Cost Of Living in Ames, NE

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	Ames	Nebraska	National
Cost of living	97	89	100
Goods & Services	97	96	100
Groceries	98	96	100
Health care	88	98	100
Housing	n/a	76	100
Transportation	99	100	100
Utilities	96	86	100

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Cost Of Living Quick Facts

The cost of living in Ames is 8% higher than the Nebraska average
The cost of living in Ames is 3% lower than the national average
Ames housing is 16% lower than the national average
Nebraska general sales tax is 8% higher than the national average
Nebraska state income tax is 5% 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	$0	$0	$0	$0
Renters	$0	$0	$0	$0

Nebraska Sales Tax

State	General Sales Tax	With Max Surtax
Nebraska	5.5%	7.5%

Nebraska Income Tax

State	Income Tax (Low)	Income Tax (High)
Nebraska	2.46%	6.64%

Goods & Services

Item	Ames	National avg.	Difference
Haircut	$23.69	$24.26	2.4%
Beauty Salon	$32.50	$45.56	28.7%
Toothpaste	$3.71	$3.70	0.3%
Shampoo	$1.23	$1.28	3.7%
Movie	$12.12	$12.13	0.1%
Bowling	$18.36	$18.00	2.0%

Groceries

Item	Ames	National avg.	Difference
Ground Beef	$6.11	$5.84	4.6%
Fried Chicken	$1.40	$1.57	11.2%
Milk	$4.67	$4.67	0.1%
Potatoes	$4.50	$4.93	8.9%
Pizza	$11.19	$12.09	7.4%
Beer	$9.76	$10.41	6.3%

Health Care

Item	Ames	National avg.	Difference
Optometrist	$123.10	$125.68	2.1%
Doctor	$135.27	$135.78	0.4%
Dentist	$90.11	$113.29	20.5%
Ibuprofen	$10.62	$10.65	0.3%
Lipitor	$357.80	$468.60	23.6%

Housing

Item	Ames	National avg.	Difference
Home Price	$0.00	$184,700.00	100.0%
Avg. Mortgage Payment	$1,869.86	$2,346.69	20.3%
Apartment Rent	$0.00	$949.00	100.0%

Transportation

Item	Ames	National avg.	Difference
Gasoline	$3.22	$3.46	7.1%
Tire Balancing	$68.12	$59.92	13.7%

Utilities

Item	Ames	National avg.	Difference
All Electricity	$174.82	$193.99	9.9%
Phone	$200.78	$192.25	4.4%

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.
Fontanelle, NE	80	97	3.4%
Venice, NE	45	76	23.9%
Prague, NE	317	81	18.8%
Scribner, NE	748	82	18.5%
Morse Bluff, NE	113	82	18.2%
Ames, NE	0	97	3.4%

Cities with similar population

City	Population	Cost of Living Index	National Avg.
Chase, AK	0	118	18.0%
Chiniak, AK	0	118	18.0%
Chisana, AK	0	136	35.7%
Dot Lake, AK	0	136	35.7%
Eureka Roadhouse, AK	0	118	18.0%
Ames, NE	0	97	3.4%

Date & Last Updated: This data reflects 2023 and was released from C2ER in January, 2024; this is the most current data available.

Cost of Living in Ames, NE