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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.

Ernest C. Young Hall, Room 170 | 155  S. Grant Street, West Lafayette, IN 47907-2114 | 765-494-2600

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