Cost of living in United States

Summary of cost of living in United States

  • Family of four estimated monthly costs: $6,228
  • Single person estimated monthly costs: $3,626
  • Cost of living in United States is more expensive than in 89% of countries in the World (7 out of 56)
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Food
Basic lunchtime menu (including a drink) in the business district $21
Combo meal in fast food restaurant (big mac meal or similar) $12
500 gr (1 lb.) of boneless chicken breast $5.96
1 liter (1 qt.) of whole fat milk $1.10
12 eggs, large $5.70
1 kg (2 lb.) of tomatoes $4.85
500 gr (16 oz.) of local cheese $8
1 kg (2 lb.) of apples $4.19
1 kg (2 lb.) of potatoes $2.25
0.5 l (16 oz) domestic beer in the supermarket $3.95
1 bottle of red table wine, good quality $18
2 liters of coca-cola $3.01
Bread for 2 people for 1 day $3.00
Housing
Monthly rent for 85 m2 (900 sqft) furnished accommodation in expensive area $3,007
Monthly rent for 85 m2 (900 sqft) furnished accommodation in normal area $2,316
Utilities 1 month (heating, electricity, gas ...) for 2 people in 85m2 flat $242
Monthly rent for a 45 m2 (480 sqft) furnished studio in expensive area $2,215
Monthly rent for a 45 m2 (480 sqft) furnished studio in normal area $1,632
Utilities 1 month (heating, electricity, gas ...) for 1 person in 45 m2 (480 sqft) studio $170
Internet 8 mbps (1 month) $61
40” flat screen tv $252
Microwave 800/900 watt (bosch, panasonic, lg, sharp, or equivalent brands) $147
Laundry detergent (3 l. ~ 100 oz.) $15
Hourly rate for cleaning help $34
Clothes
1 pair of jeans (levis 501 or similar) $58
1 summer dress in a high street store (zara, h&m or similar retailers) $49
1 pair of sport shoes (nike, adidas, or equivalent brands) $106
1 pair of men’s leather business shoes $139
Transportation
Volkswagen golf 1.4 tsi 150 cv (or equivalent), with no extras, new $31,214
1 liter (1/4 gallon) of gas $0.93
Monthly ticket public transport $86
Personal Care
Cold medicine for 6 days (tylenol, frenadol, coldrex, or equivalent brands) $10
1 box of antibiotics (12 doses) $25
Short visit to private doctor (15 minutes) $172
1 box of 32 tampons (tampax, ob, ...) $10
Deodorant, roll-on (50ml ~ 1.5 oz.) $5.40
Hair shampoo 2-in-1 (400 ml ~ 12 oz.) $7
4 rolls of toilet paper $5.20
Tube of toothpaste $2.44
Standard men's haircut in expat area of the city $32
Entertainment
Basic dinner out for two in neighborhood pub $61
2 tickets to the movies $31
2 tickets to the theater (best available seats) $248
Dinner for two at an italian restaurant in the expat area including appetisers, main course, wine and dessert $105
1 cocktail drink in downtown club $15
Cappuccino in expat area of the city $6
1 beer in neighbourhood pub (500ml or 1pt.) $8
Ipad wi-fi 128gb $458
1 min. of prepaid mobile tariff (no discounts or plans) $0.52
1 month of gym membership in business district $71
1 package of marlboro cigarettes $11

Moving to United States with your children?

International Schools in United States

Map of Cost of Living in United States

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This map shows only the top cities in United States. We also have on this page a list of all the cities available in Expatistan:
List of all the cities available in Expatistan

The color of each marker corresponds with the cost of living in the city red markers show more expensive cities green ones show cheaper cities
Moving the mouse on top of a city will show its name and the Cost of Living Index of that city.

What is the Cost of Living Index? To calculate each city's Price Index value, we start by assigning a value of 100 to a central reference city (that happens to be Prague). Once the reference point has been established, the Price Index value of every other city in the database is calculated by comparing their cost of living to the cost of living in Prague.
Therefore, if a city has a Price Index of 134, that means that living there is 34% more expensive than living in Prague.

