Cost of living in United States

Summary of cost of living in United States

  • Family of four estimated monthly costs: $6,053
  • Single person estimated monthly costs: $3,660
  • Cost of living in United States is more expensive than in 93% of countries in the World (6 out of 68)
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Food
Basic lunchtime menu (including a drink) in the business district $20
Combo meal in fast food restaurant (big mac meal or similar) $11
500 gr (1 lb.) of boneless chicken breast $5.68
1 liter (1 qt.) of whole fat milk $1.08
12 eggs, large $5.02
1 kg (2 lb.) of tomatoes $4.66
500 gr (16 oz.) of local cheese $7
1 kg (2 lb.) of apples $4.46
1 kg (2 lb.) of potatoes $2.32
0.5 l (16 oz) domestic beer in the supermarket $3.06
1 bottle of red table wine, good quality $16
2 liters of coca-cola $2.88
Bread for 2 people for 1 day $2.78
Housing
Monthly rent for 85 m2 (900 sqft) furnished accommodation in expensive area $3,134
Monthly rent for 85 m2 (900 sqft) furnished accommodation in normal area $2,409
Utilities 1 month (heating, electricity, gas ...) for 2 people in 85m2 flat $223
Monthly rent for a 45 m2 (480 sqft) furnished studio in expensive area $2,085
Monthly rent for a 45 m2 (480 sqft) furnished studio in normal area $1,600
Utilities 1 month (heating, electricity, gas ...) for 1 person in 45 m2 (480 sqft) studio $145
Internet 8 mbps (1 month) $67
40” flat screen tv $301
Microwave 800/900 watt (bosch, panasonic, lg, sharp, or equivalent brands) $143
Laundry detergent (3 l. ~ 100 oz.) $14
Hourly rate for cleaning help $31
Clothes
1 pair of jeans (levis 501 or similar) $59
1 summer dress in a high street store (zara, h&m or similar retailers) $53
1 pair of sport shoes (nike, adidas, or equivalent brands) $98
1 pair of men’s leather business shoes $136
Transportation
Volkswagen golf 1.4 tsi 150 cv (or equivalent), with no extras, new $28,032
1 liter (1/4 gallon) of gas $1.02
Monthly ticket public transport $81
Personal Care
Cold medicine for 6 days (tylenol, frenadol, coldrex, or equivalent brands) $9
1 box of antibiotics (12 doses) $23
Short visit to private doctor (15 minutes) $139
1 box of 32 tampons (tampax, ob, ...) $9
Deodorant, roll-on (50ml ~ 1.5 oz.) $4.75
Hair shampoo 2-in-1 (400 ml ~ 12 oz.) $6
4 rolls of toilet paper $4.85
Tube of toothpaste $2.26
Standard men's haircut in expat area of the city $29
Entertainment
Basic dinner out for two in neighborhood pub $57
2 tickets to the movies $30
2 tickets to the theater (best available seats) $224
Dinner for two at an italian restaurant in the expat area including appetisers, main course, wine and dessert $95
1 cocktail drink in downtown club $14
Cappuccino in expat area of the city $5.50
1 beer in neighbourhood pub (500ml or 1pt.) $7
Ipad wi-fi 128gb $610
1 min. of prepaid mobile tariff (no discounts or plans) $0.22
1 month of gym membership in business district $69
1 package of marlboro cigarettes $10

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 New York City 215
2nd Maui 212
3rd Babylon, New York 204
4th San Jose, California 204
5th San Francisco, California 199
6th Miami, Florida 195
7th Boston, Massachusetts 189
8th Jersey City, New Jersey 188
9th San Diego, California 184
10th Washington D.C. 180
11th Oakland, California 180
12th Berkeley, California 179
13th Atlanta, Georgia 178
14th Los Angeles, California 177
15th Denver, Colorado 176
16th Chicago, Illinois 168
17th Seattle, Washington 165
18th Dallas, Texas 160
19th Portland, Oregon 159
20th Austin, Texas 158
21st Houston, Texas 157
22nd Minneapolis - St. Paul, Minnesota 155
23rd Fort Lauderdale, Florida 154
24th Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 152
25th Sacramento, California 149
26th Anchorage, Alaska 147
27th Phoenix, Arizona 146
28th Irvine, California 145
29th Tampa, Florida 144
30th Cocoa Beach, Florida 143
31st Scottsdale, Arizona 143
32nd Tacoma, Washington 142
33rd Walnut Creek, California 139
34th Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 137
35th St. Petersburg, Florida 136
36th Long Beach, California 134
37th Baltimore, Maryland 134
38th Las Vegas, Nevada 132
39th Newark, New Jersey 132
40th Spokane, Washington 131
41st Eugene, Oregon 131
42nd Cleveland, Ohio 128
43rd Providence, Rhode Island 128
44th Indianapolis, Indiana 125
45th Richmond, Virginia 125
46th Wilmington, Delaware 124
47th New Orleans, Louisiana 124
48th Boise, Idaho 123
49th Milwaukee, Wisconsin 122
50th San Antonio, Texas 121
51st Cincinnati, Ohio 120
52nd Burlington, Vermont 119
53rd Tucson, Arizona 116
54th Asheville, North Carolina 116
55th Santa Fe, New Mexico 115
56th Pensacola, Florida 114
57th Modesto, California 113
58th Billings, Montana 112
59th Amarillo, Texas 112
60th Green Bay, Wisconsin 111
61st Harrisburg, Pennsylvania 110
62nd Rochester, New York 108
63rd Tallahassee, Florida 108
64th Tulsa, Oklahoma 107
65th Des Moines, Iowa 107
66th Louisville, Kentucky 105
67th Provo, Utah 102
68th Lawrence, Kansas 102
69th Lafayette, Louisiana 99
70th Memphis, Tennessee 98
71st Shreveport, Louisiana 96
72nd Youngstown, Ohio 95
73rd Corpus Christi, Texas 94
74th Springfield, Missouri 94
75th Roanoke, Virginia 92
76th San Antonio, California 92
77th Lincoln, Nebraska 92
78th Cedar Rapids, Iowa 87

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

Prices recently added

  • Nice dinner at an italian restaurant, dinner for two in Portland, Oregon costs $100 (about 16 hours ago)
  • Basic dinner out in neighborhood pub, dinner for two in Portland, Oregon costs $45 (about 16 hours ago)
  • Standard men's haircut in expat area of the city in Portland, Oregon costs $40 (about 16 hours ago)
  • 4 oz tube of toothpaste in Portland, Oregon costs $3.17 (about 16 hours ago)
  • Short visit to private doctor in Portland, Oregon costs $100 (about 16 hours ago)
  • One-way ticket in public transport in Portland, Oregon costs $3.00 (about 16 hours ago)
  • 1 us gal of gasoline in Portland, Oregon costs $1.06 (about 16 hours ago)
  • Men’s leather business shoes in Portland, Oregon costs $150 (about 16 hours ago)
  • Jeans (levis 501 or similar) in Portland, Oregon costs $70 (about 16 hours ago)
  • Internet connection 300 mbps, 1 month in Portland, Oregon costs $55 (about 16 hours ago)

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