Berlin vs Cologne - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 02, 2025

	Berlin	Cologne
🚶 Cost of living one person	$2027	$1744
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$4661	$4212
🏠 One person rent	$1127	$947
🏘️ Family rent	$2029	$1673
🍽️ Food expenses	$505	$491
🚐 Transport expenses	$258	$174
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$3225	$3148
😷 Air quality	Good	Excellent
✈️ Airport proximity	19 km	15 km
🎓 Higher education	100	92
😀 Quality of life	95	96
🏙️ Population	3.78M	1.09M

The cost of living in Berlin is 16% more expensive than in Cologne. Cities ranked 1762nd and 2551st ($2027 vs $1744) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 2nd and 24th in Germany.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 1.6 months in Berlin compared to 1.8 months in Cologne. Ranked 3rd vs 2nd best cities to live in Germany, and 21st vs 12th among the best cities to live in the world.

Salary adjustment calculator
the estimated difference in money purchasing power

Cost of living in Berlin vs Cologne infographic

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Prices in Berlin vs Cologne

Prices for goods and services in Berlin and Cologne are partly crowdsourced by our visitors, just like yourself. Please consider telling us about your city.

	Berlin	Cologne
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$14.6	$13.1
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$65.3	$61.3
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$12.5	$10.4
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$4.57	$4.67
☕ Cappuccino	$3.85	$3.64
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$2.94	$3.1
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1156	$963
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$832	$743
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$2233	$1902
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1562	$1332
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$190	$120
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$293	$186
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$40.1	$40.4
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	3.88%	4.01%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$8133	$6163
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$5908	$5539
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$3.68	$3.35
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$57.5	$56.6
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$23.9	$22.1
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.81	$1.83
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.28	$1.23
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$1.93	$1.8
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.88	$2.69
🥚 Eggs, x12	$3.66	$3.95
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$13.2	$13.5
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$11	$13.2
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$16.7	$20.1
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.93	$2.71
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.94	$1.55
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.27	$2.06
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.75	$4.26
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.99	$1.64
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.81	$1.64
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.55	$0.64
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.9	$2.22
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$6.55	$6.56
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.2	$1.02
🚬 Cigarette pack	$9.01	$8.09
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$9.37	$8.17
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$3.2	$2.2
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$1.73	$1.75
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$2.11	$1.5
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$33.3	$32.5
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$13	$11.9
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$59.3	$49.2
💇 Haircut, simple	$19.3	$18.4
👖 Brand Jeans	$88.2	$94.7
👟 Brand Sneakers	$95.1	$103
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$186	$773
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$9774	$15595

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

$349

$907

$6.64K

Cost of Living in the nearest cities

Cities near Berlin

Distance	City	Cost of living
15 km or 9.2 mi	Teltow	$1707
18 km or 11 mi	Hohen Neuendorf	$1782
18 km or 11 mi	Hennigsdorf	$1770
20 km or 13 mi	Falkensee	$1714
21 km or 13 mi	Bernau bei Berlin	$1763
25 km or 16 mi	Potsdam	$1724
25 km or 16 mi	Ludwigsfelde	$1691
28 km or 18 mi	Oranienburg	$1796
30 km or 19 mi	Konigs Wusterhausen	$1695
34 km or 21 mi	Werder	$1665
34 km or 21 mi	Strausberg	$1711
46 km or 29 mi	Eberswalde	$1714
49 km or 31 mi	Furstenwalde	$1632
50 km or 31 mi	Luckenwalde	$1663
57 km or 36 mi	Brandenburg an der Havel	$1686
60 km or 37 mi	Neuruppin	$1723
72 km or 44 mi	Rathenow	$1690
81 km or 50 mi	Frankfurt	$1534
86 km or 53 mi	Schwedt	$1644
88 km or 55 mi	Wittenberg	$1354
97 km or 60 mi	Neustrelitz	$1442
97 km or 60 mi	Eisenhuttenstadt	$1437
104 km or 65 mi	Stendal	$1319
106 km or 66 mi	Cottbus	$1241
107 km or 67 mi	Burg bei Magdeburg	$1315
107 km or 67 mi	Zerbst	$1332
109 km or 68 mi	Dessau-Rolau	$1340
109 km or 68 mi	Torgau	$1350
116 km or 72 mi	Neubrandenburg	$1421
119 km or 74 mi	Senftenberg	$1351
121 km or 75 mi	Waren	$1395
124 km or 77 mi	Bitterfeld-Wolfen	$1308
124 km or 77 mi	Schonebeck	$1326
125 km or 78 mi	Spremberg	$1310
127 km or 79 mi	Magdeburg	$1282
128 km or 79 mi	Szczecin	$1108
128 km or 80 mi	Kothen	$1346
128 km or 80 mi	Gorzow Wielkopolski	$1022
131 km or 81 mi	Delitzsch	$1419
134 km or 83 mi	Hoyerswerda	$1373

Cities near Cologne

Distance	City	Cost of living
9.2 km or 5.7 mi	Hurth	$1578
10 km or 6.4 mi	Leverkusen	$1822
10 km or 6.4 mi	Frechen	$1569
13 km or 7.9 mi	Bruhl	$1559
13 km or 7.9 mi	Pulheim	$1572
14 km or 8.4 mi	Wesseling	$1554
14 km or 8.5 mi	Bergisch Gladbach	$1586
15 km or 9.3 mi	Niederkassel	$1551
16 km or 10 mi	Rosrath	$1536
18 km or 11 mi	Monheim am Rhein	$1576
19 km or 12 mi	Dormagen	$1561
19 km or 12 mi	Erftstadt	$1534
19 km or 12 mi	Langenfeld	$1577
20 km or 12 mi	Troisdorf	$1544
20 km or 12 mi	Leichlingen	$1559
20 km or 12 mi	Kerpen	$1529
21 km or 13 mi	Bornheim	$1554
21 km or 13 mi	Lohmar	$1523
22 km or 14 mi	Bergheim	$1518
23 km or 15 mi	Siegburg	$1522
24 km or 15 mi	Overath	$1497
25 km or 16 mi	Sankt Augustin	$1542
25 km or 16 mi	Bonn	$1677
26 km or 16 mi	Hilden	$1522
26 km or 16 mi	Solingen	$1580
27 km or 17 mi	Elsdorf	$1502
28 km or 17 mi	Wermelskirchen	$1497
28 km or 17 mi	Haan	$1517
28 km or 18 mi	Bedburg	$1504
29 km or 18 mi	Hennef	$1494
31 km or 19 mi	Grevenbroich	$1499
31 km or 19 mi	Remscheid	$1494
31 km or 20 mi	Erkrath	$1516
33 km or 20 mi	Konigswinter	$1446
34 km or 21 mi	Euskirchen	$1503
34 km or 21 mi	Neuss	$1495
34 km or 21 mi	Mettmann	$1479
35 km or 21 mi	Zulpich	$1490
35 km or 21 mi	Meckenheim	$1500
35 km or 22 mi	Dusseldorf	$1772