Cologne vs Rotterdam - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 02, 2025

	Cologne	Rotterdam
🚶 Cost of living one person	$1744	$2359
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$4212	$5397
🏠 One person rent	$947	$1479
🏘️ Family rent	$1673	$2435
🍽️ Food expenses	$491	$569
🚐 Transport expenses	$174	$179
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$3148	$3493
😷 Air quality	Excellent	Excellent
✈️ Airport proximity	15 km	5 km
🎓 Higher education	92	94
😀 Quality of life	96	93
🏙️ Population	1.09M	664K

The cost of living in Cologne is 26% less expensive than in Rotterdam. Cities ranked 2551st and 1038th ($1744 vs $2359) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 24th and 3rd in Germany and the Netherlands, respectively. Check Germany vs the Netherlands comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 1.8 months in Cologne compared to 1.5 months in Rotterdam. Cologne ranked 2nd best city to live in Germany vs Rotterdam ranked 5th in the Netherlands, while ranked 12th and 68th among best cities to live in the world.

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Cost of living in Cologne vs Rotterdam infographic

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Prices in Cologne vs Rotterdam

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

	Cologne	Rotterdam
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$13.1	$20.8
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$61.3	$83.3
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$10.4	$12.6
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$4.67	$6.3
☕ Cappuccino	$3.64	$3.88
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$3.1	$3.24
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$963	$1509
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$743	$1241
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1902	$2680
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1332	$2049
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$120	$138
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$186	$213
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$40.4	$46.7
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	4.01%	4.07%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$6163	$5415
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$5539	$3934
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$3.35	$4.15
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$56.6	$98.4
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$22.1	$20.9
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.83	$2.02
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.23	$1.15
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$1.8	$2.07
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.69	$3.02
🥚 Eggs, x12	$3.95	$4.55
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$13.5	$12.7
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$13.2	$13.9
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$20.1	$15.3
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.71	$2.15
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.55	$2.26
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.06	$2.03
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.26	$3.7
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.64	$1.96
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.64	$1.94
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.64	$0.69
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$2.22	$3.58
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$6.56	$6.23
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.02	$1.51
🚬 Cigarette pack	$8.09	$12.5
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$8.17	$4.53
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$2.2	$4.66
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$1.75	$1.67
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$1.5	$1.75
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$32.5	$41.4
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$11.9	$14.8
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$49.2	$36.2
💇 Haircut, simple	$18.4	$19.8
👖 Brand Jeans	$94.7	$78.1
👟 Brand Sneakers	$103	$108
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$773	$2027
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$15595	$10730

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 Rotterdam

Distance	City	Cost of living
10 km or 6.4 mi	Ridderkerk	$2062
13 km or 8 mi	Delft	$1861
19 km or 12 mi	Leidschendam	$2042
21 km or 13 mi	The Hague	$2199
23 km or 14 mi	Sliedrecht	$1969
25 km or 16 mi	Scheveningen	$2049
26 km or 16 mi	Leiden	$2081
27 km or 17 mi	Oegstgeest	$1934
41 km or 25 mi	Etten-Leur	$1805
43 km or 27 mi	Breda	$1739
43 km or 27 mi	Roosendaal	$1890
47 km or 29 mi	Utrecht	$2251
49 km or 30 mi	Bergen op Zoom	$1917
50 km or 31 mi	Zandvoort	$2090
52 km or 32 mi	Haarlem	$2291
54 km or 34 mi	Zaltbommel	$2026
55 km or 34 mi	Zeist	$2180
56 km or 35 mi	Tilburg	$1862
59 km or 36 mi	Amsterdam	$2791
59 km or 37 mi	Hilversum	$2049
60 km or 38 mi	IJmuiden	$2085
61 km or 38 mi	Hoogstraten	$1492
62 km or 39 mi	Goes	$2001
63 km or 39 mi	's-Hertogenbosch	$1975
66 km or 41 mi	Tiel	$2432
67 km or 42 mi	Huizen	$1957
72 km or 45 mi	Almere	$1937
73 km or 45 mi	Purmerend	$1944
74 km or 46 mi	Veenendaal	$1631
74 km or 46 mi	Turnhout	$1421
76 km or 47 mi	Middelburg	$1879
79 km or 49 mi	Antwerp	$1640
81 km or 51 mi	Wageningen	$2105
82 km or 51 mi	Beveren	$1613
82 km or 51 mi	Ede	$1651
83 km or 52 mi	Uden	$1958
84 km or 52 mi	Mortsel	$1530
85 km or 53 mi	Veldhoven	$1917
87 km or 54 mi	Herentals	$1318
88 km or 54 mi	Sint-Niklaas	$1514