Cost of Living Ranking in United States

(top cities by data quality)

Ranking City Price Index *
1st San Francisco, California 201
2nd Washington D.C. 195
3rd Honolulu, Hawaii 188
4th Miami, Florida 188
5th Boston, Massachusetts 188
6th Santa Barbara, California 186
7th Seattle, Washington 185
8th San Diego, California 184
9th Mountain View, California 181
10th Los Angeles, California 179
11th Oakland, California 178
12th Chicago, Illinois 178
13th Jersey City, New Jersey 174
14th Denver, Colorado 169
15th Portland, Oregon 165
16th Fort Lauderdale, Florida 161
17th Minneapolis - St. Paul, Minnesota 160
18th Montclair, New Jersey 156
19th Atlanta, Georgia 151
20th Scottsdale, Arizona 148
21st Anchorage, Alaska 147
22nd Nashville, Tennessee 145
23rd Orlando, Florida 144
24th Dallas, Texas 143
25th Salt Lake City, Utah 142
26th Tacoma, Washington 140
27th Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 136
28th Houston, Texas 136
29th Austin, Texas 135
30th Fort Worth, Texas 133
31st St. Louis, Missouri 132
32nd Phoenix, Arizona 132
33rd Charlotte, North Carolina 131
34th Las Vegas, Nevada 131
35th Boise, Idaho 130
36th Riverside, California 130
37th Eugene, Oregon 129
38th Raleigh, North Carolina 129
39th Colorado Springs, Colorado 128
40th Albany, New York 128
41st St. Petersburg, Florida 128
42nd Columbus, Ohio 127
43rd Santa Fe, New Mexico 125
44th Spokane, Washington 124
45th Cleveland, Ohio 122
46th New Orleans, Louisiana 119
47th Burlington, Vermont 119
48th Omaha, Nebraska 119
49th Wilmington, Delaware 118
50th Ithaca, New York 117
51st Milwaukee, Wisconsin 116
52nd Vancouver, Washington 113
53rd San Antonio, Texas 113
54th Birmingham, Alabama 112
55th Pensacola, Florida 110
56th Amarillo, Texas 110
57th Tallahassee, Florida 107
58th Billings, Montana 107
59th Green Bay, Wisconsin 106
60th Louisville, Kentucky 104
61st Tucson, Arizona 103
62nd Lawrence, Kansas 99
63rd Shreveport, Louisiana 98
64th Lafayette, Louisiana 98
65th Iowa City, Iowa 95
66th Memphis, Tennessee 94
67th Lincoln, Nebraska 92
68th Youngstown, Ohio 89
69th Springfield, Missouri 89
70th Corpus Christi, Texas 89
71st Roanoke, Virginia 87
72nd San Antonio, California 87
73rd Cedar Rapids, Iowa 84

Price Index:

To calculate each city's Price Index value, we start by assigning a value of 100 to a central reference city (that happens to be Prague). Once the reference point has been established, the Price Index value of every other city in the database is calculated by comparing their cost of living to the cost of living in Prague.
Therefore, if a city has a Price Index of 134, that means that living there is 34% more expensive than living in Prague.

Are you moving to United States? Do you know how much money you will need there to maintain your current standard of living?

Find out what is the real equivalent in USA of your current salary and improve your chances of a happy relocation.

