Elkader, Iowa Cost Of Living

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Overall 17%

Goods & Services 5%

Housing 49%

Date & Last Updated: This data reflects 2021 and was released from C2ER in January, 2022; 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	Elkader	Iowa	National
Cost of living	83	89	100
Goods & Services	95	94	100
Groceries	97	98	100
Health care	106	100	100
Housing	51	73	100
Transportation	100	98	100
Utilities	99	95	100

Key findings

The cost of living in Elkader is 6% lower than the Iowa average
The cost of living in Elkader is 17% lower than the national average
Elkader housing is 49% 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	$54,231	$4,519	$1,265	$1,627
Renters	$32,778	$2,732	$765	$983

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	Elkader	National avg.	Difference
Haircut	$17.99	$20.27	11.3%
Beauty Salon	$33.32	$40.39	17.5%
Toothpaste	$2.62	$2.36	10.9%
Shampoo	$1.12	$1.08	4.1%
Movie	$8.29	$10.99	24.5%
Bowling	$14.81	$15.49	4.4%

Groceries

Item	Elkader	National avg.	Difference
Ground Beef	$4.53	$4.30	5.3%
Fried Chicken	$1.05	$1.40	25.0%
Milk	$2.84	$2.20	29.1%
Potatoes	$3.03	$3.22	5.8%
Pizza	$11.38	$10.74	5.9%
Beer	$9.42	$9.60	1.9%

Health Care

Item	Elkader	National avg.	Difference
Optometrist	$87.17	$109.73	20.6%
Doctor	$186.46	$118.34	57.6%
Dentist	$91.00	$100.94	9.8%
Ibuprofen	$9.98	$9.93	0.5%
Lipitor	$435.40	$469.53	7.3%

Housing

Item	Elkader	National avg.	Difference
Home Price	$84,200.00	$184,700.00	54.4%
Avg. Mortgage Payment	$911.31	$1,229.62	25.9%
Apartment Rent	$601.00	$949.00	36.7%

Transportation

Item	Elkader	National avg.	Difference
Gasoline	$2.89	$2.71	6.5%
Tire Balancing	$46.26	$51.86	10.8%

Utilities

Item	Elkader	National avg.	Difference
All Electricity	$169.32	$170.84	0.9%
Phone	$184.20	$187.18	1.6%

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.
Elkport, IA	25	97	-3%
St. Olaf, IA	138	78	-22%
Garber, IA	129	80	-20%
Arlington, IA	526	75	-25%
Wadena, IA	279	76	-24%
Elkader, IA	1,325	83	-17%

Cities with similar population

City, State	Population	Cost of Living Index	National Avg.
Vance, AL	1,325	95	-5%
Alton, IA	1,325	87	-13%
Griggsville, IL	1,325	82	-18%
Velda City, MO	1,325	79	-21%
Vardaman, MS	1,325	74	-26%
Elkader, IA	1,325	83	-17%

Source: The Elkader, IA cost of living data displayed above is derived from the Council for Community and Economic Research (C2ER) for 2021.