Cost of living comparison
compared to
Waterloo vs. Rome Cost of Living Summary
Waterloo is 12.9% cheaper than Rome.
Waterloo vs. Rome Cost Breakdown
If you lived in Waterloo instead of Rome, you would:
pay 7.6% less for restaurants
|
Rome
|
Waterloo
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant |
$16.80
€15.07
|
$16.00
|
|
|
Fast food combo meal
McDonalds, or similar
|
$11.20
€10.05
|
$9.00
|
|
| Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz) |
$2.96
€2.66
|
$2.65
|
|
| Bottle of water (11 fl. oz) |
$1.48
€1.33
|
$2.00
|
|
Rome vs. Waterloo - Cost of restaurants
pay 5.4% more for groceries
|
Rome
|
Waterloo
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Bread
1 loaf
|
$2.22
€2.00
|
$2.37
|
|
| Local cheese (8 oz) |
$7.42
€6.66
|
$6.61
|
|
| Milk (1 gallon) |
$6.49
€5.82
|
$3.64
|
|
|
Eggs
1 dozen
|
$4.66
€4.18
|
$3.69
|
|
| Boneless chicken breast (1 lb) |
$5.66
€5.08
|
$5.98
|
|
| Apples (1 lb) |
$1.17
€1.05
|
$2.13
|
|
| Bananas (1 lb) |
$1.05
€0.95
|
$0.71
|
|
| Oranges (1 lb) |
$1.09
€0.98
|
$1.75
|
|
| Tomatoes (1 lb) |
$1.07
€0.96
|
$1.99
|
|
| Potatoes (1 lb) |
$0.64
€0.58
|
$0.51
|
|
| Onions (1 lb) |
$0.72
€0.64
|
$0.99
|
|
Rome vs. Waterloo - Cost of groceries
pay 29.7% less for transportation
|
Rome
|
Waterloo
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Gasoline (1 gallon) |
$8.04
€7.21
|
$3.74
|
|
| Monthly public transit pass |
$39.19
€35.16
|
?? | |
| New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition) |
$35,551.60
€31,895.12
|
$35,957.00
|
|
| Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles) |
$20.16
€18.08
|
$20.00
|
|
Rome vs. Waterloo - Cost of transportation
pay 19.6% less for housing
|
Rome
|
Waterloo
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Internet connection
50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl
|
$31.87
€28.59
|
$60.00
|
|
| 1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area |
$1,208.81
€1,084.48
|
$851.67
|
|
| 1-Bedroom apartment outside city center |
$873.39
€783.57
|
$746.50
|
|
|
Utilities for two
(700 sq ft apartment)
including electric, gas, water, heating
|
$157.13
€140.97
|
$114.71
|
|
Rome vs. Waterloo - Cost of housing
pay 2.2 times more for childcare
|
Rome
|
Waterloo
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Private preschool for 1 child, monthly |
$487.21
€437.10
|
$1,722.92
|
|
| Middle school for 1 child, two semesters |
$16,862.20
€15,127.92
|
$23,429.75
|
|
Rome vs. Waterloo - Cost of childcare
pay 0.1% less for entertainment and sports
|
Rome
|
Waterloo
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Domestic/local beer (1 pint) |
$5.60
€5.02
|
$4.00
|
|
| Cappuccino in mid-range area |
$2.07
€1.86
|
$5.73
|
|
|
Pack of cigarettes
Marlboro or similar
|
$7.28
€6.53
|
$8.11
|
|
| Monthly membership at local gym |
$65.43
€58.70
|
$27.00
|
|
| Movie ticket to theater/cinema |
$11.20
€10.05
|
$15.00
|
|
Rome vs. Waterloo - Cost of entertainment and sports
pay 51.9% less for clothing
|
Rome
|
Waterloo
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Regular jeans
Levi's brand
|
$71.31
€63.98
|
$20.00
|
|
|
Regular dress
from H&M or similar store
|
$36.31
€32.58
|
$15.00
|
|
|
Running shoes
Nike or Adidas
|
$83.63
€75.03
|
$59.50
|
|
| Men's business shoes (leather) |
$123.17
€110.50
|
$80.00
|
|
Rome vs. Waterloo - 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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