Iowa Cost of Living Comparison

Iowa: low prices with above-average purchasing power

Low prices often travel with low incomes. Iowa breaks that pattern. Real per capita personal income, which adjusts for Iowa's low price level, is $60,144, rank 19 and 1.6% above the U.S. figure of $59,195, even though the median household income of $75,059 ranks only 32nd.

Savings are broad, not just in rent. Other services (92.927) are the third-cheapest in the country, goods (93.730) rank fourth, and rents (65.322) eighth. Utilities, at 83.274, are 16.73% below the national level. The two-bedroom gross-rent median is $989, rank 43, and renters spend 27.4% of income on gross rent, one of the lowest shares anywhere.

Property tax is where Iowa looks less like a bargain. Owners paid a median $2,897 a year in real estate taxes, rank 22, on homes with a median value of $208,000, which ranks 46th. Owners with a mortgage still report median monthly costs of only $1,533, rank 42.

Iowa has become relatively cheaper. Its all-items parity was 90.610 in 2020 and 87.762 in 2024, a decline of 2.848 points against the national level.

The state government collected $3,743 per resident in fiscal 2025 (rank 33), with general sales supplying 38.6%, individual income tax 31.4% and licenses 9.2%. Iowa's income tax is a flat 3.8% for 2026.

Iowa has the lowest price level of all six of its neighbours. Illinois, at 99.958 with a two-bedroom median of $1,284, and Minnesota, at 98.621 with $1,356, are the costliest; South Dakota (88.586) and Nebraska (90.103) come closest. Oklahoma (87.843) is Iowa's nearest match nationally.

Before you budget a move

Iowa’s verified broad price parity is among the lowest state values in the current release. Treat that as a population price-level comparison. It does not establish the cost of a particular Des Moines lease, a chosen property or a move that changes the household’s employment and benefit package.

Retirement eligibility can change the prepared Iowa income-tax liability, but that liability is not estimated from these housing medians. For a working household, compare actual compensation, health coverage and travel requirements. A statewide median cannot distinguish a single earner from a household with several workers.