Cost of living comparison
compared to
Iowa City vs. San Rafael Cost of Living Summary
Iowa City is 43.1% cheaper than San Rafael.
Iowa City vs. San Rafael Cost Breakdown
If you lived in Iowa City instead of San Rafael, you would:
pay 32.7% less for restaurants
|
San Rafael
|
Iowa City
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant |
$25.00
|
$14.00
|
|
|
Fast food combo meal
McDonalds, or similar
|
$11.89
|
$9.00
|
|
| Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz) |
$3.00
|
$2.83
|
|
| Bottle of water (11 fl. oz) |
$3.00
|
$2.19
|
|
San Rafael vs. Iowa City - Cost of restaurants
pay 51.1% less for groceries
|
San Rafael
|
Iowa City
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Bread
1 loaf
|
$4.57
|
$2.71
|
|
| Local cheese (8 oz) |
$11.51
|
$4.65
|
|
| Milk (1 gallon) |
$5.52
|
$3.02
|
|
|
Eggs
1 dozen
|
$5.55
|
$3.51
|
|
| Boneless chicken breast (1 lb) |
$6.95
|
$4.77
|
|
| Apples (1 lb) |
$3.37
|
$1.52
|
|
| Bananas (1 lb) |
$1.30
|
$0.54
|
|
| Oranges (1 lb) |
$2.93
|
$1.24
|
|
| Tomatoes (1 lb) |
$3.83
|
$2.20
|
|
| Potatoes (1 lb) |
$2.67
|
$0.92
|
|
| Onions (1 lb) |
$2.50
|
$1.08
|
|
San Rafael vs. Iowa City - Cost of groceries
pay 39.8% less for transportation
|
San Rafael
|
Iowa City
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Gasoline (1 gallon) |
$5.36
|
$3.83
|
|
| Monthly public transit pass |
$65.00
|
$16.00
|
|
| New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition) |
$32,500.00
|
$35,473.37
|
|
| Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles) |
$38.80
|
$20.00
|
|
San Rafael vs. Iowa City - Cost of transportation
pay 54.5% less for housing
|
San Rafael
|
Iowa City
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Internet connection
50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl
|
$61.25
|
$82.25
|
|
| 1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area |
$3,100.00
|
$1,199.75
|
|
| 1-Bedroom apartment outside city center |
$3,166.67
|
$1,075.75
|
|
|
Utilities for two
(700 sq ft apartment)
including electric, gas, water, heating
|
$194.83
|
$206.36
|
|
San Rafael vs. Iowa City - Cost of housing
pay 24.5% less for childcare
|
San Rafael
|
Iowa City
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Private preschool for 1 child, monthly |
$2,117.50
|
$1,266.67
|
|
| Middle school for 1 child, two semesters |
$24,600.00
|
$23,429.75
|
|
San Rafael vs. Iowa City - Cost of childcare
pay 19.9% less for entertainment and sports
|
San Rafael
|
Iowa City
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Domestic/local beer (1 pint) |
$5.50
|
$5.00
|
|
| Cappuccino in mid-range area |
$4.75
|
$5.67
|
|
|
Pack of cigarettes
Marlboro or similar
|
$11.00
|
$8.89
|
|
| Monthly membership at local gym |
$121.67
|
$49.33
|
|
| Movie ticket to theater/cinema |
$13.00
|
$13.50
|
|
San Rafael vs. Iowa City - Cost of entertainment and sports
pay 4.6% more for clothing
|
San Rafael
|
Iowa City
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Regular jeans
Levi's brand
|
$60.00
|
$64.22
|
|
|
Regular dress
from H&M or similar store
|
$42.33
|
$50.56
|
|
|
Running shoes
Nike or Adidas
|
$95.25
|
$100.00
|
|
| Men's business shoes (leather) |
$128.75
|
$115.00
|
|
San Rafael vs. Iowa City - 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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