Elkhart, Iowa Cost Of Living

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Overall 17%

Goods & Services 10%

Housing 37%

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	Elkhart	Iowa	National
Cost of living	83	89	100
Goods & Services	90	94	100
Groceries	99	98	100
Health care	92	100	100
Housing	63	73	100
Transportation	93	98	100
Utilities	86	95	100

Key findings

The cost of living in Elkhart is 6% lower than the Iowa average
The cost of living in Elkhart is 17% lower than the national average
Elkhart housing is 37% 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	$60,000	$5,000	$1,400	$1,800
Renters	$0	$0	$0	$0

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	Elkhart	National avg.	Difference
Haircut	$18.13	$20.27	10.5%
Beauty Salon	$32.12	$40.39	20.5%
Toothpaste	$1.77	$2.36	24.9%
Shampoo	$1.16	$1.08	8.2%
Movie	$9.50	$10.99	13.6%
Bowling	$18.53	$15.49	19.6%

Groceries

Item	Elkhart	National avg.	Difference
Ground Beef	$3.49	$4.30	18.8%
Fried Chicken	$1.57	$1.40	12.1%
Milk	$2.34	$2.20	6.1%
Potatoes	$2.65	$3.22	17.6%
Pizza	$10.15	$10.74	5.5%
Beer	$9.18	$9.60	4.3%

Health Care

Item	Elkhart	National avg.	Difference
Optometrist	$115.02	$109.73	4.8%
Doctor	$115.47	$118.34	2.4%
Dentist	$80.69	$100.94	20.1%
Ibuprofen	$8.79	$9.93	11.5%
Lipitor	$478.90	$469.53	2.0%

Housing

Item	Elkhart	National avg.	Difference
Home Price	$121,900.00	$184,700.00	34.0%
Avg. Mortgage Payment	$993.05	$1,229.62	19.2%
Apartment Rent	$547.00	$949.00	42.4%

Transportation

Item	Elkhart	National avg.	Difference
Gasoline	$2.38	$2.71	12.1%
Tire Balancing	$52.56	$51.86	1.4%

Utilities

Item	Elkhart	National avg.	Difference
All Electricity	$129.70	$170.84	24.1%
Phone	$184.26	$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	Population	Cost of Living Index	National Avg.
Valeria, IA	46	76	24.0%
Colfax, IA	1,925	80	19.5%
Mingo, IA	255	81	19.0%
Collins, IA	458	85	15.1%
Maxwell, IA	839	88	12.4%
Elkhart, IA	815	83	16.7%

Cities with similar population

City	Population	Cost of Living Index	National Avg.
Hennepin, IL	815	86	13.7%
Gaston, IN	815	75	24.7%
Heidelberg, MS	815	80	19.5%
Fort Calhoun, NE	815	93	7.0%
Tatum, NM	815	79	21.3%
Elkhart, IA	815	83	16.7%

Source: This data reflects 2021 and was released from C2ER in January, 2022; this is the most current data available.