How Much Do You Really Need To Live Comfortably In Iowa?

Get ready to feel broke.

Inflation has crushed us all. Even as a single person, $50 at the grocery store used to get me all my weekly groceries and then some. Now that's like half of what I need at best.

We're getting our tax refunds soon, yay. But as we know all too well, salaries are the last thing to catch up with rising costs. Rent is up, the costs of having kids are still through the roof, and there isn't an aspect of life that both singles and families haven't had to cut back on in some way.

What We're Supposed To Be Making

The cost of living in Iowa is something I looked up before I moved to the Midwest over 2 years ago and it's only gone up since then.

Now granted, the statistic could be worse. We're the 9th lowest cost of living in the U.S. at the moment. Mind you, these stats are for single people like me, or just person-to-person.

A recent study by GoBankingRates found that Iowans need to make at least $48,518 to live comfortably now.

This isn't what we're generally making. According to 2022 stats from the U.S. Census, a person's average salary is $37,949.

Where Families Stand

The same Census stats show that the median household income in Iowa (the combined amount for everyone in the house that works) is $70,571. But if you combine the individual's salaries, that's almost $100k that a household should be bringing in to live comfortably. According to Common Ground Iowa, the post-pandemic life hasn't been easy for families for years.

Childcare is hundreds of dollars a week. You're paying more for groceries, supplies, and any extracurriculars the kids do.

If you're curious where exactly you and your family fall financially, there's a recently updated living wage calculator for Iowa that looks at the number of adults, kids, and your incomes.

The good part of this is that compared to other parts of the country, the cost of living is lower in the Midwest, which explains why many millennials are moving here.