.25
|
$47.87
CA$67.77
|
|
| 1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area |
$1,199.75
|
$1,584.56
CA$2,243.34
|
|
| 1-Bedroom apartment outside city center |
$1,075.75
|
$1,416.89
CA$2,005.96
|
|
|
Utilities for two
(700 sq ft apartment)
including electric, gas, water, heating
|
$206.36
|
$92.23
CA$130.57
|
|
Iowa City vs. Toronto - Cost of housing
pay 19.2% less for childcare
|
Iowa City
|
Toronto
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Private preschool for 1 child, monthly |
$1,266.67
|
$824.14
CA$1,166.78
|
|
| Middle school for 1 child, two semesters |
$23,429.75
|
$23,500.21
CA$33,270.42
|
|
Iowa City vs. Toronto - Cost of childcare
pay 5.7% less for entertainment and sports
|
Iowa City
|
Toronto
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Domestic/local beer (1 pint) |
$5.00
|
$6.31
CA$8.94
|
|
| Cappuccino in mid-range area |
$5.67
|
$3.97
CA$5.62
|
|
|
Pack of cigarettes
Marlboro or similar
|
$8.89
|
$14.03
CA$19.86
|
|
| Monthly membership at local gym |
$49.33
|
$38.35
CA$54.29
|
|
| Movie ticket to theater/cinema |
$13.50
|
$12.62
CA$17.87
|
|
Iowa City vs. Toronto - Cost of entertainment and sports
pay 10.0% less for clothing
|
Iowa City
|
Toronto
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Regular jeans
Levi's brand
|
$64.22
|
$51.64
CA$73.11
|
|
|
Regular dress
from H&M or similar store
|
$50.56
|
$39.51
CA$55.94
|
|
|
Running shoes
Nike or Adidas
|
$100.00
|
$98.10
CA$138.88
|
|
| Men's business shoes (leather) |
$115.00
|
$122.24
CA$173.06
|
|
Iowa City vs. Toronto - 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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