Cologne vs Manchester - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: October 14, 2025

	Cologne	Manchester
🚶 Cost of living one person	$1968	$2265
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$4619	$5312
🏠 One person rent	$1091	$1378
🏘️ Family rent	$1830	$2219
🍽️ Food expenses	$536	$544
🚐 Transport expenses	$196	$192
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$3266	$3266
😷 Air quality	Excellent	Excellent
✈️ Airport proximity	15 km	13 km
🎓 Higher education	91	91
😀 Quality of life	96	93
🏙️ Population	1.09M	548K

The cost of living in Cologne is 13% less expensive than in Manchester. Cities ranked 2104th and 1330th ($1968 vs $2265) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 11th and 39th in Germany and the United Kingdom, respectively. Check Germany vs the United Kingdom comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 1.7 months in Cologne compared to 1.4 months in Manchester. Cologne ranked 1st best city to live in Germany vs Manchester ranked 10th in the United Kingdom, while ranked 23rd and 107th among best cities to live in the world.

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the estimated difference in money purchasing power

Cost of living in Cologne vs Manchester infographic

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Prices in Cologne vs Manchester

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

	Cologne	Manchester
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$15.4	$17.3
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$71.5	$81.5
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$11.3	$10.5
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$5.26	$7.26
☕ Cappuccino	$4.06	$4.82
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$3.38	$2.57
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1103	$1608
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$870	$1050
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1997	$2460
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1478	$1770
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$133	$177
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$206	$271
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$41.8	$39.4
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	3.8%	6.06%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$6855	$5680
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$5848	$3963
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$3.93	$2.66
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$67.6	$120
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$24	$26.8
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$2.03	$1.96
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.38	$1.51
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$2.03	$1.56
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.87	$1.8
🥚 Eggs, x12	$4.16	$4.06
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$14.7	$12.3
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$12.6	$9.11
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$23.3	$18.2
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.25	$3.2
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.05	$1.89
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.17	$3.98
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.63	$3.62
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.73	$1.66
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.22	$1.81
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.77	$1.02
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$2.45	$2.62
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$7.3	$10.7
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.14	$2.42
🚬 Cigarette pack	$9.05	$17.7
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$8.07	$6.91
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$2.45	$4.75
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$1.93	$2.48
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$1.67	$1.92
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$40.3	$43.6
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$13.3	$12.8
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$54.3	$89.9
💇 Haircut, simple	$20.9	$14.3
👖 Brand Jeans	$98	$96.1
👟 Brand Sneakers	$109	$93.7
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$773	$1945
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$19386	$20873

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	$1759
10 km or 6.4 mi	Leverkusen	$2037
10 km or 6.4 mi	Frechen	$1745
13 km or 7.9 mi	Bruhl	$1744
13 km or 7.9 mi	Pulheim	$1741
14 km or 8.4 mi	Wesseling	$1740
14 km or 8.5 mi	Bergisch Gladbach	$1726
15 km or 9.3 mi	Niederkassel	$1750
16 km or 10 mi	Rosrath	$1699
18 km or 11 mi	Monheim am Rhein	$1740
19 km or 12 mi	Dormagen	$1711
19 km or 12 mi	Erftstadt	$1702
19 km or 12 mi	Langenfeld	$1727
20 km or 12 mi	Troisdorf	$1736
20 km or 12 mi	Leichlingen	$1708
20 km or 12 mi	Kerpen	$1695
21 km or 13 mi	Bornheim	$1770
21 km or 13 mi	Lohmar	$1694
22 km or 14 mi	Bergheim	$1678
23 km or 15 mi	Siegburg	$1716
24 km or 15 mi	Overath	$1642
25 km or 16 mi	Sankt Augustin	$1747
25 km or 16 mi	Bonn	$1957
26 km or 16 mi	Hilden	$1674
26 km or 16 mi	Solingen	$1691
27 km or 17 mi	Elsdorf	$1654
28 km or 17 mi	Wermelskirchen	$1630
28 km or 17 mi	Haan	$1645
28 km or 18 mi	Bedburg	$1650
29 km or 18 mi	Hennef	$1666
31 km or 19 mi	Grevenbroich	$1659
31 km or 19 mi	Remscheid	$1608
31 km or 20 mi	Erkrath	$1661
33 km or 20 mi	Konigswinter	$1611
34 km or 21 mi	Euskirchen	$1674
34 km or 21 mi	Neuss	$1650
34 km or 21 mi	Mettmann	$1613
35 km or 21 mi	Zulpich	$1662
35 km or 21 mi	Meckenheim	$1689
35 km or 22 mi	Dusseldorf	$1979

Cities near Manchester

Distance	City	Cost of living
4.3 km or 2.7 mi	Salford	$2034
5.3 km or 3.3 mi	Droylsden	$1921
5.5 km or 3.4 mi	Stretford	$2001
7.5 km or 4.7 mi	Sale	$1968
9.1 km or 5.7 mi	Ashton-under-Lyne	$1803
12 km or 7.2 mi	Oldham	$1698
12 km or 7.6 mi	Altrincham	$1918
15 km or 9.1 mi	Bury	$1759
17 km or 11 mi	Rochdale	$1788
19 km or 12 mi	Bolton	$2040
24 km or 15 mi	Macclesfield	$1835
26 km or 16 mi	Warrington	$2011
28 km or 17 mi	Wigan	$1723
34 km or 21 mi	Chorley	$1828
34 km or 21 mi	St Helens	$1680
35 km or 22 mi	Widnes	$1873
35 km or 22 mi	Blackburn	$1866
35 km or 22 mi	Runcorn	$1883
36 km or 22 mi	Burnley	$1513
36 km or 22 mi	Huddersfield	$1834
38 km or 23 mi	Halifax	$1968
39 km or 25 mi	Brighouse	$1887
42 km or 26 mi	Leek	$1783
43 km or 27 mi	Crewe	$1578
45 km or 28 mi	Preston	$1652
46 km or 29 mi	Dewsbury	$1822
48 km or 30 mi	Bradford	$1746
49 km or 30 mi	Batley	$1833
49 km or 30 mi	Ellesmere Port	$1897
49 km or 31 mi	Keighley	$1850
50 km or 31 mi	Bootle	$1832
51 km or 31 mi	Newcastle-under-Lyme	$1484
51 km or 32 mi	Barnsley	$1507
51 km or 32 mi	Liverpool	$1937
51 km or 32 mi	Sheffield	$1890
52 km or 32 mi	Stoke-on-Trent	$1633
52 km or 33 mi	Chester	$2023
53 km or 33 mi	Bebington	$1834
53 km or 33 mi	Birkenhead	$1831
53 km or 33 mi	Crosby	$1804