Cost of living comparison
compared to
Iceland vs. Iowa Cost of Living Summary
Iceland is 62.0% more expensive than Iowa.
Iceland vs. Iowa Cost Breakdown
If you lived in Iceland instead of Iowa, you would:
pay 74.4% more for restaurants
|
Iowa
|
Iceland
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant |
$17.44
|
$28.88
ISK3,499
|
|
|
Fast food combo meal
McDonalds, or similar
|
$10.71
|
$22.83
ISK2,767
|
|
| Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz) |
$2.66
|
$3.25
ISK393
|
|
| Bottle of water (11 fl. oz) |
$1.93
|
$3.01
ISK365
|
|
Iowa vs. Iceland - Cost of restaurants
pay 36.5% more for groceries
|
Iowa
|
Iceland
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Bread
1 loaf
|
$2.86
|
$3.55
ISK431
|
|
| Local cheese (8 oz) |
$5.29
|
$10.11
ISK1,226
|
|
| Milk (1 gallon) |
$3.19
|
$7.79
ISK944
|
|
|
Eggs
1 dozen
|
$3.35
|
$6.92
ISK839
|
|
| Boneless chicken breast (1 lb) |
$4.87
|
$11.01
ISK1,334
|
|
| Apples (1 lb) |
$2.11
|
$1.43
ISK173
|
|
| Bananas (1 lb) |
$0.65
|
$1.23
ISK148
|
|
| Oranges (1 lb) |
$2.01
|
$1.42
ISK172
|
|
| Tomatoes (1 lb) |
$1.93
|
$2.60
ISK315
|
|
| Potatoes (1 lb) |
$1.07
|
$1.71
ISK207
|
|
| Onions (1 lb) |
$1.29
|
$0.76
ISK92
|
|
Iowa vs. Iceland - Cost of groceries
pay 97.1% more for transportation
|
Iowa
|
Iceland
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Gasoline (1 gallon) |
$3.52
|
$8.09
ISK980
|
|
| Monthly public transit pass |
$34.83
|
$80.58
ISK9,765
|
|
| New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition) |
$32,592.26
|
$48,967.53
ISK6M
|
|
| Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles) |
$15.02
|
$26.24
ISK3,179
|
|
Iowa vs. Iceland - Cost of transportation
pay 67.5% more for housing
|
Iowa
|
Iceland
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Internet connection
50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl
|
$67.97
|
$98.24
ISK11,905
|
|
| 1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area |
$1,095.70
|
$2,335.24
ISK283K
|
|
| 1-Bedroom apartment outside city center |
$867.32
|
$1,824.40
ISK221K
|
|
|
Utilities for two
(700 sq ft apartment)
including electric, gas, water, heating
|
$143.75
|
$72.34
ISK8,766
|
|
Iowa vs. Iceland - Cost of housing
pay 5.0% more for childcare
|
Iowa
|
Iceland
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Private preschool for 1 child, monthly |
$1,080.37
|
$833.66
ISK101K
|
|
| Middle school for 1 child, two semesters |
$19,409.87
|
$27,752.37
ISK3M
|
|
Iowa vs. Iceland - Cost of childcare
pay 45.7% more for entertainment and sports
|
Iowa
|
Iceland
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Domestic/local beer (1 pint) |
$4.61
|
$11.37
ISK1,378
|
|
| Cappuccino in mid-range area |
$5.52
|
$5.90
ISK715
|
|
|
Pack of cigarettes
Marlboro or similar
|
$9.16
|
$13.85
ISK1,679
|
|
| Monthly membership at local gym |
$61.55
|
$83.64
ISK10,136
|
|
| Movie ticket to theater/cinema |
$13.85
|
$17.92
ISK2,171
|
|
Iowa vs. Iceland - Cost of entertainment and sports
pay 2.0 times more for clothing
|
Iowa
|
Iceland
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Regular jeans
Levi's brand
|
$51.95
|
$134.47
ISK16,295
|
|
|
Regular dress
from H&M or similar store
|
$38.14
|
$63.25
ISK7,664
|
|
|
Running shoes
Nike or Adidas
|
$88.30
|
$159.03
ISK19,271
|
|
| Men's business shoes (leather) |
$107.49
|
$237.19
ISK28,742
|
|
Iowa vs. Iceland - 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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Compare further: Iowa vs. Iceland
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Moving from Iowa to Iceland · Cost, visas & climate
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Compare countries by overall cost of living
See the
cost of living in United States vs. Iceland.
This provides a comparison of the average cost of living from cities within United States and Iceland.
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