Cost of living comparison
compared to
Iowa City vs. Moscow Cost of Living Summary
Iowa City is 87.4% more expensive than Moscow.
- Restaurants
-
pay 90.7% more in Iowa City
- Groceries
-
pay 83.5% more in Iowa City
- Transportation
-
pay 52.9% more in Iowa City
- Housing
-
pay 3.3 times more in Iowa City
- Childcare
-
pay 82.6% more in Iowa City
- Entertainment and Sports
-
pay 81.6% more in Iowa City
- Clothing
-
pay 13.0% less in Iowa City
The cost of housing, restaurants, groceries, childcare, entertainment and sports, and transportation in Iowa City are more expensive than in Moscow. Notably, housing, restaurants, and groceries are significantly more expensive in Iowa City.
Iowa City vs. Moscow Cost Breakdown
If you lived in Iowa City instead of Moscow, you would:
pay 90.7% more for restaurants
|
Moscow
|
Iowa City
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant |
$11.93
RUB927.45
|
$15.00
|
|
|
Fast food combo meal
McDonalds, or similar
|
$5.97
RUB463.73
|
$9.00
|
|
| Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz) |
$1.38
RUB107.44
|
$2.62
|
|
| Bottle of water (11 fl. oz) |
$0.61
RUB47.53
|
$1.81
|
|
Moscow vs. Iowa City - Cost of restaurants
pay 83.5% more for groceries
|
Moscow
|
Iowa City
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Bread
1 loaf
|
$0.85
RUB65.76
|
$2.68
|
|
| Local cheese (8 oz) |
$6.27
RUB487.29
|
$4.65
|
|
| Milk (1 gallon) |
$4.62
RUB359.07
|
$3.27
|
|
|
Eggs
1 dozen
|
$1.68
RUB130.76
|
$4.13
|
|
| Boneless chicken breast (1 lb) |
$2.46
RUB191.42
|
$4.77
|
|
| Apples (1 lb) |
$0.81
RUB62.89
|
$1.52
|
|
| Bananas (1 lb) |
$0.87
RUB67.62
|
$0.54
|
|
| Oranges (1 lb) |
$0.90
RUB70.09
|
$1.24
|
|
| Tomatoes (1 lb) |
$1.64
RUB127.43
|
$2.23
|
|
| Potatoes (1 lb) |
$0.43
RUB33.17
|
$0.92
|
|
| Onions (1 lb) |
$0.34
RUB26.31
|
$1.29
|
|
Moscow vs. Iowa City - Cost of groceries
pay 52.9% more for transportation
|
Moscow
|
Iowa City
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Gasoline (1 gallon) |
$2.84
RUB220.59
|
$3.01
|
|
| Monthly public transit pass |
$36.64
RUB2,847.28
|
$16.00
|
|
| New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition) |
$36,994.59
RUB2,875,107.01
|
$29,454.22
|
|
| Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles) |
$5.73
RUB445.18
|
$21.90
|
|
Moscow vs. Iowa City - Cost of transportation
pay 3.3 times more for housing
|
Moscow
|
Iowa City
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Internet connection
50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl
|
$7.82
RUB607.45
|
$72.85
|
|
| 1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area |
$1,253.04
RUB97,382.66
|
$1,231.25
|
|
| 1-Bedroom apartment outside city center |
$709.24
RUB55,120.27
|
$1,100.00
|
|
|
Utilities for two
(700 sq ft apartment)
including electric, gas, water, heating
|
$110.60
RUB8,595.15
|
$163.91
|
|
Moscow vs. Iowa City - Cost of housing
pay 82.6% more for childcare
|
Moscow
|
Iowa City
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Private preschool for 1 child, monthly |
$656.36
RUB51,009.96
|
$1,266.67
|
|
| Middle school for 1 child, two semesters |
$14,285.88
RUB1,110,255.03
|
$24,601.00
|
|
Moscow vs. Iowa City - Cost of childcare
pay 81.6% more for entertainment and sports
|
Moscow
|
Iowa City
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Domestic/local beer (1 pint) |
$4.18
RUB324.61
|
$5.00
|
|
| Cappuccino in mid-range area |
$3.16
RUB245.32
|
$5.38
|
|
|
Pack of cigarettes
Marlboro or similar
|
$2.98
RUB231.86
|
$9.00
|
|
| Monthly membership at local gym |
$44.58
RUB3,464.53
|
$49.33
|
|
| Movie ticket to theater/cinema |
$6.56
RUB510.10
|
$13.50
|
|
Moscow vs. Iowa City - Cost of entertainment and sports
pay 13.0% less for clothing
|
Moscow
|
Iowa City
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Regular jeans
Levi's brand
|
$76.06
RUB5,910.82
|
$70.00
|
|
|
Regular dress
from H&M or similar store
|
$47.73
RUB3,709.82
|
$48.33
|
|
|
Running shoes
Nike or Adidas
|
$122.95
RUB9,554.97
|
$100.00
|
|
| Men's business shoes (leather) |
$156.80
RUB12,185.71
|
$115.00
|
|
Moscow vs. Iowa City - Cost of clothing
The statistics used to build this comparison are calculated using data from users just like you.
We average the price of thousands of data points entered by users across the world.
Learn more about our data sources. Page last updated: December 2025
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