Cologne vs Milwaukee - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: October 14, 2025

	Cologne	Milwaukee
🚶 Cost of living one person	$1968	$2046
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$4619	$5001
🏠 One person rent	$1091	$1179
🏘️ Family rent	$1830	$1923
🍽️ Food expenses	$536	$577
🚐 Transport expenses	$196	$118
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$3266	$3707
😷 Air quality	Excellent	Excellent
✈️ Airport proximity	15 km	12 km
🎓 Higher education	91	82
😀 Quality of life	96	91
🏙️ Population	1.09M	577K

The cost of living in Cologne is 4% less expensive than in Milwaukee. Cities ranked 2104th and 1864th ($1968 vs $2046) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 11th and 1525th 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 1.7 months in Cologne compared to 1.8 months in Milwaukee. Cologne ranked 1st best city to live in Germany vs Milwaukee ranked 55th in the United States, while ranked 23rd and 195th 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 Milwaukee infographic

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Prices in Cologne vs Milwaukee

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

	Cologne	Milwaukee
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$15.4	$16.5
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$71.5	$61.2
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$11.3	$10.1
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$5.26	$5.38
☕ Cappuccino	$4.06	$4.96
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$3.38	$3
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1103	$1315
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$870	$935
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1997	$2336
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1478	$1539
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$133	$107
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$206	$163
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$41.8	$61.5
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	3.8%	6.41%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$6855	$1953
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$5848	$1705
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$3.93	$1.99
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$67.6	$73.6
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$24	$16.2
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$2.03	$0.84
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.38	$0.85
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$2.03	$3.09
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.87	$3.75
🥚 Eggs, x12	$4.16	$4.51
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$14.7	$10.5
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$12.6	$12.8
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$23.3	$15.3
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.25	$4.15
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.05	$1.19
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.17	$4.58
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.63	$4.09
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.73	$1.93
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.22	$2.15
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.77	$1.54
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$2.45	$2.35
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$7.3	$15.6
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.14	$2.67
🚬 Cigarette pack	$9.05	$10.3
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$8.07	$9.28
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$2.45	$4.36
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$1.93	$3.55
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$1.67	$1.86
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$40.3	$44.5
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$13.3	$13.4
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$54.3	$165
💇 Haircut, simple	$20.9	$17
👖 Brand Jeans	$98	$41.6
👟 Brand Sneakers	$109	$79.6
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$773	$1808
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$19386	$23971

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 Milwaukee

Distance	City	Cost of living
5.6 km or 3.5 mi	West Allis	$1915
6.3 km or 3.9 mi	Wauwatosa	$1973
10 km or 6.4 mi	Greenfield	$1915
13 km or 8.3 mi	Brookfield	$1915
15 km or 9.4 mi	New Berlin	$1904
17 km or 11 mi	South Milwaukee	$1973
17 km or 11 mi	Menomonee Falls	$1943
17 km or 11 mi	Franklin	$1948
19 km or 12 mi	Oak Creek	$1966
19 km or 12 mi	Mequon	$1964
22 km or 14 mi	Muskego	$1919
23 km or 14 mi	Waukesha	$1785
27 km or 17 mi	Caledonia	$1973
37 km or 23 mi	Mount Pleasant	$2039
38 km or 24 mi	Racine	$2032
46 km or 28 mi	West Bend	$1941
53 km or 33 mi	Kenosha	$2030
57 km or 36 mi	Pleasant Prairie	$2089
64 km or 40 mi	Watertown	$1957
67 km or 42 mi	Zion	$2381
74 km or 46 mi	Fort Atkinson	$1826
76 km or 47 mi	Round Lake Beach	$2355
76 km or 47 mi	Gurnee	$2368
77 km or 48 mi	Waukegan	$2375
78 km or 49 mi	Grayslake	$2340
80 km or 50 mi	Sheboygan	$1763
81 km or 51 mi	North Chicago	$2368
84 km or 52 mi	McHenry	$2394
85 km or 53 mi	Libertyville	$2434
87 km or 54 mi	Mundelein	$2119
90 km or 56 mi	Fond du Lac	$1849
91 km or 57 mi	Woodstock	$2220
91 km or 57 mi	Vernon Hills	$2373
96 km or 60 mi	Janesville	$1789
97 km or 60 mi	Crystal Lake	$2528
97 km or 60 mi	Highland Park	$2392
98 km or 61 mi	Buffalo Grove	$2412
101 km or 63 mi	Lake in the Hills	$2508
102 km or 63 mi	Wheeling	$2426
103 km or 64 mi	Northbrook	$2399