Cost of Living
| School | Location | Cost of Living Index* | Avg apartment rent** |
Housing Index |
Grocery Index |
Utilities Index |
Sales Tax |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Purdue University | West Lafayette, IN + |
83.5 |
$1,552 | 78.8 | 95.3 | 103.6 | 7.00% |
| Purdue University | Indianapolis, IN |
85.7 |
$1,250 | 62.7 | 93.6 | 90.2 | 7.00% |
| University of Illinois | Urbana-Champaign ++ |
81.1 |
$1,506 | 52.4 | 94.7 | 95.7 | 9.00% |
| Indiana University | Bloomington, IN | 88.8 | $1,634 | 88 | 97 | 97.2 | 7.00% |
| University of Wisconsin | Madison, WI | 103.4 | $1,764 | 112.7 | 97.9 | 107.5 | 5.50% |
| University of Michigan | Ann Arbor, MI | 105.5 | $2,070 | 143.4 | 102.6 | 99.3 | 6.00% |
| The Ohio State University | Columbus, OH | 91.4 | $1,328 | 70.6 | 98.8 | 102.1 | 8.00% |
| University of Minnesota | Minneapolis, MN | 107.2 | $1,669 | 113.4 | 101.2 | 99.7 | 9.03% |
| Massachusetts Institute of Tech. | Cambridge, MA | 144.7 | $3,735 | 321.4 | 115.5 | 117.8 | 6.25% |
| Georgia Institute of Tech. | Atlanta, GA | 113.3 | $1,756 | 114.6 | 98.8 | 103.6 | 8.90% |
| University of Texas | Austin, TX | 129.1 | $1,660 | 189 | 96.7 | 99.1 | 8.25% |
| University of California-Berkeley | Berkeley, CA | 195.5 | $3,272 | 521 | 114 | 91.3 |
10.25% |
| University of Iowa | Iowa City, IA | 89.6 | $1,415 | 78.7 | 99.7 | 93.9 | 6.00% |
| University of Maryland | College Park, MD | 120.8 | $2,554 | 136 | 108 | 109.4 | 6.00% |
| Michigan State University | East Lansing, MI | 83.6 | $1,735 | 84.6 | 95.6 | 97.2 | 6.00% |
| University of Nebraska | Lincoln, NE | 92.6 | $1,295 | 81.7 | 97.4 | 92.3 | 7.25% |
| Northwestern University | Evanston, IL | 105.7 | $2,544 | 155.4 | 100.9 | 95 | 10.25% |
| Rutgers University | New Brunswick, NJ | 124.7 | $2,446 | 113 | 103.5 | 114.4 | 6.63% |
| Penn State University | State College, PA | 95.4 | $2,079 | 112.4 | 107.8 | 90.4 | 6.00% |
| Stanford University | Palo Alto, CA | 231 | $3,096 | 1139.8 | 124.4 | 89.9 | 9.13% |
* US national average is 100%.
** The data on average rents comes directly from competitively-rented (market-rate) large-scale multifamily properties (50+ units in size), in over 130 markets across the U.S. Apartment rent data was provided by Yardi Matrix, a RENTCafé sister company.
+ Figures are averaged from both West Lafayette & Lafayette.
++ Figures are averaged from both Urbana & Champaign.
Updated April 2025.
Sources: bestplaces.net and RENTCafé.
