Moving from Montana to Iowa
Everyone compares rent and groceries. Almost nobody compares the two numbers that actually decide whether a move works: state income tax and property tax. Here is Montana and Iowa, side by side.
Moving to Iowa costs about
-$80/mo
less than Montana each month, renting
Worth knowing
A cheaper house in Iowa, a bigger property tax bill
The median home in Iowa costs $208,000 against $375,800 in Montana, but you would pay about $2,891 a year in property tax rather than $2,706. The rate more than cancels the lower price.
Montana vs Iowa at a glance
| Montana | Iowa | |
|---|---|---|
| Median home price | $375,800 | $208,000 |
| Median rent | $1,081/mo | $972/mo |
| State income tax | Up to 5.65% | Flat 3.80% |
| Property tax rate | 0.72% | 1.39% |
| Groceries, gas & goods | 96 | 94 |
| Utilities | 72 | 83 |
Price levels are indexes where 100 is the national average. They cover everyday spending only; housing is the two rows above.
What changes each month
| Monthly | MT | IA | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Housing | |||
| Housing (median rent)Biggest factor | $1,081 | $972 | -$109 |
| Taxes | |||
| State income tax | $263 | $202 | -$61 |
| Local income tax (state average) | None | $7 | +$7 |
| Sales tax (on everyday spending) | $0 | $84 | +$84 |
| Everyday costs | |||
| Groceries, gas & goods | $1,760 | $1,718 | -$42 |
| Utilities | $295 | $340 | +$45 |
| Total | -$80 | ||
What the move itself costs
$2,300 to $5,200
From a container you load yourself up to full-service movers.
Shipping one car adds about $600 to $900, against roughly $250 in fuel and lodging to drive it the 2-day trip yourself.
These are statewide figures. Billings is not Montana-average and Des Moines is not Iowa-average, so a specific city can look nothing like its state. Compare metro areas instead to narrow it to 387 real places, including which side of a state line you would live on.
Run this with your own numbers
Estimates only, not advice. Housing and income figures come from the U.S. Census Bureau's American Community Survey (2024); price levels from the Bureau of Economic Analysis (2024); tax rates are for the 2026 tax year, compiled from state revenue departments and the Tax Foundation. Moving costs are modelled from published ranges rather than quoted. Every figure is a statewide median or average and will not match any particular household.