Cost of living in United States

Summary of cost of living in United States

  • Family of four estimated monthly costs: $5,929
  • Single person estimated monthly costs: $3,544
  • Cost of living in United States is more expensive than in 91% of countries in the World (7 out of 66)
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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 $5.70
1 liter (1 qt.) of whole fat milk $1.06
12 eggs, large $4.54
1 kg (2 lb.) of tomatoes $4.56
500 gr (16 oz.) of local cheese $7
1 kg (2 lb.) of apples $4.44
1 kg (2 lb.) of potatoes $2.22
0.5 l (16 oz) domestic beer in the supermarket $3.02
1 bottle of red table wine, good quality $16
2 liters of coca-cola $2.93
Bread for 2 people for 1 day $2.79
Housing
Monthly rent for 85 m2 (900 sqft) furnished accommodation in expensive area $3,010
Monthly rent for 85 m2 (900 sqft) furnished accommodation in normal area $2,308
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 $2,055
Monthly rent for a 45 m2 (480 sqft) furnished studio in normal area $1,565
Utilities 1 month (heating, electricity, gas ...) for 1 person in 45 m2 (480 sqft) studio $149
Internet 8 mbps (1 month) $64
40” flat screen tv $293
Microwave 800/900 watt (bosch, panasonic, lg, sharp, or equivalent brands) $145
Laundry detergent (3 l. ~ 100 oz.) $14
Hourly rate for cleaning help $30
Clothes
1 pair of jeans (levis 501 or similar) $57
1 summer dress in a high street store (zara, h&m or similar retailers) $52
1 pair of sport shoes (nike, adidas, or equivalent brands) $97
1 pair of men’s leather business shoes $131
Transportation
Volkswagen golf 1.4 tsi 150 cv (or equivalent), with no extras, new $28,449
1 liter (1/4 gallon) of gas $0.98
Monthly ticket public transport $74
Personal Care
Cold medicine for 6 days (tylenol, frenadol, coldrex, or equivalent brands) $10
1 box of antibiotics (12 doses) $21
Short visit to private doctor (15 minutes) $140
1 box of 32 tampons (tampax, ob, ...) $9
Deodorant, roll-on (50ml ~ 1.5 oz.) $5.01
Hair shampoo 2-in-1 (400 ml ~ 12 oz.) $7
4 rolls of toilet paper $4.94
Tube of toothpaste $2.36
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) $207
Dinner for two at an italian restaurant in the expat area including appetisers, main course, wine and dessert $99
1 cocktail drink in downtown club $15
Cappuccino in expat area of the city $5.58
1 beer in neighbourhood pub (500ml or 1pt.) $7
Ipad wi-fi 128gb $507
1 min. of prepaid mobile tariff (no discounts or plans) $0.37
1 month of gym membership in business district $66
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 225
2nd Maui 219
3rd Babylon, New York 211
4th San Francisco, California 211
5th Miami, Florida 205
6th Boston, Massachusetts 202
7th San Jose, California 200
8th Jersey City, New Jersey 195
9th Oakland, California 192
10th Charlottesville, Virginia 190
11th Berkeley, California 189
12th Washington D.C. 186
13th San Diego, California 185
14th Denver, Colorado 184
15th Los Angeles, California 183
16th Atlanta, Georgia 180
17th Seattle, Washington 174
18th Chicago, Illinois 171
19th Dallas, Texas 168
20th Portland, Oregon 165
21st Sacramento, California 161
22nd Minneapolis - St. Paul, Minnesota 161
23rd Austin, Texas 161
24th Fort Lauderdale, Florida 161
25th Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 159
26th Anchorage, Alaska 158
27th Orlando, Florida 157
28th Irvine, California 155
29th Phoenix, Arizona 152
30th Houston, Texas 152
31st Cocoa Beach, Florida 152
32nd Tampa, Florida 149
33rd Tacoma, Washington 149
34th Boise, Idaho 148
35th Salt Lake City, Utah 148
36th Virginia Beach, Virginia 147
37th Charlotte, North Carolina 147
38th Walnut Creek, California 144
39th Jacksonville, Florida 143
40th St. Petersburg, Florida 140
41st Long Beach, California 140
42nd Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 140
43rd Baltimore, Maryland 139
44th Newark, New Jersey 137
45th Reno, Nevada 136
46th Spokane, Washington 136
47th Eugene, Oregon 135
48th Cleveland, Ohio 133
49th Providence, Rhode Island 133
50th Richmond, Virginia 133
51st Kansas City, Missouri 130
52nd Wilmington, Delaware 129
53rd New Orleans, Louisiana 129
54th Burlington, Vermont 128
55th Indianapolis, Indiana 128
56th Milwaukee, Wisconsin 127
57th Asheville, North Carolina 126
58th Detroit, Michigan 126
59th San Antonio, Texas 124
60th Cincinnati, Ohio 124
61st Santa Fe, New Mexico 123
62nd Amarillo, Texas 122
63rd Green Bay, Wisconsin 122
64th Pensacola, Florida 120
65th Harrisburg, Pennsylvania 117
66th Billings, Montana 117
67th Modesto, California 116
68th New Haven, Connecticut 114
69th Tallahassee, Florida 113
70th Oklahoma City, Oklahoma 113
71st Louisville, Kentucky 112
72nd Des Moines, Iowa 111
73rd Tucson, Arizona 110
74th Lawrence, Kansas 108
75th Provo, Utah 106
76th Memphis, Tennessee 102
77th Shreveport, Louisiana 101
78th Youngstown, Ohio 99
79th Corpus Christi, Texas 97
80th Springfield, Missouri 97
81st San Antonio, California 95
82nd Lincoln, Nebraska 95
83rd Roanoke, Virginia 94
84th Cedar Rapids, Iowa 92

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?

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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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