Before you decide to relocate to Iowa, it’s important to research the exact cost of living around the state. And that’s what we’re going to help you do.
These are the places in Iowa that cost a pretty penny — the most expensive cities in the state.
We used Saturday Night Science to compare the 2020-2024 American Community Survey on cost of living for the 85 places in Iowa with more than 5,000 people.
After we saved up for months and could finally afford it, we landed on this list of the ten most expensive cities in Iowa for 2026.
$164,389 median income · $427,587 median home · #1 home prices in Iowa
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
$106,551 median income · $394,441 median home · #3 home prices in Iowa
Located in
Polk County, Iowa
Johnston is a city in Polk County, Iowa, United States. The population was 17,278 in the 2010 census, an increase of almost 100% from the 8,649 population in the 2000 census. It is part of the Des Moines-West Des Moines Metropolitan Statistical Area.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
$132,121 median income · $425,730 median home · #2 home prices in Iowa
Located in
Polk County, Iowa
Clive is a city in Dallas and Polk counties in the U.S. state of Iowa. As of the 2010 Census the population is at 15,447. It is part of the Des Moines-West Des Moines Metropolitan Statistical Area. Clive is known for its Greenbelt Park and trail system running through the entire community. Clive serves as the axis of the western Des Moines suburbs, being located between Urbandale, Waukee and West Des Moines along the major transportation corridors of I-35, I-80 and I-235. The City of Urbandale is to the north to northwest, the City of West Des Moines is to the southeast to southwest, the City of Waukee in Dallas County is to the west.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
$124,957 median income · $381,428 median home · #5 home prices in Iowa
Asbury is a city in Dubuque County, Iowa, United States, and a suburb of the city of Dubuque. It is part of the Dubuque, Iowa Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 4,357 at the 2010 census. Asbury is the second-largest city in Dubuque County, surpassing Dyersville, Iowa to become the second-largest in the 2010 U.S. Census count. The city is largely a bedroom community, made up of spacious, new subdivisions whose residents work in Dubuque or Peosta, Iowa.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
$112,795 median income · $349,851 median home · #8 home prices in Iowa
Located in
Polk County, Iowa
Urbandale is a city in Polk and Dallas counties in the U.S. state of Iowa. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 39,463. It is part of the Des Moines-West Des Moines Metropolitan Statistical Area.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
$108,198 median income · $338,168 median home · #13 home prices in Iowa
Located in
Polk County, Iowa
Ankeny is a city in Polk County, Iowa, United States and home to Des Moines Area Community College. The population was 45,562 in the 2010 census, an increase of 68% from the 27,117 population in the 2000 census. It is part of the Des Moines-West Des Moines Metropolitan Statistical Area. It is one of the most affluent cities in all of Iowa.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
$69,144 median income · $256,223 median home · #36 home prices in Iowa
Located in
Johnson County, Iowa
Coralville is a city in Johnson County, Iowa, United States. It is a suburb of Iowa City and part of the Iowa City Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 18,907 at the 2010 census.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
$106,316 median income · $347,341 median home · #10 home prices in Iowa
Located in
Scott County, Iowa
Eldridge is a city in Scott County, Iowa, United States. The population was 6,162 in a 2014 census estimate; Eldridge is a suburb and also part of the Quad Cities metropolitan area.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
$102,102 median income · $307,636 median home · #25 home prices in Iowa
Located in
Johnson County, Iowa
North Liberty is a city in Johnson County, Iowa, United States. It is a suburb of Iowa City and part of the Iowa City Metropolitan Statistical Area.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
$100,495 median income · $328,096 median home · #17 home prices in Iowa
Located in
Scott County, Iowa
Bettendorf is a city in Scott County, Iowa, United States. Bettendorf is the fifteenth largest city in the U.S. state of Iowa and the fourth largest city in the “Quad Cities”. It is part of the Davenport-Moline-Rock Island, IA-IL Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 33,217 at the 2010 census, and was estimated to be 35,505 by July 2015. Bettendorf is one of the Quad Cities, along with neighboring Davenport and the Illinois cities of Moline, East Moline and Rock Island. The Quad Cities has a population estimate of 382,630. In 2011, Bettendorf was named U.S. 95th Best Town by CNNMoney.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
The receipts
Compare the top ten
Pick a metric. The bars rescale. The red line is Iowa’s statewide median.
Iowa statewide median: $231,585
Iowa statewide median: $75,059
On the map
Mapping the most expensive places in Iowa
Saturday Night Science
Methodology: How We Determined The Most Expensive Places To Live In The Hawkeye State For 2026
The two most important things to think about when it comes to being able to afford a city in Iowa are how much money you make and how much you have to spend to live there.
You need to understand your costs in the context of how much money you make.
For example, if the median household earns $100,000 and spends $40,000 on housing, it’s actually cheaper to live there than a place with a median income of $50,000 and housing costs of $21,000. You might spend more on housing, but you have more money overall to play with.
