Cologne vs Columbus - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 02, 2025

	Cologne	Columbus
🚶 Cost of living one person	$1744	$2145
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$4212	$5059
🏠 One person rent	$947	$1248
🏘️ Family rent	$1673	$2171
🍽️ Food expenses	$491	$632
🚐 Transport expenses	$174	$125
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$3148	$4018
😷 Air quality	Excellent	Moderate
✈️ Airport proximity	15 km	10 km
🎓 Higher education	92	73
😀 Quality of life	96	88
🏙️ Population	1.09M	906K

The cost of living in Cologne is 19% less expensive than in Columbus. Cities ranked 2551st and 1476th ($1744 vs $2145) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 24th and 1323rd in Germany and the United States, respectively. Check Germany vs the United States comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 1.8 months in Cologne compared to 1.9 months in Columbus. Cologne ranked 2nd best city to live in Germany vs Columbus ranked 59th in the United States, while ranked 12th and 249th among best cities to live in the world.

Salary adjustment calculator
the estimated difference in money purchasing power

Cost of living in Cologne vs Columbus infographic

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Prices in Cologne vs Columbus

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

	Cologne	Columbus
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$13.1	$18.9
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$61.3	$66.4
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$10.4	$11.7
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$4.67	$5.69
☕ Cappuccino	$3.64	$4.78
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$3.1	$2.44
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$963	$1314
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$743	$972
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1902	$2378
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1332	$1757
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$120	$149
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$186	$232
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$40.4	$57.9
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	4.01%	6.57%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$6163	$3095
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$5539	$2954
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$3.35	$2.01
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$56.6	$60.8
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$22.1	$15.4
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.83	$0.86
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.23	$0.92
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$1.8	$2.74
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.69	$3.43
🥚 Eggs, x12	$3.95	$3.4
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$13.5	$13.3
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$13.2	$13.8
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$20.1	$15.4
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.71	$5.29
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.55	$1.32
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.06	$5.69
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.26	$4.95
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.64	$3.12
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.64	$3.04
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.64	$1.47
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$2.22	$3.28
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$6.56	$18.6
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.02	$2.66
🚬 Cigarette pack	$8.09	$9.45
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$8.17	$9.35
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$2.2	$3.76
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$1.75	$4.07
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$1.5	$2.2
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$32.5	$42.3
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$11.9	$11.7
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$49.2	$85.5
💇 Haircut, simple	$18.4	$19.9
👖 Brand Jeans	$94.7	$61
👟 Brand Sneakers	$103	$89.4
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$773	$1236
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$15595	$15423

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

Cost of Living in the nearest cities

Cities near Cologne

Distance	City	Cost of living
9.2 km or 5.7 mi	Hurth	$1578
10 km or 6.4 mi	Leverkusen	$1822
10 km or 6.4 mi	Frechen	$1569
13 km or 7.9 mi	Bruhl	$1559
13 km or 7.9 mi	Pulheim	$1572
14 km or 8.4 mi	Wesseling	$1554
14 km or 8.5 mi	Bergisch Gladbach	$1586
15 km or 9.3 mi	Niederkassel	$1551
16 km or 10 mi	Rosrath	$1536
18 km or 11 mi	Monheim am Rhein	$1576
19 km or 12 mi	Dormagen	$1561
19 km or 12 mi	Erftstadt	$1534
19 km or 12 mi	Langenfeld	$1577
20 km or 12 mi	Troisdorf	$1544
20 km or 12 mi	Leichlingen	$1559
20 km or 12 mi	Kerpen	$1529
21 km or 13 mi	Bornheim	$1554
21 km or 13 mi	Lohmar	$1523
22 km or 14 mi	Bergheim	$1518
23 km or 15 mi	Siegburg	$1522
24 km or 15 mi	Overath	$1497
25 km or 16 mi	Sankt Augustin	$1542
25 km or 16 mi	Bonn	$1677
26 km or 16 mi	Hilden	$1522
26 km or 16 mi	Solingen	$1580
27 km or 17 mi	Elsdorf	$1502
28 km or 17 mi	Wermelskirchen	$1497
28 km or 17 mi	Haan	$1517
28 km or 18 mi	Bedburg	$1504
29 km or 18 mi	Hennef	$1494
31 km or 19 mi	Grevenbroich	$1499
31 km or 19 mi	Remscheid	$1494
31 km or 20 mi	Erkrath	$1516
33 km or 20 mi	Konigswinter	$1446
34 km or 21 mi	Euskirchen	$1503
34 km or 21 mi	Neuss	$1495
34 km or 21 mi	Mettmann	$1479
35 km or 21 mi	Zulpich	$1490
35 km or 21 mi	Meckenheim	$1500
35 km or 22 mi	Dusseldorf	$1772

Cities near Columbus

Distance	City	Cost of living
8.6 km or 5.3 mi	Upper Arlington	$2084
11 km or 7.1 mi	Grove	$2062
13 km or 8.3 mi	Gahanna	$1986
15 km or 9 mi	Hilliard	$2085
17 km or 11 mi	Reynoldsburg	$1994
18 km or 11 mi	Dublin	$2095
19 km or 12 mi	Westerville	$1798
22 km or 13 mi	Pickerington	$1983
38 km or 24 mi	Delaware	$1851
43 km or 27 mi	Lancaster	$1903
43 km or 27 mi	Marysville	$1968
51 km or 32 mi	Newark	$1881
69 km or 43 mi	Springfield	$1897
70 km or 43 mi	Chillicothe	$1764
70 km or 44 mi	Marion	$1871
84 km or 52 mi	Zanesville	$1825
86 km or 53 mi	Xenia	$1870
89 km or 55 mi	Fairborn	$1798
94 km or 59 mi	Beavercreek	$1862
97 km or 60 mi	Huber Heights	$1852
97 km or 60 mi	Mansfield	$1832
98 km or 61 mi	Riverside	$1865
103 km or 64 mi	Kettering	$1890
103 km or 64 mi	Troy	$1897
104 km or 65 mi	Athens	$1674
104 km or 65 mi	Centerville	$1902
105 km or 65 mi	Dayton	$1783
105 km or 65 mi	Sidney	$1973
108 km or 67 mi	Piqua	$1914
112 km or 69 mi	Trotwood	$1870
116 km or 72 mi	Ashland	$1681
120 km or 74 mi	Lebanon	$1834
128 km or 80 mi	Middletown	$1427
128 km or 80 mi	Lima	$1923
130 km or 81 mi	Wooster	$1481
131 km or 81 mi	Mason	$1853
132 km or 82 mi	Findlay	$1839
136 km or 84 mi	Portsmouth	$1428
144 km or 90 mi	New Philadelphia	$1683
146 km or 91 mi	Norwalk	$1858