Cost of living comparison
compared to
Ames vs. Mountain View Cost of Living Summary
Ames is 39.2% cheaper than Mountain View.
Ames vs. Mountain View Cost Breakdown
If you lived in Ames instead of Mountain View, you would:
pay 6.4% less for restaurants
|
Mountain View
|
Ames
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant |
$20.00
|
$18.00
|
|
|
Fast food combo meal
McDonalds, or similar
|
$12.00
|
$12.00
|
|
| Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz) |
$2.75
|
$2.67
|
|
| Bottle of water (11 fl. oz) |
$2.70
|
$2.31
|
|
Mountain View vs. Ames - Cost of restaurants
pay 10.9% less for groceries
|
Mountain View
|
Ames
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Bread
1 loaf
|
$4.30
|
$3.58
|
|
| Local cheese (8 oz) |
$8.27
|
$5.14
|
|
| Milk (1 gallon) |
$4.90
|
$3.28
|
|
|
Eggs
1 dozen
|
$5.38
|
$3.42
|
|
| Boneless chicken breast (1 lb) |
$5.33
|
$6.15
|
|
| Apples (1 lb) |
$2.50
|
$2.63
|
|
| Bananas (1 lb) |
$0.88
|
$0.83
|
|
| Oranges (1 lb) |
$2.00
|
$3.00
|
|
| Tomatoes (1 lb) |
$2.66
|
$2.33
|
|
| Potatoes (1 lb) |
$1.75
|
$2.00
|
|
| Onions (1 lb) |
$2.60
|
$1.89
|
|
Mountain View vs. Ames - Cost of groceries
pay 39.0% less for transportation
|
Mountain View
|
Ames
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Gasoline (1 gallon) |
$5.78
|
$3.58
|
|
| Monthly public transit pass | ?? |
$35.00
|
|
| New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition) |
$36,998.00
|
$25,000.00
|
|
| Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles) |
$43.77
|
$18.68
|
|
Mountain View vs. Ames - Cost of transportation
pay 63.5% less for housing
|
Mountain View
|
Ames
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Internet connection
50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl
|
$63.00
|
$71.25
|
|
| 1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area |
$2,898.75
|
$1,020.00
|
|
| 1-Bedroom apartment outside city center |
$3,028.33
|
$822.75
|
|
|
Utilities for two
(700 sq ft apartment)
including electric, gas, water, heating
|
$224.96
|
$136.55
|
|
Mountain View vs. Ames - Cost of housing
pay 5.2% less for childcare
|
Mountain View
|
Ames
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Private preschool for 1 child, monthly |
$2,285.25
|
$1,364.44
|
|
| Middle school for 1 child, two semesters |
$24,000.00
|
$36,151.80
|
|
Mountain View vs. Ames - Cost of childcare
pay 13.4% less for entertainment and sports
|
Mountain View
|
Ames
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Domestic/local beer (1 pint) |
$7.00
|
$4.00
|
|
| Cappuccino in mid-range area |
$5.33
|
$5.00
|
|
|
Pack of cigarettes
Marlboro or similar
|
$11.71
|
$13.00
|
|
| Monthly membership at local gym |
$72.25
|
$68.33
|
|
| Movie ticket to theater/cinema |
$17.00
|
$16.00
|
|
Mountain View vs. Ames - Cost of entertainment and sports
pay 32.3% less for clothing
|
Mountain View
|
Ames
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Regular jeans
Levi's brand
|
$51.67
|
$57.94
|
|
|
Regular dress
from H&M or similar store
|
$100.00
|
$44.06
|
|
|
Running shoes
Nike or Adidas
|
$150.00
|
$90.00
|
|
| Men's business shoes (leather) |
$150.00
|
$106.02
|
|
Mountain View vs. Ames - 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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