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 +

83.5

$1,165 76.8 95.3 103.6 7.00%
Purdue University Indianapolis, IN

85.7

$1,221 62.7 93.6 90.2 7.00%
University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign ++

78.5

$1,365 56.6 94.7 95.7 9.00%
Indiana University Bloomington, IN 88.4 $1,502 85.9 97 97.2 7.00%
University of Wisconsin Madison, WI 101.4 $1,622 111.1 97.9 107.5 5.00%
University of Michigan Ann Arbor, MI 110.7 $1,956 164.2 102.6 99.3 6.00%
The Ohio State University Columbus, OH 86.4 $1,230 68.2 98.8 102.1 7.5%
University of Minnesota Minneapolis, MN 105 $1,665 117.1 101.2 99.7 9.03%
Massachusetts Institute of Tech. Cambridge, MA 173.7 $3,614 349.1 115.5 117.8 6.25%
Georgia Institute of Tech. Atlanta, GA 109.4 $1,813 112 98.8 103.6 8.90%
University of Texas Austin, TX 129.4 $1,753 159.6 96.7 99.1 8.25%
University of California-Berkeley Berkeley, CA 238.3 $3,224 518 114 94.3

10.25%

University of Iowa Iowa City, IA 87.2 $1,321 96.8 99.7 93.9 6.00%
University of Maryland College Park, MD 121.2 $2,593 142.3 108 109.4 6.00%
Michigan State University East Lansing, MI 90.2 $1,575 89.7 95.6 97.2 6.00%
University of Nebraska Lincoln, NE 91.5 $1,228 78.1 97.4 91.3 5.50%
Northwestern University Evanston, IL 123.2 $2,424 144.9 100.9 95 10.25%
Rutgers University New Brunswick, NJ 114.8 $2,389 108.7 103.5 114.4 6.63%
Penn State University State College, PA 100.4 $2,000 142.1 107.8 90.4 6.00%
Stanford University Palo Alto, CA 432.8 $3,410 1275.2 124.4 89.7 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 March 2024.

Sources: bestplaces.net and  RENTCafé.

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