Calgary vs Ottawa - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 11, 2026

	Calgary	Ottawa
🚶 Cost of living one person	$2118	$2133
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$4745	$4730
🏠 One person rent	$1202	$1249
🏘️ Family rent	$1911	$1952
🍽️ Food expenses	$591	$587
🚐 Transport expenses	$173	$172
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$3199	$3871
😷 Air quality	Excellent	Excellent
✈️ Airport proximity	9 km	6 km
🎓 Higher education	53	49
😀 Quality of life	90	92
🏙️ Population	1.31M	1.02M

The cost of living in Calgary is 0.7% less expensive than in Ottawa. Cities ranked 1716th and 1668th ($2118 vs $2133) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 29th and 27th in Canada.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 1.5 months in Calgary compared to 1.8 months in Ottawa. Ranked 21st vs 10th best cities to live in Canada, and 209th vs 123rd among the best cities to live in the world.

Salary adjustment calculator
the estimated difference in money purchasing power

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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	$17	$16.4
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$65	$62.9
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$11.3	$11
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$6.29	$5.87
☕ Cappuccino	$4.2	$4.25
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$2.03	$2.1
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1224	$1328
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$957	$1047
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$2059	$2126
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1544	$1662
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$132	$96.9
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$204	$148
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$59.8	$48.9
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	4.55%	4.48%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$3738	$4318
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$3570	$3670
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$2.94	$2.99
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$87.1	$99.5
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$15.5	$15.9
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$0.98	$1
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.98	$2.18
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$2.42	$2.68
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.2	$2.89
🥚 Eggs, x12	$3.79	$3.59
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$12.8	$13
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$12.7	$13.2
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$16.1	$16.8
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.28	$4.13
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.39	$1.37
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.02	$3.85
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.42	$4
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.42	$2.57
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.82	$3.08
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.17	$1.05
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$2.28	$2.84
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$15.5	$11.9
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.95	$2.74
🚬 Cigarette pack	$13.7	$13.8
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$9.3	$12.8
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$5.63	$4.26
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$2.56	$1.99
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$2.51	$2.04
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$55.4	$44.4
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$13.8	$11
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$93.1	$68.3
💇 Haircut, simple	$23.2	$16.7
👖 Brand Jeans	$59.1	$56.4
👟 Brand Sneakers	$88.8	$89.3
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$830	$882
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$15430	$17337

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	$1801
137 km or 85 mi	Red Deer	$1841
174 km or 108 mi	Lethbridge	$1761
248 km or 154 mi	Leduc	$1775
265 km or 165 mi	Medicine Hat	$1620
278 km or 173 mi	Spruce Grove	$1676
279 km or 173 mi	Edmonton	$1878
357 km or 222 mi	Sandpoint	$2593
402 km or 250 mi	Kelowna	$1993
422 km or 262 mi	Coeur d'Alene	$2331
426 km or 265 mi	Post Falls	$2315
429 km or 266 mi	Penticton	$1773
440 km or 273 mi	Spokane Valley	$2205
442 km or 275 mi	Kamloops	$1815
443 km or 275 mi	Great Falls	$1956
452 km or 281 mi	Spokane	$2187
466 km or 289 mi	Missoula	$2156
517 km or 322 mi	Helena	$2544
524 km or 325 mi	Saskatoon	$1821
526 km or 327 mi	Moscow	$1697
531 km or 330 mi	Pullman	$1899
556 km or 345 mi	Grande Prairie	$1892
560 km or 348 mi	Lewiston	$1701
572 km or 355 mi	Butte	$1634
579 km or 360 mi	Moses Lake	$2009
600 km or 373 mi	Chilliwack	$1884
603 km or 375 mi	Moose Jaw	$1506
607 km or 377 mi	Wenatchee	$2241
616 km or 382 mi	Prince Albert	$1486
630 km or 391 mi	Abbotsford	$2034
636 km or 395 mi	Whistler	$2470
637 km or 396 mi	Walla Walla	$2046
638 km or 396 mi	Bozeman	$2677
641 km or 398 mi	Maple Ridge	$2326
650 km or 404 mi	Langley	$2054
650 km or 404 mi	Pasco	$2074
651 km or 405 mi	Coquitlam	$2590
654 km or 406 mi	Bellingham	$2526
654 km or 406 mi	Richland	$2460
655 km or 407 mi	Fort McMurray	$1934

Cities near Ottawa

Distance	City	Cost of living
7.4 km or 4.6 mi	Gatineau	$1866
19 km or 12 mi	Kanata	$2229
87 km or 54 mi	Cornwall	$1703
94 km or 58 mi	Brockville	$1868
124 km or 77 mi	Salaberry-de-Valleyfield	$1971
128 km or 80 mi	Mirabel	$1896
130 km or 81 mi	Vaudreuil-Dorion	$1924
138 km or 86 mi	Saint-Jerome	$1864
141 km or 87 mi	Saint-Eustache	$1948
143 km or 89 mi	Kirkland	$1930
144 km or 89 mi	Blainville	$1935
146 km or 90 mi	Sainte-Therese	$1950
147 km or 91 mi	Pointe-Claire	$1920
147 km or 91 mi	Boisbriand	$1934
147 km or 91 mi	Dollard-des-Ormeaux	$1944
147 km or 91 mi	Kingston	$1476
150 km or 93 mi	Le Ray	$1927
152 km or 94 mi	Dorval	$1923
152 km or 94 mi	Chateauguay	$1914
153 km or 95 mi	Laval	$2047
157 km or 98 mi	Saint-Lin-Laurentides	$1800
158 km or 98 mi	Cote-Saint-Luc	$1893
160 km or 100 mi	Mount Royal	$1876
162 km or 101 mi	Watertown	$1733
163 km or 102 mi	Terrebonne	$1907
163 km or 102 mi	Westmount	$1862
166 km or 103 mi	Saint-Constant	$1910
167 km or 104 mi	Montreal	$1928
167 km or 104 mi	Mascouche	$1852
170 km or 106 mi	Saint-Lambert	$1875
170 km or 106 mi	Candiac	$1940
170 km or 106 mi	Longueuil	$1923
171 km or 106 mi	La Prairie	$1960
175 km or 109 mi	Brossard	$2080
176 km or 109 mi	Boucherville	$1897
177 km or 110 mi	Repentigny	$1846
178 km or 111 mi	Varennes	$1861
183 km or 114 mi	L'Assomption	$1723
183 km or 114 mi	Saint-Bruno-de-Montarville	$1918
185 km or 115 mi	Sainte-Julie	$1891