Iowa City vs. Peoria Cost of Living Summary

Iowa City is 10.4% more expensive than Peoria.

Restaurants
pay 11.1% more in Iowa City
Groceries
pay 11.2% less in Iowa City
Transportation
pay 26.3% less in Iowa City
Housing
pay 26.7% more in Iowa City
Childcare
pay 63.4% more in Iowa City
Entertainment and Sports
pay 10.9% more in Iowa City
Clothing
pay 82.7% more in Iowa City

The cost of clothing, childcare, housing, restaurants, and entertainment and sports in Iowa City are more expensive than in Peoria. Expenses including transportation and groceries are lower in Iowa City. Notably, clothing is significantly more expensive in Iowa City.

Iowa City vs. Peoria Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Iowa City instead of Peoria, you would:

pay 11.1% more for restaurants

 
Peoria
Iowa City
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant $15.00
 
$14.00
 
Fast food combo meal
McDonalds, or similar
$8.00
 
$9.00
 
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz) $2.17
 
$2.83
 

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pay 11.2% less for groceries

 
Peoria
Iowa City
Bread
1 loaf
$2.34
 
$2.71
 
Local cheese (8 oz) $6.06
 
$4.65
 
Milk (1 gallon) $2.70
 
$3.02
 

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pay 26.3% less for transportation

 
Peoria
Iowa City
Gasoline (1 gallon) $4.27
 
$3.83
 
Monthly public transit pass $40.00
 
$16.00
 
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition) $36,531.00
 
$35,473.37
 

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pay 26.7% more for housing

 
Peoria
Iowa City
Internet connection
50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl
$65.00
 
$82.25
 
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area $1,029.83
 
$1,199.75
 
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center $791.67
 
$1,075.75
 

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pay 63.4% more for childcare

 
Peoria
Iowa City
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly $879.75
 
$1,266.67
 
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters $12,631.67
 
$23,429.75
 

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pay 10.9% more for entertainment and sports

 
Peoria
Iowa City
Domestic/local beer (1 pint) $4.50
 
$5.00
 
Cappuccino in mid-range area $5.50
 
$5.67
 
Pack of cigarettes
Marlboro or similar
$11.99
 
$8.89
 

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pay 82.7% more for clothing

 
Peoria
Iowa City
Regular jeans
Levi's brand
$46.67
 
$64.22
 
Regular dress
from H&M or similar store
$25.00
 
$50.56
 
Running shoes
Nike or Adidas
$57.50
 
$100.00
 

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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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