Calgary vs Ottawa - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 02, 2025

	Calgary	Ottawa
🚶 Cost of living one person	$2077	$2055
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$4598	$4624
🏠 One person rent	$1226	$1212
🏘️ Family rent	$1942	$1940
🍽️ Food expenses	$561	$563
🚐 Transport expenses	$162	$162
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$3168	$3115
😷 Air quality	Good	Excellent
✈️ Airport proximity	9 km	5 km
🎓 Higher education	53	50
😀 Quality of life	90	90
🏙️ Population	1.31M	1.02M

The cost of living in Calgary is 1% more expensive than in Ottawa. Cities ranked 1646th and 1701st ($2077 vs $2055) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 23rd and 25th in Canada.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 1.5 months in Calgary compared to 1.5 months in Ottawa. Ranked 8th vs 9th best cities to live in Canada, and 153rd vs 162nd 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	$15.2	$16
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$60.7	$65.6
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$9.97	$10.6
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$5.29	$5.54
☕ Cappuccino	$4.1	$3.82
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$2.02	$1.97
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1222	$1214
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$991	$1014
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$2053	$2032
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1592	$1649
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$131	$109
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$200	$165
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$57.4	$49.7
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	6.03%	6.14%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$3283	$4939
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$3066	$4597
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$2.57	$2.82
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$80.8	$92
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$14.5	$15
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.09	$1.07
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$2.11	$2.38
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$2.47	$2.62
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.98	$2.98
🥚 Eggs, x12	$3.79	$3.53
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$14.2	$13.9
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$13.1	$12.7
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$14.5	$14.8
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.12	$4.03
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.31	$1.31
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.69	$3.49
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.19	$3.8
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.52	$2.55
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.42	$2.95
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.2	$1.03
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$2.37	$2.38
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$15.2	$13.3
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.92	$2.47
🚬 Cigarette pack	$13	$12.3
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$8.11	$9.31
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$5.68	$4.15
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$2.77	$1.95
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$2.21	$1.46
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$49.1	$41.1
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$11.7	$10.5
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$61.4	$58.8
💇 Haircut, simple	$22.6	$15.9
👖 Brand Jeans	$56.3	$53.6
👟 Brand Sneakers	$82.4	$88.5
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$841	$942
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$16603	$19030

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

$349

$907

$6.64K

Cost of Living in the nearest cities

Cities near Calgary

Distance	City	Cost of living
106 km or 66 mi	Banff	$1743
137 km or 85 mi	Red Deer	$1676
174 km or 108 mi	Lethbridge	$1614
248 km or 154 mi	Leduc	$1656
265 km or 165 mi	Medicine Hat	$1487
278 km or 173 mi	Spruce Grove	$1588
279 km or 173 mi	Edmonton	$1769
357 km or 222 mi	Sandpoint	$2568
402 km or 250 mi	Kelowna	$1886
422 km or 262 mi	Coeur d'Alene	$2299
426 km or 265 mi	Post Falls	$2284
429 km or 266 mi	Penticton	$1638
440 km or 273 mi	Spokane Valley	$2174
442 km or 275 mi	Kamloops	$1770
443 km or 275 mi	Great Falls	$2007
452 km or 281 mi	Spokane	$2163
466 km or 289 mi	Missoula	$2054
517 km or 322 mi	Helena	$2327
524 km or 325 mi	Saskatoon	$1786
526 km or 327 mi	Moscow	$1792
531 km or 330 mi	Pullman	$1612
556 km or 345 mi	Grande Prairie	$1778
560 km or 348 mi	Lewiston	$1884
572 km or 355 mi	Butte	$1632
579 km or 360 mi	Moses Lake	$2009
600 km or 373 mi	Chilliwack	$1761
603 km or 375 mi	Moose Jaw	$1360
607 km or 377 mi	Wenatchee	$2248
616 km or 382 mi	Prince Albert	$1446
630 km or 391 mi	Abbotsford	$1883
636 km or 395 mi	Whistler	$2023
637 km or 396 mi	Walla Walla	$1968
638 km or 396 mi	Bozeman	$2616
641 km or 398 mi	Maple Ridge	$1969
650 km or 404 mi	Langley	$2021
650 km or 404 mi	Pasco	$2050
651 km or 405 mi	Coquitlam	$2490
654 km or 406 mi	Bellingham	$2466
654 km or 406 mi	Richland	$2181
655 km or 407 mi	Fort McMurray	$1871

Cities near Ottawa

Distance	City	Cost of living
7.4 km or 4.6 mi	Gatineau	$1768
19 km or 12 mi	Kanata	$2202
87 km or 54 mi	Cornwall	$1633
94 km or 58 mi	Brockville	$1875
124 km or 77 mi	Salaberry-de-Valleyfield	$1894
128 km or 80 mi	Mirabel	$1762
130 km or 81 mi	Vaudreuil-Dorion	$1830
138 km or 86 mi	Saint-Jerome	$1733
141 km or 87 mi	Saint-Eustache	$1768
143 km or 89 mi	Kirkland	$1807
144 km or 89 mi	Blainville	$1761
146 km or 90 mi	Sainte-Therese	$1753
147 km or 91 mi	Pointe-Claire	$1819
147 km or 91 mi	Boisbriand	$1732
147 km or 91 mi	Dollard-des-Ormeaux	$1814
147 km or 91 mi	Kingston	$1704
150 km or 93 mi	Le Ray	$1814
152 km or 94 mi	Dorval	$1810
152 km or 94 mi	Chateauguay	$1841
153 km or 95 mi	Laval	$1900
157 km or 98 mi	Saint-Lin-Laurentides	$1690
158 km or 98 mi	Cote-Saint-Luc	$1803
160 km or 100 mi	Mount Royal	$1792
162 km or 101 mi	Watertown	$1658
163 km or 102 mi	Terrebonne	$1776
163 km or 102 mi	Westmount	$1773
166 km or 103 mi	Saint-Constant	$1824
167 km or 104 mi	Montreal	$1857
167 km or 104 mi	Mascouche	$1735
170 km or 106 mi	Saint-Lambert	$1790
170 km or 106 mi	Candiac	$1852
170 km or 106 mi	Longueuil	$1835
171 km or 106 mi	La Prairie	$1889
175 km or 109 mi	Brossard	$2004
176 km or 109 mi	Boucherville	$1804
177 km or 110 mi	Repentigny	$1743
178 km or 111 mi	Varennes	$1764
183 km or 114 mi	L'Assomption	$1651
183 km or 114 mi	Saint-Bruno-de-Montarville	$1836
185 km or 115 mi	Sainte-Julie	$1800