Uprootmap

Ames, IA

Modelled metro

Cost of living in Ames: $2,415 leftover

Cost of living in Ames, as leftover, is $2,415 a month for one adult, renting a 1-bedroom on local pay — take-home after tax minus rent of $760 and the rest of the modelled month. A price index would say non-housing costs run 13% below the US average. Iowa charges a 3.80% flat income tax. Ames is a modelled metro: rent, wages and prices come from Zillow, Census and BEA, not a hand-written city essay.

Compare vs ChicagoHow the math works

These figures start from one adult in a one-bedroom, on local pay of about $98,500. Change the job, the pay, or how many bedrooms you need, and leftover changes. This is a monthly budget, not a cost-of-living index.

The month, in dollars

Take-home is $4,891 after tax. These lines are the modelled bills, then what is left. The monthly costs page is the same household inside the city hub.

Monthly costs and leftover in Ames
Rent$760
Groceries$347
Transport$457
Healthcare$391
Utilities$217
Childcare$0
Everything else$304
Total costs$2,476
Leftover$2,415

Sales tax is about 6.9%. Property tax is modelled at 1.44% of a $231,600 median home. Non-housing lines scale a national baseline by this metro's cost index (0.87).

Asking rent by bedroom

Turnover asking rent in Ames, not the Census median of occupied stock. Rent versus buying.

  • Studio

    $652

  • 1 bedroom

    $760

  • 2 bedrooms

    $905

  • 3 bedrooms

    $1,186

  • 4 bedrooms

    $1,403

Leftover in other metros nearby

Same household. Each leftover is take-home after that metro's tax minus its rent.

Leftover is take-home after federal, state and city wage tax, minus asking rent at the bedroom count you set, minus a modelled month of groceries, utilities, healthcare, transport and childcare. It is not a cost-of-living index and not a moving quote. Change the job, remote versus local pay, or bedrooms and the ranking is a different city. How the math works · Leftover vs a COL index · Why a cheaper COL% can still lose leftover.

Cost of living in Ames

What is the cost of living in Ames?

On the default one-adult, one-bedroom household, leftover in Ames, IA is about $2,415 a month after tax and rent. Asking rent is about $760 for a one-bedroom and $905 for a two-bedroom. That is a budget, not a cost-of-living index.

How does Ames compare with a cost-of-living index?

A price index would say non-housing costs run 13% below the US average. Leftover still depends on your tax bill and bedroom count, which an index does not. Ames is a modelled metro: rent, wages and prices come from Zillow, Census and BEA, not a hand-written city essay.

Where is take-home pay in Ames calculated?

The take-home page for Ames splits federal, payroll, state and local wage tax, then subtracts rent. The city paycheck page is the same leftover math with the map.

Popular compares from Ames

Moving from Ames

Other Iowa metros

Other metros in Iowa, with leftover, rent, and day-to-day pages.

All Iowa metros