Cost of Living
| School | Location | Cost of Living Index* | Avg apartment rent within two miles of campus** |
Housing Index |
Grocery Index |
Utilities Index |
Sales Tax |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Purdue University | West Lafayette, IN + | 90.4 | $1,273 | 90.4 | 97 | 103.1 | 7.00% |
| University of Illinois | Urbana-Champaign ++ | 77.7 | $890 | 52.6 | 94.3 | 96.2 | 8.81% |
| Indiana University | Bloomington, IN | 88.4 | $1,217 | 85.9 | 97 | 97.2 | 7.00% |
| University of Wisconsin | Madison, WI | 101.4 | $1,411 | 111 | 97.9 | 107.5 | 5.43% |
| University of Michigan | Ann Arbor, MI | 110.7 | $1,789 | 164.2 | 102.6 | 99.3 | 6.00% |
| The Ohio State University | Columbus, OH | 86.4 | $1,096 | 68.2 | 98.8 | 102.1 | 7.22% |
| University of Minnesota | Minneapolis, MN | 105 | $1,621 | 117.1 | 101.2 | 99.7 | 7.49% |
| Massachusetts Institute of Tech. | Cambridge, MA | 173.7 | $3,399 | 349.1 | 115.5 | 117.8 | 6.25% |
| Georgia Institute of Tech. | Atlanta, GA | 109.4 | $1,812 | 112 | 98.8 | 103.6 | 7.35% |
| University of Texas | Austin, TX | 129.4 | $2,769 | 159.6 | 96.7 | 99.1 | 8.20% |
| University of California-Berkeley | Berkeley, CA | 238.3 | $3,164 | 518 | 114 | 91.3 | 8.81% |
| University of Iowa | Iowa City, IA | 87.2 | $1,052 | 96.8 | 99.7 | 93.9 | 6.94% |
| University of Maryland | College Park, MD | 121.1 | $2,540 | 142.3 | 108 | 109.4 | 6.00% |
| Michigan State University | East Lansing, MI | 90.2 | $1,423 | 89.7 | 95.6 | 97.2 | 6.00% |
| University of Nebraska | Lincoln, NE | 91.5 | $1,116 | 78.1 | 97.4 | 92.3 | 6.94% |
| Northwestern University | Evanston, IL | 123.2 | $2,148 | 144.9 | 100.9 | 95 | 8.81% |
| Rutgers University | New Brunswick, NJ | 114.8 | $2,142 | 108.7 | 103.5 | 114.4 | 6.60% |
| Penn State University | State College, PA | 100.4 | $1,771 | 142.1 | 107.8 | 90.4 | 6.34% |
| Stanford University | Palo Alto, CA | 432.8 | $3,468 | 1275.2 | 124.4 | 89.9 | 8.81% |
* 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 March 2022.
Sources: bestplaces.net and RENTCafé.
