Cost of living in Cedar Rapids, Iowa
Cedar Rapids, Iowa has about 137,264 people. Typical rent is $967 a month, including utilities, and a typical household earns $70,424 a year. Both figures are Census 2020–2024 medians, not a listing or your pay. This site does not approve or deny benefits. A missing figure stays blank. We do not guess it.
Ranked #43 in Iowa on the 2026 Most Affordable Towns Index.
Simple answer
Typical rent is $967 a month.
Cedar Rapids is a city in Iowa. That rent number includes utilities. A typical household earns $70,424 a year.
- People
- 137,264
- Census average, 2020–2024
- Typical rent
- $967
- Median gross rent, includes utilities
- Typical pay
- $70,424
- Median household income, yearly
- Typical home
- $187,100
- Median home value
- 2-bedroom fair rent
- $1,054
- Cedar Rapids, IA HUD Metro FMR Area
Cedar Rapids, Iowa has about 137,264 people. That count is a 2020–2024 Census average, not a headcount from one day.
A typical home is worth about $187,100.
HUD's fair-market rent for a 2-bedroom in Linn County is $1,054 a month. That is the county number, not an apartment listing in Cedar Rapids. It runs from October 2026 through September 2027.
In the Cedar Rapids, IA metro area, prices sit at 89.0 when the U.S. average is 100. That is a 2024 BEA index.
Iowa taxes wages. A typical combined sales tax is 6.9% as of January 1, 2026. That mix is statewide, not Cedar Rapids's exact store tax.
Some places in Iowa add a local wage tax. In 2023 the state average was about 0.08% of income. That is not a Cedar Rapids bill.
In July 2026, a typical Iowa home paid 15.99¢ per kilowatt-hour. That is a state average from EIA, not Cedar Rapids's bill.
EIA did not publish a 2025 all-grades gas price for Iowa in the table we use.
Among 264 places we list in Iowa with a rent figure, 63 have higher typical rent than Cedar Rapids.
Nearby places
- Fairfax
Typical rent $1,366
Compare with Cedar Rapids - Hiawatha
Typical rent $855
Compare with Cedar Rapids - Marion
Typical rent $961
Compare with Cedar Rapids - Ely
Typical rent $936
Compare with Cedar Rapids - Robins
Typical rent $956
Compare with Cedar Rapids - Swisher
Typical rent $1,114
Compare with Cedar Rapids - Palo
Typical rent $717
Compare with Cedar Rapids - Atkins
Typical rent $604
Compare with Cedar Rapids
EBT nearby
USDA has a live map of stores that take SNAP. We did not copy that store list here. The downloadable file is a history file for 2005 through 2025, so the live map is the one to use.
Locator page updated 2026-09-11. Last checked 2026-10-16.
Food stamps (SNAP) tools in Iowa
Bigger places in Iowa
Census 2020-2024. HUD rents for October 2026–September 2027. BEA prices for 2024. Taxes as of January 1, 2026. Checked 2026-10-16. 15,000 places are in this guide.