2025 Compare Cities Cost of Living:
Bakersfield, CA vs Iowa City, IA

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Highlights
Is it cheaper to live in Iowa City or is it cheaper to live in Bakersfield?
- Iowa City is 10.2% less expensive than Bakersfield.

Which city has more affordable housing, Iowa City or Bakersfield?
- Iowa City housing costs are 26.2% less expensive than Bakersfield housing costs.

Is Health Care more affordable in Bakersfield or is Health Care more affordable in Iowa City.
- Health related expenses are 13.5% more in Iowa City.
 Bakersfield, CAIowa City, IAUnited States
 Overall  Unlock89.6100
 Food & Groceries99.0  Unlock100
 Health  Unlock104.0100
 Housing106.7  Unlock100
 Median Home Cost  Unlock$265,800$338,100
 Utilities112  Unlock100
 Transportation  Unlock68.5100
 Miscellaneous111.2  Unlock100
100 = National Average (Below 100 means cheaper than the US average. Above 100 means more expensive.)
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Reviews for Bakersfield    75 Reviews

I am a millennial, born and raised here. As someone who wrestled with staying for years, there are a lot of valid reasons to not come to Bakersfield. Air quality, summer  More

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Over 4 years ago

I have lived here all of my life. 40+ years. It used to be fun and kinda safe but now it is so scary to go outside. We are literally a homeless dumping ground and there  More

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I moved here from Seattle 25 years ago, when it had a population of 200,000, and practically the only place to get coffee was a place called “Duke’s Ranch”. Why did I  More

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Reviews for Iowa City    24 Reviews

Over 5 years ago

I was there 5 years. Nothing to do but we’ll go shopping... at Walmart. It lacks so many things. There is no experience here, it jumps on any political band wagon and  More

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Over 5 years ago

Entertainment lacks greatly - especially the Hancher shows. I was hoping after they rebuilt they would be getting better shows there, that didn't happen. One has to  More

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Over 7 years ago

Iowa City is great. It's diverse and never boring. There always a variety of new shops and restaurants to explore and try out. Also watching college kids do stupid  More

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