2025 Compare Cities Cost of Living:
Boulder, CO vs Rock Island, IL

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Highlights
Is it cheaper to live in Rock Island or is it cheaper to live in Boulder?
- Rock Island is 46.4% less expensive than Boulder.

Which city has more affordable housing, Rock Island or Boulder?
- Rock Island housing costs are 89.7% less expensive than Boulder housing costs.

Is Health Care more affordable in Boulder or is Health Care more affordable in Rock Island.
- Health related expenses are 10.3% more in Rock Island.
 Boulder, CORock Island, ILUnited States
 Overall  Unlock75.7100
 Food & Groceries106.5  Unlock100
 Health  Unlock94.3100
 Housing322.6  Unlock100
 Median Home Cost  Unlock$112,200$338,100
 Utilities93  Unlock100
 Transportation  Unlock77.7100
 Miscellaneous154.4  Unlock100
100 = National Average (Below 100 means cheaper than the US average. Above 100 means more expensive.)
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Reviews for Boulder    55 Reviews

Outside of the university, Boulder had a very distinctive "wealthy hippy" feel. A lot of alternative medicine and a matching ethos. This is changing some among my  More

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We moved here from Texas about 4 years ago and love it here! The amazing sense of community and high regard for the environment are two of the main reasons we love  More

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Over 5 years ago

Most people do much worse than Boulder. I'm the most critical person I've ever met who is never happy or satisfied -- so that's a pretty huge compliment.   More

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Reviews for Rock Island    3 Reviews

Over 17 years ago

Pros: 1. Extremely low cost of living 2. Affordable place to live Cons: 1. High crime rate 2. Poor school system 3. Not much to  More

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Rock Island has a varied background and contains many cultural and historic areas. It has been improving its school system and is in a metropolitan area which contains  More

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Over 19 years ago

I just moved here for work one year ago. Moving from San Francisco here was a shock but ultimatelly good. The community is a typical midwestern small town. It is part  More

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