With that example in mind, we derived several statistics from the latest Census American Community Survey 2020-2024 around incomes and costs. They are:
- Overall Cost Of Living Index
- Median Home Price / Median Income (lower is better)
- Median Income / Median Rent (Higher is better)
- Median Home Price
You can then compare these metrics in each of the places in Iowa to figure out which is the most expensive.
You are left with a “Cost of Living Index” by taking the average rank of each of these metrics for each city.
So we used that cost of living index to rank all of the 85 places in Iowa that have more than 5,000 people.
The place with the highest cost of living in Iowa according to the data is Polk City. We updated this article for 2026. This article is our eleventh time ranking the most expensive places to live in Iowa.
The full plate
Most Expensive Cities In Iowa
Click any column to sort. Search by city name.
| Rank | City | Cost Of Living | Population | Median Income | Average Home Price | Home/Income Ratio |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Polk City | 113 | 6,037 | $164,389 | $427,587 | 2.6x |
| 2 | Johnston | 110 | 24,384 | $106,551 | $394,441 | 3.7x |
| 3 | Clive | 110 | 19,012 | $132,121 | $425,730 | 3.2x |
| 4 | Asbury | 108 | 5,989 | $124,957 | $381,428 | 3.1x |
| 5 | Urbandale | 107 | 46,595 | $112,795 | $349,851 | 3.1x |
| 6 | Ankeny | 106 | 72,615 | $108,198 | $338,168 | 3.1x |
| 7 | Coralville | 106 | 23,234 | $69,144 | $256,223 | 3.7x |
| 8 | Eldridge | 106 | 6,818 | $106,316 | $347,341 | 3.3x |
| 9 | North Liberty | 105 | 21,125 | $102,102 | $307,636 | 3.0x |
| 10 | Bettendorf | 104 | 39,647 | $100,495 | $328,096 | 3.3x |
| 11 | Waukee | 104 | 29,236 | $101,029 | $338,881 | 3.4x |
| 12 | Iowa City | 103 | 75,752 | $58,546 | $298,092 | 5.1x |
| 13 | West Des Moines | 103 | 71,083 | $86,594 | $320,156 | 3.7x |
| 14 | Grimes | 103 | 16,366 | $120,037 | $348,193 | 2.9x |
| 15 | Pleasant Hill | 103 | 11,136 | $90,508 | $299,730 | 3.3x |
| 16 | Tiffin | 103 | 5,737 | $100,952 | $327,121 | 3.2x |
| 17 | Sergeant Bluff | 102 | 5,171 | $123,481 | $354,762 | 2.9x |
| 18 | Windsor Heights | 102 | 5,143 | $91,707 | $282,953 | 3.1x |
| 19 | Ames | 101 | 67,669 | $60,991 | $274,367 | 4.5x |
| 20 | Cedar Falls | 101 | 40,888 | $76,987 | $259,137 | 3.4x |
| 21 | Norwalk | 101 | 14,183 | $102,722 | $332,836 | 3.2x |
| 22 | Bondurant | 101 | 8,560 | $135,674 | $330,602 | 2.4x |
| 23 | Pella | 100 | 10,720 | $84,111 | $351,502 | 4.2x |
| 24 | Altoona | 99 | 21,495 | $86,114 | $317,902 | 3.7x |
| 25 | Sioux Center | 99 | 8,454 | $92,983 | $345,761 | 3.7x |
| 26 | Spirit Lake | 99 | 5,518 | $65,720 | $328,918 | 5.0x |
| 27 | Decorah | 98 | 7,535 | $64,366 | $304,335 | 4.7x |
| 28 | Adel | 97 | 6,430 | $95,250 | $390,598 | 4.1x |
| 29 | Indianola | 95 | 16,044 | $75,453 | $309,171 | 4.1x |
| 30 | Waverly | 95 | 10,494 | $80,284 | $271,473 | 3.4x |
| 31 | Algona | 95 | 5,377 | $56,040 | $179,883 | 3.2x |
| 32 | Marion | 94 | 41,896 | $86,743 | $271,355 | 3.1x |
| 33 | Le Mars | 94 | 10,640 | $74,701 | $275,107 | 3.7x |
| 34 | Clear Lake | 94 | 7,607 | $79,415 | $322,831 | 4.1x |
| 35 | Dubuque | 93 | 59,174 | $65,845 | $245,147 | 3.7x |
| 36 | Hiawatha | 93 | 7,206 | $66,270 | $254,300 | 3.8x |
| 37 | Orange City | 93 | 6,426 | $82,122 | $314,346 | 3.8x |