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List of all cities available in United States

Akron, Ohio Albany, New York Albuquerque, New Mexico
Allentown, Pennsylvania Amarillo, Texas Anchorage, Alaska
Ann Arbor, Michigan Arcata, California Arlington, Texas
Asheville, North Carolina Athens, Georgia Atlanta, Georgia
Augusta, Georgia Austin, Texas Babylon, New York
Bakersfield, California Baltimore, Maryland Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Beaverton, Oregon Berkeley, California Billings, Montana
Birmingham, Alabama Bismarck, North Dakota Boise, Idaho
Boston, Massachusetts Boulder, Colorado Bozeman, Montana
Bridgeport, Connecticut Buffalo, New York Burlington, Massachusetts
Burlington, Vermont Butte, Montana Cedar Falls, Iowa
Cedar Rapids, Iowa Charleston, South Carolina Charlotte, North Carolina
Charlottesville, Virginia Chattanooga, Tennessee Chicago, Illinois
Cincinnati, Ohio Cleveland, Ohio Cocoa Beach, Florida
Colorado Springs, Colorado Columbia, South Carolina Columbus, Ohio
Corpus Christi, Texas Dallas, Texas Denver, Colorado
Des Moines, Iowa Detroit, Michigan Durango, Colorado
Durham, North Carolina El Centro, California El Paso, Texas
Erie, Pennsylvania Eugene, Oregon Fargo
Flint, Michigan Florence, Alabama Fort Collins, Colorado
Fort Lauderdale, Florida Fort Wayne, Indiana Fort Worth, Texas
Fresno, California Gainesville, Florida Grand Rapids
Green Bay, Wisconsin Greensboro, North Carolina Greenville, South Carolina
Harrisburg, Pennsylvania Hartford, Connecticut Hilton Head Island, South Carolina
Honolulu, Hawaii Houston, Texas Huntsville, Alabama
Indianapolis, Indiana Iowa City, Iowa Irvine, California
Ithaca, New York Jackson, Mississippi Jacksonville, Florida
Jersey City, New Jersey Kansas City, Missouri Knoxville, Tennessee
Kodiak, Alaska Lafayette, Louisiana Laguna Niguel, California
Las Vegas, Nevada Lawrence, Kansas Lexington, Kentucky
Lincoln, Nebraska Little Rock, Arkansas Long Beach, California
Los Angeles, California Louisville, Kentucky Lubbock, Texas
Lynchburg, Virginia Madison, Wisconsin Maui
McAllen, Texas Memphis, Tennessee Miami, Florida
Midland, Texas Milwaukee, Wisconsin Minneapolis - St. Paul, Minnesota
Moab, Utah Mobile, Alabama Modesto, California
Montclair, New Jersey Mount Pleasant, South Carolina Mountain View, California
Naknek, Alaska Nantucket Nashville, Tennessee
New Haven, Connecticut New Orleans, Louisiana New York City
Newark, New Jersey Niagara Falls, New York Oakland, California
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma Omaha, Nebraska Orlando, Florida
Palm Bay, Florida Palm Springs, California Palo Alto, California
Pensacola, Florida Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Phoenix, Arizona
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Portland, Oregon Providence, Rhode Island
Provo, Utah Raleigh, North Carolina Reno, Nevada
Richmond, Virginia Riverside, California Roanoke, Virginia
Rochester, New York Rockford, Illinois Sacramento, California
Salt Lake City, Utah San Antonio, California San Antonio, Texas
San Bernardino, California San Diego, California San Francisco, California
San Jose, California San Luis Obispo, California Santa Ana, California
Santa Barbara, California Santa Cruz, California Santa Fe, New Mexico
Savannah, Georgia Scottsdale, Arizona Seattle, Washington
Shreveport, Louisiana Spokane, Washington Springfield, Illinois
Springfield, Massachusetts Springfield, Missouri St. Louis, Missouri
St. Petersburg, Florida Stamford, Connecticut Staunton, Virginia
Stockton, California Tacoma, Washington Tallahassee, Florida
Tampa, Florida Tempe, Arizona Toledo, Ohio
Traverse City, Michigan Tucson, Arizona Tulsa, Oklahoma
Tyler, Texas Vancouver, Washington Virginia Beach, Virginia
Walnut Creek, California Washington D.C. Waterbury, Connecticut
West Lafayette, Indiana Wichita, Kansas Wilmington, Delaware
Youngstown, Ohio Zanesville, Ohio

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