Cost of living comparison
compared to
Iowa City vs. Mons Cost of Living Summary
Iowa City is 11.0% more expensive than Mons.
Iowa City vs. Mons Cost Breakdown
If you lived in Iowa City instead of Mons, you would:
pay 9.0% less for restaurants
|
Mons
|
Iowa City
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant |
$16.80
€15.00
|
$14.00
|
|
|
Fast food combo meal
McDonalds, or similar
|
$10.08
€9.00
|
$9.00
|
|
| Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz) |
$2.80
€2.50
|
$2.83
|
|
| Bottle of water (11 fl. oz) |
$1.68
€1.50
|
$2.19
|
|
Mons vs. Iowa City - Cost of restaurants
pay 4.3% less for groceries
|
Mons
|
Iowa City
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Bread
1 loaf
|
$2.24
€2.00
|
$2.71
|
|
| Local cheese (8 oz) |
$9.28
€8.28
|
$4.65
|
|
| Milk (1 gallon) |
$4.48
€4.00
|
$3.02
|
|
|
Eggs
1 dozen
|
$4.03
€3.59
|
$3.51
|
|
| Boneless chicken breast (1 lb) |
$5.62
€5.02
|
$4.77
|
|
| Apples (1 lb) |
$1.25
€1.12
|
$1.52
|
|
| Bananas (1 lb) |
$1.10
€0.98
|
$0.54
|
|
| Oranges (1 lb) |
$1.17
€1.04
|
$1.24
|
|
| Tomatoes (1 lb) |
$1.31
€1.17
|
$2.20
|
|
| Potatoes (1 lb) |
$0.97
€0.87
|
$0.92
|
|
| Onions (1 lb) |
$0.53
€0.48
|
$1.08
|
|
Mons vs. Iowa City - Cost of groceries
pay 38.8% less for transportation
|
Mons
|
Iowa City
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Gasoline (1 gallon) |
$6.75
€6.03
|
$3.83
|
|
| Monthly public transit pass |
$41.43
€36.99
|
$16.00
|
|
| New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition) |
$35,462.03
€31,663.94
|
$35,473.37
|
|
| Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles) |
$34.49
€30.79
|
$20.00
|
|
Mons vs. Iowa City - Cost of transportation
pay 56.2% more for housing
|
Mons
|
Iowa City
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Internet connection
50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl
|
$46.89
€41.87
|
$82.25
|
|
| 1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area |
$697.97
€623.21
|
$1,199.75
|
|
| 1-Bedroom apartment outside city center |
$699.83
€624.88
|
$1,075.75
|
|
|
Utilities for two
(700 sq ft apartment)
including electric, gas, water, heating
|
$170.14
€151.92
|
$206.36
|
|
Mons vs. Iowa City - Cost of housing
pay 57.4% more for childcare
|
Mons
|
Iowa City
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Private preschool for 1 child, monthly |
$559.87
€499.90
|
$1,266.67
|
|
| Middle school for 1 child, two semesters |
$21,386.95
€19,096.34
|
$23,429.75
|
|
Mons vs. Iowa City - Cost of childcare
pay 47.1% more for entertainment and sports
|
Mons
|
Iowa City
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Domestic/local beer (1 pint) |
$3.92
€3.50
|
$5.00
|
|
| Cappuccino in mid-range area |
$2.46
€2.20
|
$5.67
|
|
|
Pack of cigarettes
Marlboro or similar
|
$9.74
€8.70
|
$8.89
|
|
| Monthly membership at local gym |
$26.31
€23.50
|
$49.33
|
|
| Movie ticket to theater/cinema |
$12.32
€11.00
|
$13.50
|
|
Mons vs. Iowa City - Cost of entertainment and sports
pay 17.3% less for clothing
|
Mons
|
Iowa City
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Regular jeans
Levi's brand
|
$107.90
€96.34
|
$64.22
|
|
|
Regular dress
from H&M or similar store
|
$47.12
€42.08
|
$50.56
|
|
|
Running shoes
Nike or Adidas
|
$107.76
€96.22
|
$100.00
|
|
| Men's business shoes (leather) |
$145.57
€129.98
|
$115.00
|
|
Mons vs. Iowa City - 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 November 2026). How we calculate this
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