Cost of living in United States

Summary of cost of living in United States

  • Family of four estimated monthly costs: $6,268
  • Single person estimated monthly costs: $3,684
  • 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 $5.90
1 liter (1 qt.) of whole fat milk $1.09
12 eggs, large $5.64
1 kg (2 lb.) of tomatoes $4.83
500 gr (16 oz.) of local cheese $8
1 kg (2 lb.) of apples $4.22
1 kg (2 lb.) of potatoes $2.29
0.5 l (16 oz) domestic beer in the supermarket $3.82
1 bottle of red table wine, good quality $18
2 liters of coca-cola $2.97
Bread for 2 people for 1 day $3.03
Housing
Monthly rent for 85 m2 (900 sqft) furnished accommodation in expensive area $3,077
Monthly rent for 85 m2 (900 sqft) furnished accommodation in normal area $2,368
Utilities 1 month (heating, electricity, gas ...) for 2 people in 85m2 flat $237
Monthly rent for a 45 m2 (480 sqft) furnished studio in expensive area $2,237
Monthly rent for a 45 m2 (480 sqft) furnished studio in normal area $1,636
Utilities 1 month (heating, electricity, gas ...) for 1 person in 45 m2 (480 sqft) studio $171
Internet 8 mbps (1 month) $61
40” flat screen tv $251
Microwave 800/900 watt (bosch, panasonic, lg, sharp, or equivalent brands) $153
Laundry detergent (3 l. ~ 100 oz.) $16
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) $50
1 pair of sport shoes (nike, adidas, or equivalent brands) $105
1 pair of men’s leather business shoes $142
Transportation
Volkswagen golf 1.4 tsi 150 cv (or equivalent), with no extras, new $30,884
1 liter (1/4 gallon) of gas $0.93
Monthly ticket public transport $85
Personal Care
Cold medicine for 6 days (tylenol, frenadol, coldrex, or equivalent brands) $10
1 box of antibiotics (12 doses) $24
Short visit to private doctor (15 minutes) $168
1 box of 32 tampons (tampax, ob, ...) $10
Deodorant, roll-on (50ml ~ 1.5 oz.) $5.27
Hair shampoo 2-in-1 (400 ml ~ 12 oz.) $7
4 rolls of toilet paper $5.09
Tube of toothpaste $2.41
Standard men's haircut in expat area of the city $31
Entertainment
Basic dinner out for two in neighborhood pub $61
2 tickets to the movies $31
2 tickets to the theater (best available seats) $250
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 $5.99
1 beer in neighbourhood pub (500ml or 1pt.) $8
Ipad wi-fi 128gb $464
1 min. of prepaid mobile tariff (no discounts or plans) $0.52
1 month of gym membership in business district $72
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 206
2nd Washington D.C. 200
3rd Miami, Florida 193
4th Honolulu, Hawaii 193
5th Boston, Massachusetts 192
6th Santa Barbara, California 191
7th San Diego, California 189
8th Mountain View, California 186
9th Seattle, Washington 185
10th Los Angeles, California 184
11th Oakland, California 183
12th Chicago, Illinois 182
13th Jersey City, New Jersey 178
14th Denver, Colorado 172
15th Portland, Oregon 168
16th Fort Lauderdale, Florida 166
17th Minneapolis - St. Paul, Minnesota 163
18th Montclair, New Jersey 160
19th Atlanta, Georgia 153
20th Scottsdale, Arizona 152
21st Nashville, Tennessee 149
22nd Dallas, Texas 148
23rd Orlando, Florida 148
24th Salt Lake City, Utah 146
25th Tacoma, Washington 143
26th Houston, Texas 140
27th Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 140
28th Austin, Texas 139
29th Fort Worth, Texas 137
30th St. Louis, Missouri 135
31st Phoenix, Arizona 135
32nd Charlotte, North Carolina 135
33rd Las Vegas, Nevada 134
34th Boise, Idaho 133
35th Riverside, California 133
36th Eugene, Oregon 132
37th Raleigh, North Carolina 132
38th Albany, New York 131
39th Colorado Springs, Colorado 131
40th St. Petersburg, Florida 131
41st Columbus, Ohio 130
42nd Santa Fe, New Mexico 128
43rd Spokane, Washington 127
44th Cleveland, Ohio 125
45th Burlington, Vermont 121
46th Omaha, Nebraska 121
47th Wilmington, Delaware 121
48th New Orleans, Louisiana 121
49th Ithaca, New York 120
50th Milwaukee, Wisconsin 119
51st San Antonio, Texas 117
52nd Vancouver, Washington 116
53rd Birmingham, Alabama 115
54th Pensacola, Florida 113
55th Amarillo, Texas 112
56th Billings, Montana 110
57th Tallahassee, Florida 110
58th Green Bay, Wisconsin 108
59th Louisville, Kentucky 106
60th Tucson, Arizona 104
61st Lawrence, Kansas 102
62nd Lafayette, Louisiana 100
63rd Shreveport, Louisiana 100
64th Iowa City, Iowa 97
65th Memphis, Tennessee 96
66th Lincoln, Nebraska 94
67th Youngstown, Ohio 92
68th Springfield, Missouri 91
69th Corpus Christi, Texas 91
70th Roanoke, Virginia 89
71st San Antonio, California 89
72nd Cedar Rapids, Iowa 86

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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