Burlington, Iowa Cost Of Living

Buy Rent

A

Overall 18%

Goods & Services 12%

Housing 45%

Date & Last Updated: This data reflects 2019 and was released from C2ER in January, 2020; this is the most current data available.

The cost of living index is based on a national average of 100. For example, if the cost of living is 90, then it is 10% lower than average. If the cost of living is 110, then it is 10% higher than average. The breakdown for each index is as follows: goods & services (33%), groceries (13%), health care (5%), housing (30%), transportation (9%) and utilities (10%). If the cost of living data was unavailable for this city, estimates based upon nearby cities were used.
Index	Burlington	Iowa	National
Cost of living	82	90	100
Goods & Services	89	96	100
Groceries	97	98	100
Health care	99	100	100
Housing	55	73	100
Transportation	90	101	100
Utilities	109	98	100

Key findings

The cost of living in Burlington is 9% lower than the Iowa average
The cost of living in Burlington is 18% lower than the national average
Burlington housing is 45% lower than the national average
Iowa general sales tax is 18% higher than the national average
Iowa state income tax is 87% lower than the national average

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Price difference in compared to

Cost of living index
Goods & Services index
Groceries index
Health care index
Housing index
Transportation index
Utilities index

Median Income & Debt-To-Income Ratio

Median Income	Per Year	Per Month	Max Budget (28% DTI)	Max Budget (36% DTI)
Owners	$49,056	$4,088	$1,145	$1,472
Renters	$25,020	$2,085	$584	$751

The affordability of the housing market in Burlington, IA as well as the overall cost of living can be predicted by what percent of the monthly income is spent on housing related costs. This is konwn as the debt-to-income ratio (DTI). The overall rule of thumb is that no more than 28% of your gross income should be spent on the overall costs related to housing and no more than 36% of gross income on all expenses and debts. Among Burlington homeowners, the median income is $49,056. This indicates that a monthly maximum of $1,145 should be spent by homeowners on all housing related costs. Renters have a median income of $25,020. This indicates that renters would have a maximum of $584 for their rent related monthly costs.

Iowa Sales Tax

State	General Sales Tax	With Max Surtax
Iowa	6%	7%

Iowa Income Tax

State	Income Tax (Low)	Income Tax (High)
Iowa	0.33%	8.53%

Goods & Services

Item	Burlington	National avg.	Difference
Haircut	$13.97	$17.49	20.1%
Beauty Salon	$20.49	$38.17	46.3%
Toothpaste	$2.16	$2.32	6.9%
Shampoo	$1.05	$1.01	3.8%
Movie	$9.00	$10.72	16.1%
Bowling	$7.75	$13.86	44.1%

Groceries

Item	Burlington	National avg.	Difference
Ground Beef	$3.39	$3.90	13.1%
Fried Chicken	$1.55	$1.40	11.1%
Milk	$2.15	$1.96	9.6%
Potatoes	$2.49	$3.18	21.8%
Pizza	$10.70	$10.39	2.9%
Beer	$9.99	$9.23	8.2%

Health Care

Item	Burlington	National avg.	Difference
Optometrist	$101.00	$106.34	5.0%
Doctor	$121.00	$115.25	5.0%
Dentist	$86.00	$98.38	12.6%
Ibuprofen	$9.49	$9.26	2.5%
Lipitor	$536.88	$466.47	15.1%

Housing

Item	Burlington	National avg.	Difference
Home Price	$87,200.00	$184,700.00	52.8%
Avg. Mortgage Payment	$892.73	$1,273.32	29.9%
Apartment Rent	$694.00	$949.00	26.9%

Transportation

Item	Burlington	National avg.	Difference
Gasoline	$2.52	$2.59	3.0%
Tire Balancing	$39.00	$48.90	20.2%

Utilities

Item	Burlington	National avg.	Difference
All Electricity	$196.50	$167.60	17.2%
Phone	$177.99	$163.42	8.9%

Although the cost of living data is updated regularly, this cost of living information is to be used as estimates only as prices can change on an ongoing basis.

Nearby cities with low cost of living

City, State	Population	Cost of Living Index	National Avg.
Pontoosuc, IL	85	73	-27%
Gladstone, IL	248	76	-24%
Oquawka, IL	1,463	77	-23%
Lomax, IL	375	77	-23%
Denmark, IA	299	78	-22%
Burlington, IA	25,492	82	-18%

Cities with similar population

City, State	Population	Cost of Living Index	National Avg.
Reading, MA	25,490	150	50%
Alvin, TX	25,500	90	-10%
Madison, MS	25,473	107	7%
Zanesville, OH	25,467	82	-18%
Oakleaf Plantation, FL	25,447	100	0%
Burlington, IA	25,492	82	-18%

Source: The Burlington, IA cost of living data displayed above is derived from the Council for Community and Economic Research (C2ER) for 2019.

Burlington, IA Cost of Living

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