Calgary vs Ottawa - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: October 10, 2024

	Calgary	Ottawa
🚶 Cost of living one person	$2149	$2236
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$4908	$4945
🏠 One person rent	$1251	$1327
🏘️ Family rent	$2067	$2038
🍽️ Food expenses	$593	$603
🚐 Transport expenses	$170	$179
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$3509	$3150
😷 Air quality	Good	Excellent
✈️ Airport proximity	9 km	5 km
🎓 Higher education	53	50
😀 Quality of life	90	89
🏙️ Population	1.31M	1.02M

The cost of living in Calgary is 4% less expensive than in Ottawa. Cities ranked 1473rd and 1290th ($2149 vs $2236) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 28th and 23rd in Canada.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 1.6 months in Calgary compared to 1.4 months in Ottawa. Ranked 6th vs 12th best cities to live in Canada, and 131st vs 167th among the best cities to live in the world.

Salary adjustment calculator
the estimated difference in money purchasing power

Cost of living in Calgary vs Ottawa infographic

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<img src="https://livingcost.org/assets/photo/cost/calgary/ottawa.jpg" alt="Cost of living in Calgary vs Ottawa infographic" style="max-width: 100%; height: auto;"><p>Source: <a href="https://livingcost.org/cost/calgary/ottawa" target="_blank">Calgary vs Ottawa - Cost of Living Comparison</a></p>

Prices in Calgary vs Ottawa

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

	Calgary	Ottawa
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$16.9	$17.6
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$64.6	$74.1
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$10.2	$11.2
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$5.43	$5.89
☕ Cappuccino	$4.28	$3.95
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$2.04	$2.31
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1277	$1288
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1002	$1129
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$2181	$2131
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1707	$1732
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$134	$113
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$206	$173
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$59.9	$53.5
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	6.34%	6.47%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$3298	$5242
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$3114	$4784
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$2.75	$2.78
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$83.8	$94.4
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$15.5	$18.7
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.12	$1.12
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$2.07	$2.35
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$2.49	$2.72
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.17	$3.35
🥚 Eggs, x12	$3.96	$3.47
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$15.5	$15.7
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$14.2	$12.5
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$15.9	$14.8
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.35	$4.41
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.44	$1.4
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.96	$3.26
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.15	$4.06
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.5	$2.79
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.31	$2.98
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.33	$1.28
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$2.61	$2.17
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$14.9	$14.9
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.97	$2.56
🚬 Cigarette pack	$13.6	$13.1
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$8.18	$10.5
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$5.97	$4.37
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$2.9	$2.05
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$2.32	$1.54
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$53	$44.6
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$13	$11.2
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$65.5	$63.6
💇 Haircut, simple	$23.4	$15.3
👖 Brand Jeans	$55	$59
👟 Brand Sneakers	$84.7	$105
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$984	$1037
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$19196	$20100

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

Cost of Living in the nearest cities

Cities near Calgary

Distance	City	Cost of living
106 km or 66 mi	Banff	$1914
137 km or 85 mi	Red Deer	$1727
174 km or 108 mi	Lethbridge	$1701
248 km or 154 mi	Leduc	$1723
265 km or 165 mi	Medicine Hat	$1577
278 km or 173 mi	Spruce Grove	$1709
279 km or 173 mi	Edmonton	$1785
357 km or 222 mi	Sandpoint	$2523
402 km or 250 mi	Kelowna	$2001
422 km or 262 mi	Coeur d'Alene	$2275
426 km or 265 mi	Post Falls	$2250
429 km or 266 mi	Penticton	$1781
440 km or 273 mi	Spokane Valley	$2156
442 km or 275 mi	Kamloops	$1854
443 km or 275 mi	Great Falls	$2139
452 km or 281 mi	Spokane	$2150
466 km or 289 mi	Missoula	$2011
517 km or 322 mi	Helena	$2498
524 km or 325 mi	Saskatoon	$1793
526 km or 327 mi	Moscow	$1642
531 km or 330 mi	Pullman	$1566
556 km or 345 mi	Grande Prairie	$1786
560 km or 348 mi	Lewiston	$1830
572 km or 355 mi	Butte	$1610
579 km or 360 mi	Moses Lake	$1917
600 km or 373 mi	Chilliwack	$1765
603 km or 375 mi	Moose Jaw	$1408
607 km or 377 mi	Wenatchee	$2322
616 km or 382 mi	Prince Albert	$1487
630 km or 391 mi	Abbotsford	$1976
636 km or 395 mi	Whistler	$2469
637 km or 396 mi	Walla Walla	$2010
638 km or 396 mi	Bozeman	$2484
641 km or 398 mi	Maple Ridge	$2243
650 km or 404 mi	Langley	$1983
650 km or 404 mi	Pasco	$2042
651 km or 405 mi	Coquitlam	$2553
654 km or 406 mi	Bellingham	$2278
654 km or 406 mi	Richland	$2169
655 km or 407 mi	Fort McMurray	$1871

Cities near Ottawa

Distance	City	Cost of living
7.4 km or 4.6 mi	Gatineau	$1542
19 km or 12 mi	Kanata	$2336
87 km or 54 mi	Cornwall	$1677
94 km or 58 mi	Brockville	$2004
124 km or 77 mi	Salaberry-de-Valleyfield	$2002
128 km or 80 mi	Mirabel	$1828
130 km or 81 mi	Vaudreuil-Dorion	$1921
138 km or 86 mi	Saint-Jerome	$1805
141 km or 87 mi	Saint-Eustache	$1839
143 km or 89 mi	Kirkland	$1897
144 km or 89 mi	Blainville	$1799
146 km or 90 mi	Sainte-Therese	$1785
147 km or 91 mi	Pointe-Claire	$1908
147 km or 91 mi	Boisbriand	$1751
147 km or 91 mi	Dollard-des-Ormeaux	$1898
147 km or 91 mi	Kingston	$1791
150 km or 93 mi	Le Ray	$1828
152 km or 94 mi	Dorval	$1912
152 km or 94 mi	Chateauguay	$1964
153 km or 95 mi	Laval	$1996
157 km or 98 mi	Saint-Lin-Laurentides	$1773
158 km or 98 mi	Cote-Saint-Luc	$1890
160 km or 100 mi	Mount Royal	$1871
162 km or 101 mi	Watertown	$1686
163 km or 102 mi	Terrebonne	$1849
163 km or 102 mi	Westmount	$1861
166 km or 103 mi	Saint-Constant	$1912
167 km or 104 mi	Montreal	$1954
167 km or 104 mi	Mascouche	$1821
170 km or 106 mi	Saint-Lambert	$1873
170 km or 106 mi	Candiac	$1927
170 km or 106 mi	Longueuil	$1896
171 km or 106 mi	La Prairie	$1960
175 km or 109 mi	Brossard	$2057
176 km or 109 mi	Boucherville	$1878
177 km or 110 mi	Repentigny	$1823
178 km or 111 mi	Varennes	$1845
183 km or 114 mi	L'Assomption	$1740
183 km or 114 mi	Saint-Bruno-de-Montarville	$1912
185 km or 115 mi	Sainte-Julie	$1884