Cost of living comparison
compared to
California vs. Iowa Cost of Living Summary
California is 51.7% more expensive than Iowa.
California vs. Iowa Cost Breakdown
If you lived in California instead of Iowa, you would:
pay 22.0% more for restaurants
|
Iowa
|
California
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant |
$17.44
|
$22.31
|
|
|
Fast food combo meal
McDonalds, or similar
|
$10.71
|
$12.78
|
|
| Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz) |
$2.66
|
$2.96
|
|
| Bottle of water (11 fl. oz) |
$1.93
|
$2.26
|
|
Iowa vs. California - Cost of restaurants
pay 32.5% more for groceries
|
Iowa
|
California
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Bread
1 loaf
|
$2.86
|
$4.33
|
|
| Local cheese (8 oz) |
$5.29
|
$7.51
|
|
| Milk (1 gallon) |
$3.19
|
$4.92
|
|
|
Eggs
1 dozen
|
$3.35
|
$5.18
|
|
| Boneless chicken breast (1 lb) |
$4.87
|
$6.10
|
|
| Apples (1 lb) |
$2.11
|
$2.32
|
|
| Bananas (1 lb) |
$0.65
|
$0.94
|
|
| Oranges (1 lb) |
$2.01
|
$2.02
|
|
| Tomatoes (1 lb) |
$1.93
|
$2.60
|
|
| Potatoes (1 lb) |
$1.07
|
$1.61
|
|
| Onions (1 lb) |
$1.29
|
$1.39
|
|
Iowa vs. California - Cost of groceries
pay 45.0% more for transportation
|
Iowa
|
California
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Gasoline (1 gallon) |
$3.52
|
$5.53
|
|
| Monthly public transit pass |
$34.83
|
$64.45
|
|
| New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition) |
$32,592.26
|
$35,604.61
|
|
| Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles) |
$15.02
|
$20.97
|
|
Iowa vs. California - Cost of transportation
pay 99.6% more for housing
|
Iowa
|
California
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Internet connection
50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl
|
$67.97
|
$69.16
|
|
| 1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area |
$1,095.70
|
$2,414.89
|
|
| 1-Bedroom apartment outside city center |
$867.32
|
$2,061.17
|
|
|
Utilities for two
(700 sq ft apartment)
including electric, gas, water, heating
|
$143.75
|
$172.98
|
|
Iowa vs. California - Cost of housing
pay 55.9% more for childcare
|
Iowa
|
California
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Private preschool for 1 child, monthly |
$1,080.37
|
$1,659.26
|
|
| Middle school for 1 child, two semesters |
$19,409.87
|
$30,706.19
|
|
Iowa vs. California - Cost of childcare
pay 16.0% more for entertainment and sports
|
Iowa
|
California
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Domestic/local beer (1 pint) |
$4.61
|
$7.15
|
|
| Cappuccino in mid-range area |
$5.52
|
$5.63
|
|
|
Pack of cigarettes
Marlboro or similar
|
$9.16
|
$11.42
|
|
| Monthly membership at local gym |
$61.55
|
$65.06
|
|
| Movie ticket to theater/cinema |
$13.85
|
$15.07
|
|
Iowa vs. California - Cost of entertainment and sports
pay 13.2% more for clothing
|
Iowa
|
California
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Regular jeans
Levi's brand
|
$51.95
|
$58.89
|
|
|
Regular dress
from H&M or similar store
|
$38.14
|
$43.96
|
|
|
Running shoes
Nike or Adidas
|
$88.30
|
$91.63
|
|
| Men's business shoes (leather) |
$107.49
|
$130.37
|
|
Iowa vs. California - 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
Change currency:
Compare further: Iowa vs. California
Salary Calculator · Free tool
What salary would you need in California?
→
Quality of Life Comparison · 19 statistics
Be 54.5% more likely to be unemployed in California
→
Size Comparison · See true size
Iowa is about 2.8 times smaller than California.
→
Moving from Iowa to California · Cost, visas & climate
Compare cost of living, salary and climate.
→
City Size Comparison · See true size
Compare the size of Des Moines vs Los Angeles
→
Explore more U.S. state comparisons
See how other U.S. states compare.
Browse all state comparisons.
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 California or Iowa. It's a free, question-and-answer based forum to discuss what life is like in countries and cities around the world.