Cost of living comparison
compared to
Iowa vs. Pennsylvania Cost of Living Summary
Iowa is 15.5% cheaper than Pennsylvania.
Iowa vs. Pennsylvania Cost Breakdown
If you lived in Iowa instead of Pennsylvania, you would:
pay 1.4% less for restaurants
|
Pennsylvania
|
Iowa
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant |
$18.33
|
$17.44
|
|
|
Fast food combo meal
McDonalds, or similar
|
$10.65
|
$10.71
|
|
| Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz) |
$2.53
|
$2.66
|
|
| Bottle of water (11 fl. oz) |
$1.90
|
$1.93
|
|
Pennsylvania vs. Iowa - Cost of restaurants
pay 12.3% less for groceries
|
Pennsylvania
|
Iowa
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Bread
1 loaf
|
$3.46
|
$2.86
|
|
| Local cheese (8 oz) |
$6.84
|
$5.29
|
|
| Milk (1 gallon) |
$4.40
|
$3.19
|
|
|
Eggs
1 dozen
|
$4.50
|
$3.35
|
|
| Boneless chicken breast (1 lb) |
$5.00
|
$4.87
|
|
| Apples (1 lb) |
$2.36
|
$2.11
|
|
| Bananas (1 lb) |
$0.74
|
$0.65
|
|
| Oranges (1 lb) |
$1.98
|
$2.01
|
|
| Tomatoes (1 lb) |
$2.15
|
$1.93
|
|
| Potatoes (1 lb) |
$1.09
|
$1.07
|
|
| Onions (1 lb) |
$1.30
|
$1.29
|
|
Pennsylvania vs. Iowa - Cost of groceries
pay 21.1% less for transportation
|
Pennsylvania
|
Iowa
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Gasoline (1 gallon) |
$3.94
|
$3.52
|
|
| Monthly public transit pass |
$68.65
|
$34.83
|
|
| New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition) |
$32,933.68
|
$32,592.26
|
|
| Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles) |
$19.11
|
$15.02
|
|
Pennsylvania vs. Iowa - Cost of transportation
pay 20.5% less for housing
|
Pennsylvania
|
Iowa
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Internet connection
50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl
|
$65.07
|
$67.97
|
|
| 1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area |
$1,409.20
|
$1,095.70
|
|
| 1-Bedroom apartment outside city center |
$1,175.46
|
$867.32
|
|
|
Utilities for two
(700 sq ft apartment)
including electric, gas, water, heating
|
$152.75
|
$143.75
|
|
Pennsylvania vs. Iowa - Cost of housing
pay 39.6% less for childcare
|
Pennsylvania
|
Iowa
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Private preschool for 1 child, monthly |
$1,599.14
|
$1,080.37
|
|
| Middle school for 1 child, two semesters |
$35,945.71
|
$19,409.87
|
|
Pennsylvania vs. Iowa - Cost of childcare
pay 2.7% more for entertainment and sports
|
Pennsylvania
|
Iowa
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Domestic/local beer (1 pint) |
$5.83
|
$4.61
|
|
| Cappuccino in mid-range area |
$5.07
|
$5.52
|
|
|
Pack of cigarettes
Marlboro or similar
|
$11.50
|
$9.16
|
|
| Monthly membership at local gym |
$40.88
|
$61.55
|
|
| Movie ticket to theater/cinema |
$15.17
|
$13.85
|
|
Pennsylvania vs. Iowa - Cost of entertainment and sports
pay 2.3% less for clothing
|
Pennsylvania
|
Iowa
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Regular jeans
Levi's brand
|
$49.41
|
$51.95
|
|
|
Regular dress
from H&M or similar store
|
$43.41
|
$38.14
|
|
|
Running shoes
Nike or Adidas
|
$88.01
|
$88.30
|
|
| Men's business shoes (leather) |
$109.25
|
$107.49
|
|
Pennsylvania vs. Iowa - 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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