Cleveland vs Milwaukee - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 11, 2026

	Cleveland	Milwaukee
🚶 Cost of living one person	$1971	$2078
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$4638	$5083
🏠 One person rent	$1161	$1194
🏘️ Family rent	$1997	$1948
🍽️ Food expenses	$568	$591
🚐 Transport expenses	$113	$118
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$3363	$3809
😷 Air quality	Excellent	Excellent
✈️ Airport proximity	4 km	12 km
🎓 Higher education	82	81
😀 Quality of life	87	89
🏙️ Population	373K	577K

The cost of living in Cleveland is 5% less expensive than in Milwaukee. Cities ranked 2121st and 1833rd ($1971 vs $2078) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 1629th and 1456th in the United States.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 1.7 months in Cleveland compared to 1.8 months in Milwaukee. Ranked 111th vs 70th best cities to live in the United States, and 357th vs 260th 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 Cleveland vs Milwaukee

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

	Cleveland	Milwaukee
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$15.9	$16.5
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$52.3	$60.5
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$9.58	$9.91
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$5.68	$5.7
☕ Cappuccino	$4.93	$5.12
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$2.42	$3.01
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1296	$1421
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$863	$908
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$2390	$2353
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1531	$1538
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$148	$121
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$230	$185
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$63.2	$62.1
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	6.3%	6.44%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1477	$2254
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1191	$1645
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$2.5	$2.01
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$95.8	$73.7
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$16	$16
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$0.84	$0.86
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.85	$0.86
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$2.76	$2.87
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.55	$4.24
🥚 Eggs, x12	$4.22	$4.58
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$12.5	$10.8
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$12.3	$13.2
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$21.2	$16.7
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.7	$4.4
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.63	$1.38
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.9	$4.62
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.97	$4.34
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3	$2.18
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.97	$2.49
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.59	$1.57
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$2.71	$2.32
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$16.8	$16.2
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.53	$2.81
🚬 Cigarette pack	$9.75	$10.5
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$8.06	$9.34
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$4.17	$4.34
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$2.58	$3.57
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$1.23	$1.85
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$39.2	$44.7
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$13.2	$13.6
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$73.6	$166
💇 Haircut, simple	$13.5	$16.8
👖 Brand Jeans	$56.3	$48.1
👟 Brand Sneakers	$95.6	$85.1
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$1124	$1835
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$18789	$24369

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

Cost of Living in the nearest cities

Cities near Cleveland

Distance	City	Cost of living
8.8 km or 5.4 mi	Garfield Heights	$1957
9.4 km or 5.8 mi	Cleveland Heights	$1956
9.9 km or 6.1 mi	Shaker Heights	$1944
11 km or 6.8 mi	Lakewood	$1953
11 km or 6.9 mi	Parma	$1921
12 km or 7.5 mi	Maple Heights	$1927
13 km or 7.8 mi	South Euclid	$1927
13 km or 8.2 mi	Parma Heights	$1936
15 km or 9.1 mi	Rocky River	$1937
15 km or 9.4 mi	Bedford	$1911
18 km or 11 mi	Euclid	$1930
19 km or 12 mi	North Royalton	$1927
22 km or 13 mi	Solon	$1874
22 km or 13 mi	North Olmsted	$1921
22 km or 14 mi	Westlake	$1928
23 km or 14 mi	Strongsville	$1911
28 km or 17 mi	Avon Lake	$1893
28 km or 18 mi	Willoughby	$1921
30 km or 18 mi	Avon	$1936
30 km or 18 mi	Brunswick	$1897
30 km or 18 mi	North Ridgeville	$1892
33 km or 21 mi	Hudson	$1843
36 km or 22 mi	Mentor	$1844
38 km or 24 mi	Elyria	$1852
40 km or 25 mi	Cuyahoga Falls	$1825
41 km or 25 mi	Stow	$1810
42 km or 26 mi	Lorain	$1807
42 km or 26 mi	Medina	$1896
45 km or 28 mi	Kent	$1712
47 km or 29 mi	Akron	$1662
51 km or 32 mi	Wadsworth	$1958
52 km or 32 mi	Barberton	$1879
61 km or 38 mi	Green	$1827
76 km or 47 mi	Warren	$1633
77 km or 48 mi	Massillon	$1752
78 km or 49 mi	Wooster	$1530
79 km or 49 mi	Alliance	$1500
79 km or 49 mi	Canton	$1451
83 km or 52 mi	Norwalk	$1935
87 km or 54 mi	Sandusky	$2149

Cities near Milwaukee

Distance	City	Cost of living
5.6 km or 3.5 mi	West Allis	$1962
6.3 km or 3.9 mi	Wauwatosa	$1986
10 km or 6.4 mi	Greenfield	$1965
13 km or 8.3 mi	Brookfield	$1924
15 km or 9.4 mi	New Berlin	$1963
17 km or 11 mi	South Milwaukee	$2040
17 km or 11 mi	Menomonee Falls	$1997
17 km or 11 mi	Franklin	$1997
19 km or 12 mi	Oak Creek	$2028
19 km or 12 mi	Mequon	$2020
22 km or 14 mi	Muskego	$1966
23 km or 14 mi	Waukesha	$1812
27 km or 17 mi	Caledonia	$2037
37 km or 23 mi	Mount Pleasant	$2079
38 km or 24 mi	Racine	$2070
46 km or 28 mi	West Bend	$1971
53 km or 33 mi	Kenosha	$2034
57 km or 36 mi	Pleasant Prairie	$2092
64 km or 40 mi	Watertown	$1990
67 km or 42 mi	Zion	$2381
74 km or 46 mi	Fort Atkinson	$1814
76 km or 47 mi	Round Lake Beach	$2365
76 km or 47 mi	Gurnee	$2379
77 km or 48 mi	Waukegan	$2435
78 km or 49 mi	Grayslake	$2354
80 km or 50 mi	Sheboygan	$1746
81 km or 51 mi	North Chicago	$2403
84 km or 52 mi	McHenry	$2437
85 km or 53 mi	Libertyville	$2410
87 km or 54 mi	Mundelein	$2131
90 km or 56 mi	Fond du Lac	$1844
91 km or 57 mi	Woodstock	$2229
91 km or 57 mi	Vernon Hills	$2402
96 km or 60 mi	Janesville	$1784
97 km or 60 mi	Crystal Lake	$2504
97 km or 60 mi	Highland Park	$2398
98 km or 61 mi	Buffalo Grove	$2371
101 km or 63 mi	Lake in the Hills	$2519
102 km or 63 mi	Wheeling	$2434
103 km or 64 mi	Northbrook	$2415