| 38 | Glenwood | 93 | 5,144 | $71,790 | $310,533 | 4.3x |
| 39 | Cedar Rapids | 92 | 137,264 | $70,424 | $204,112 | 2.9x |
| 40 | Muscatine | 92 | 23,489 | $58,117 | $184,866 | 3.2x |
| 41 | Grinnell | 92 | 9,505 | $65,320 | $208,194 | 3.2x |
| 42 | Winterset | 92 | 5,416 | $67,708 | $289,608 | 4.3x |
| 43 | Storm Lake | 91 | 11,428 | $62,765 | $177,022 | 2.8x |
| 44 | Independence | 91 | 6,164 | $73,806 | $216,073 | 2.9x |
| 45 | Des Moines | 90 | 212,421 | $65,932 | $208,166 | 3.2x |
| 46 | Davenport | 90 | 100,913 | $66,200 | $187,412 | 2.8x |
| 47 | Newton | 90 | 15,700 | $57,771 | $200,884 | 3.5x |
| 48 | Carroll | 90 | 10,208 | $69,706 | $200,081 | 2.9x |
| 49 | Washington | 90 | 7,290 | $55,373 | $190,722 | 3.4x |
| 50 | Sioux City | 89 | 86,101 | $68,906 | $196,299 | 2.8x |
| 51 | Waterloo | 89 | 67,008 | $57,480 | $143,280 | 2.5x |
| 52 | Burlington | 89 | 23,728 | $59,000 | $123,915 | 2.1x |
| 53 | Spencer | 89 | 11,400 | $59,667 | $193,031 | 3.2x |
| 54 | Nevada | 89 | 6,983 | $75,094 | $241,439 | 3.2x |
| 55 | Council Bluffs | 88 | 62,586 | $64,578 | $223,906 | 3.5x |
| 56 | Boone | 88 | 12,424 | $69,222 | $210,007 | 3.0x |
| 57 | Fort Madison | 88 | 10,133 | $50,705 | $109,640 | 2.2x |
| 58 | Fairfield | 88 | 9,456 | $51,311 | $158,194 | 3.1x |
| 59 | Mount Pleasant | 88 | 8,951 | $61,042 | $191,462 | 3.1x |
| 60 | Sheldon | 88 | 5,474 | $62,159 | $220,403 | 3.5x |
| 61 | Clinton | 87 | 24,322 | $60,230 | $127,331 | 2.1x |
| 62 | Denison | 87 | 8,260 | $65,684 | $176,095 | 2.7x |
| 63 | Estherville | 87 | 5,839 | $54,124 | $122,713 | 2.3x |
| 64 | Anamosa | 87 | 5,629 | $60,650 | $243,589 | 4.0x |
| 65 | Mason City | 86 | 27,050 | $64,804 | $154,095 | 2.4x |
| 66 | Keokuk | 86 | 9,662 | $52,711 | $80,981 | 1.5x |
| 67 | Atlantic | 86 | 6,763 | $61,141 | $158,965 | 2.6x |
| 68 | Creston | 85 | 7,435 | $52,633 | $152,979 | 2.9x |
| 69 | Osceola | 85 | 5,523 | $68,284 | $187,628 | 2.7x |
| 70 | Manchester | 85 | 5,191 | $61,191 | $222,974 | 3.6x |
| 71 | Ottumwa | 84 | 25,430 | $61,103 | $121,425 | 2.0x |
| 72 | Fort Dodge | 84 | 24,827 | $60,649 | $129,004 | 2.1x |
| 73 | Oskaloosa | 84 | 11,504 | $64,004 | $186,483 | 2.9x |
| 74 | Perry | 84 | 7,985 | $68,910 | $172,452 | 2.5x |
| 75 | Knoxville | 84 | 7,473 | $61,599 | $203,230 | 3.3x |
| 76 | Charles City | 84 | 7,232 | $59,180 | $140,721 | 2.4x |
| 77 | Red Oak | 84 | 5,510 | $50,109 | $136,874 | 2.7x |
| 78 | Iowa Falls | 84 | 5,038 | $50,417 | $130,589 | 2.6x |
| 79 | Marshalltown | 83 | 27,626 | $69,068 | $173,581 | 2.5x |
| 80 | Webster City | 83 | 7,769 | $63,430 | $147,379 | 2.3x |
| 81 | Oelwein | 83 | 5,834 | $46,653 | $109,878 | 2.4x |
| 82 | Centerville | 82 | 5,372 | $46,563 | $80,251 | 1.7x |
| 83 | Clarinda | 82 | 5,353 | $46,348 | $125,019 | 2.7x |
| 84 | Cherokee | 82 | 5,154 | $61,750 | $148,066 | 2.4x |
| 85 | Maquoketa | 81 | 6,075 | $60,240 | $197,794 | 3.3x |
Source: U.S. Census ACS 2020-2024, Zillow research. 85 places with more than 5,000 residents.
Summary
Summary: Taking A Chunk Out Of Your Paycheck In Iowa For 2026
Well, there you have it, the places in Iowa that have the highest cost of living, with Polk City ranking as the most expensive city in the Hawkeye State.
The most expensive cities in Iowa are Polk City, Johnston, Clive, Asbury, Urbandale, Ankeny, Coralville, Eldridge, North Liberty, and Bettendorf.
