Birmingham vs Essen - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 02, 2025

	Birmingham	Essen
🚶 Cost of living one person	$1951	$1443
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$4641	$3513
🏠 One person rent	$1137	$690
🏘️ Family rent	$1834	$1216
🍽️ Food expenses	$481	$461
🚐 Transport expenses	$175	$150
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$3011	$2980
😷 Air quality	Excellent	Excellent
✈️ Airport proximity	11 km	25 km
🎓 Higher education	96	96
😀 Quality of life	94	94
🏙️ Population	1.14M	587K

The cost of living in Birmingham is 35% more expensive than in Essen. Cities ranked 1973rd and 3685th ($1951 vs $1443) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 86th and 413th in the United Kingdom and Germany, respectively. Check the United Kingdom vs Germany comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 1.5 months in Birmingham compared to 2.1 months in Essen. Birmingham ranked 4th best city to live in the United Kingdom vs Essen ranked 5th in Germany, while ranked 35th and 33rd among best cities to live in the world.

Salary adjustment calculator
the estimated difference in money purchasing power

Cost of living in Birmingham vs Essen infographic

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Prices in Birmingham vs Essen

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

	Birmingham	Essen
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$16.7	$13
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$61.3	$49.2
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$8.87	$10.4
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$6.15	$4.01
☕ Cappuccino	$4.2	$3.1
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$2.15	$2.45
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1083	$574
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$872	$444
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$2013	$1177
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1380	$833
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$187	$180
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$292	$274
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$35.8	$40.1
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	5.86%	3.97%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$4882	$4052
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$3808	$3401
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$2.5	$3.43
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$78.1	$56
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$18	$25.9
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.82	$1.73
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.53	$1.1
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$1.51	$1.76
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.04	$2.38
🥚 Eggs, x12	$4.02	$3.2
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$9.56	$12.3
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$7.49	$11.7
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$12.4	$18.8
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.4	$2.74
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.71	$1.62
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.9	$2.18
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.62	$3.75
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.59	$1.49
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.28	$1.61
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.79	$0.62
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$3.12	$1.85
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$10.2	$6.49
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.99	$0.92
🚬 Cigarette pack	$18.4	$7.99
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$10.5	$10.5
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$5.98	$2.46
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$2.99	$1.42
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$2.44	$1.44
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$30.6	$29.7
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$14	$13.8
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$113	$80.3
💇 Haircut, simple	$14.4	$13.6
👖 Brand Jeans	$82.3	$89.2
👟 Brand Sneakers	$92.2	$92.3
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$1512	$417
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$18058	$8902

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

$349

$907

$6.64K

Cost of Living in the nearest cities

Cities near Birmingham

Distance	City	Cost of living
4.7 km or 2.9 mi	Smethwick	$1819
6.8 km or 4.2 mi	West Bromwich	$1824
11 km or 6.6 mi	Halesowen	$1766
12 km or 7.2 mi	Solihull	$1740
12 km or 7.6 mi	Walsall	$1717
14 km or 8.7 mi	Dudley	$1745
14 km or 8.7 mi	Aldridge	$1743
15 km or 9.6 mi	Willenhall	$1732
17 km or 10 mi	Stourbridge	$1731
19 km or 12 mi	Wolverhampton	$1718
19 km or 12 mi	Bromsgrove	$1728
20 km or 12 mi	Redditch	$1608
22 km or 14 mi	Tamworth	$1737
25 km or 15 mi	Cannock	$1736
26 km or 16 mi	Kidderminster	$1744
27 km or 17 mi	Coventry	$1903
30 km or 19 mi	Nuneaton	$1452
31 km or 19 mi	Warwick	$1679
32 km or 20 mi	Leamington Spa	$2009
35 km or 22 mi	Stratford-upon-Avon	$1798
37 km or 23 mi	Hinckley	$1663
39 km or 24 mi	Worcester	$1569
39 km or 24 mi	Stafford	$1750
40 km or 25 mi	Burton upon Trent	$1633
43 km or 27 mi	Telford	$1450
45 km or 28 mi	Rugby	$1600
55 km or 34 mi	Leicester	$1805
57 km or 35 mi	Derby	$1727
57 km or 35 mi	Loughborough	$1759
60 km or 37 mi	Banbury	$1693
61 km or 38 mi	Stoke-on-Trent	$1552
63 km or 39 mi	Shrewsbury	$1591
63 km or 39 mi	Newcastle-under-Lyme	$1465
66 km or 41 mi	Cheltenham	$1739
66 km or 41 mi	Market Harborough	$1790
70 km or 44 mi	Leek	$1686
72 km or 45 mi	Gloucester	$1623
73 km or 45 mi	Hereford	$1814
73 km or 46 mi	Nottingham	$1820
73 km or 46 mi	Northampton	$1748

Cities near Essen

Distance	City	Cost of living
9.5 km or 5.9 mi	Gelsenkirchen	$1418
9.6 km or 6 mi	Mulheim	$1434
10 km or 6.3 mi	Bottrop	$1367
11 km or 7.1 mi	Oberhausen	$1485
12 km or 7.8 mi	Velbert	$1428
13 km or 8.3 mi	Hattingen	$1444
14 km or 8.4 mi	Gladbeck	$1422
14 km or 8.8 mi	Heiligenhaus	$1444
15 km or 9 mi	Bochum	$1486
18 km or 11 mi	Herne	$1559
18 km or 11 mi	Duisburg	$1314
19 km or 12 mi	Herten	$1438
19 km or 12 mi	Wulfrath	$1433
19 km or 12 mi	Sprockhovel	$1431
20 km or 13 mi	Ratingen	$1497
22 km or 14 mi	Witten	$1489
23 km or 14 mi	Recklinghausen	$1407
23 km or 14 mi	Mettmann	$1479
23 km or 14 mi	Dinslaken	$1430
24 km or 15 mi	Dorsten	$1430
24 km or 15 mi	Castrop-Rauxel	$1464
24 km or 15 mi	Wuppertal	$1233
25 km or 16 mi	Marl	$1435
26 km or 16 mi	Erkrath	$1516
27 km or 17 mi	Schwelm	$1404
27 km or 17 mi	Oer-Erkenschwick	$1432
27 km or 17 mi	Moers	$1439
27 km or 17 mi	Wetter	$1451
28 km or 17 mi	Gevelsberg	$1435
28 km or 18 mi	Voerde	$1434
28 km or 18 mi	Ennepetal	$1431
29 km or 18 mi	Haan	$1517
30 km or 18 mi	Dusseldorf	$1772
30 km or 18 mi	Herdecke	$1455
30 km or 19 mi	Rheinberg	$1435
31 km or 20 mi	Hilden	$1522
32 km or 20 mi	Neukirchen-Vluyn	$1445
32 km or 20 mi	Waltrop	$1459
32 km or 20 mi	Solingen	$1580
32 km or 20 mi	Datteln	$1448