Calgary vs Ottawa - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 01, 2024

	Calgary	Ottawa
🚶 Cost of living one person	$2113	$2170
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$4833	$4837
🏠 One person rent	$1211	$1276
🏘️ Family rent	$1953	$1943
🍽️ Food expenses	$578	$586
🚐 Transport expenses	$189	$181
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$3532	$2926
😷 Air quality	Excellent	Excellent
✈️ Airport proximity	8 km	5 km
🎓 Higher education	53	50
😀 Quality of life	92	90
🏙️ Population	1.31M	1.02M

The cost of living in Calgary is 3% less expensive than in Ottawa. Cities ranked 1526th and 1355th ($2113 vs $2170) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 32nd and 25th in Canada.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 1.7 months in Calgary compared to 1.3 months in Ottawa. Ranked 6th vs 10th best cities to live in Canada, and 66th vs 117th 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	$18.7
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$64	$79.9
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$10.3	$10.3
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$5.56	$5.99
☕ Cappuccino	$3.87	$4.2
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$2.12	$2.64
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1165	$1239
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$944	$1064
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1993	$2077
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1559	$1607
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$156	$119
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$241	$184
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$66.7	$57.8
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	6.41%	7.14%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$3410	$8889
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$3182	$6051
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$2.69	$2.78
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$82.1	$95.3
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$20.3	$19
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.22	$1.12
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$2.15	$2.29
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$2.46	$2.49
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.43	$3.27
🥚 Eggs, x12	$3.83	$3.46
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$12.6	$13.2
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$13	$12
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$14.5	$13.9
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.31	$3.87
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.38	$1.33
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.05	$2.93
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.22	$3.75
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.56	$2.37
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.34	$2.41
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.19	$1.09
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$2.41	$2.01
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$15	$14
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.76	$2.55
🚬 Cigarette pack	$13.5	$12.8
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$9.57	$10.4
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$5.91	$4.28
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$3.19	$2.06
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$2.52	$1.67
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$56.1	$48.9
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$12.9	$11.1
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$66.2	$60.9
💇 Haircut, simple	$20	$15.1
👖 Brand Jeans	$62.9	$62.1
👟 Brand Sneakers	$87.8	$105
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$904	$1090
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$21983	$21213

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	$1860
137 km or 85 mi	Red Deer	$1688
174 km or 108 mi	Lethbridge	$1675
248 km or 154 mi	Leduc	$1694
265 km or 165 mi	Medicine Hat	$1510
278 km or 173 mi	Spruce Grove	$1711
279 km or 173 mi	Edmonton	$1732
357 km or 222 mi	Sandpoint	$2798
402 km or 250 mi	Kelowna	$1696
422 km or 262 mi	Coeur d'Alene	$2269
426 km or 265 mi	Post Falls	$2276
429 km or 266 mi	Penticton	$1718
440 km or 273 mi	Spokane Valley	$2061
442 km or 275 mi	Kamloops	$1835
443 km or 275 mi	Great Falls	$2484
452 km or 281 mi	Spokane	$2022
466 km or 289 mi	Missoula	$1795
517 km or 322 mi	Helena	$2023
524 km or 325 mi	Saskatoon	$1858
526 km or 327 mi	Moscow	$1526
531 km or 330 mi	Pullman	$1568
556 km or 345 mi	Grande Prairie	$1789
560 km or 348 mi	Lewiston	$1731
572 km or 355 mi	Butte	$1585
579 km or 360 mi	Moses Lake	$1908
600 km or 373 mi	Chilliwack	$1760
603 km or 375 mi	Moose Jaw	$1613
607 km or 377 mi	Wenatchee	$2358
616 km or 382 mi	Prince Albert	$1629
630 km or 391 mi	Abbotsford	$1990
636 km or 395 mi	Whistler	$2445
637 km or 396 mi	Walla Walla	$2064
638 km or 396 mi	Bozeman	$2269
641 km or 398 mi	Maple Ridge	$2218
650 km or 404 mi	Langley	$2034
650 km or 404 mi	Pasco	$2098
651 km or 405 mi	Coquitlam	$2595
654 km or 406 mi	Bellingham	$2251
654 km or 406 mi	Richland	$1896
655 km or 407 mi	Fort McMurray	$1722

Cities near Ottawa

Distance	City	Cost of living
7.4 km or 4.6 mi	Gatineau	$1530
19 km or 12 mi	Kanata	$2220
87 km or 54 mi	Cornwall	$1539
94 km or 58 mi	Brockville	$1878
124 km or 77 mi	Salaberry-de-Valleyfield	$2014
128 km or 80 mi	Mirabel	$1797
130 km or 81 mi	Vaudreuil-Dorion	$1894
138 km or 86 mi	Saint-Jerome	$1757
141 km or 87 mi	Saint-Eustache	$1827
143 km or 89 mi	Kirkland	$1845
144 km or 89 mi	Blainville	$1808
146 km or 90 mi	Sainte-Therese	$1808
147 km or 91 mi	Pointe-Claire	$1846
147 km or 91 mi	Boisbriand	$1813
147 km or 91 mi	Dollard-des-Ormeaux	$1835
147 km or 91 mi	Kingston	$1412
150 km or 93 mi	Le Ray	$1856
152 km or 94 mi	Dorval	$1846
152 km or 94 mi	Chateauguay	$1841
153 km or 95 mi	Laval	$1874
157 km or 98 mi	Saint-Lin-Laurentides	$1705
158 km or 98 mi	Cote-Saint-Luc	$1840
160 km or 100 mi	Mount Royal	$1821
162 km or 101 mi	Watertown	$1746
163 km or 102 mi	Terrebonne	$1820
163 km or 102 mi	Westmount	$1808
166 km or 103 mi	Saint-Constant	$1888
167 km or 104 mi	Montreal	$1821
167 km or 104 mi	Mascouche	$1772
170 km or 106 mi	Saint-Lambert	$1869
170 km or 106 mi	Candiac	$1912
170 km or 106 mi	Longueuil	$1962
171 km or 106 mi	La Prairie	$1949
175 km or 109 mi	Brossard	$2105
176 km or 109 mi	Boucherville	$1882
177 km or 110 mi	Repentigny	$1783
178 km or 111 mi	Varennes	$1835
183 km or 114 mi	L'Assomption	$1659
183 km or 114 mi	Saint-Bruno-de-Montarville	$1924
185 km or 115 mi	Sainte-Julie	$1874