Cologne vs Seattle - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 02, 2025

	Cologne	Seattle
🚶 Cost of living one person	$1744	$3015
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$4212	$7449
🏠 One person rent	$947	$1896
🏘️ Family rent	$1673	$3549
🍽️ Food expenses	$491	$746
🚐 Transport expenses	$174	$160
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$3148	$6742
😷 Air quality	Excellent	Excellent
✈️ Airport proximity	15 km	9 km
🎓 Higher education	92	80
😀 Quality of life	96	91
🏙️ Population	1.09M	737K

The cost of living in Cologne is 42% less expensive than in Seattle. Cities ranked 2551st and 158th ($1744 vs $3015) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 24th and 140th 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 2.2 months in Seattle. Cologne ranked 2nd best city to live in Germany vs Seattle ranked 15th in the United States, while ranked 12th and 98th 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 Seattle infographic

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Prices in Cologne vs Seattle

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

	Cologne	Seattle
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$13.1	$21.9
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$61.3	$90.4
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$10.4	$13.6
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$4.67	$7.98
☕ Cappuccino	$3.64	$5.55
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$3.1	$2.97
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$963	$2086
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$743	$1567
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1902	$3947
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1332	$3067
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$120	$157
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$186	$237
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$40.4	$68.8
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	4.01%	6.44%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$6163	$6966
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$5539	$5351
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$3.35	$2.73
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$56.6	$96.7
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$22.1	$18
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.83	$1.16
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.23	$1.18
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$1.8	$4.03
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.69	$4.44
🥚 Eggs, x12	$3.95	$4.89
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$13.5	$20.3
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$13.2	$14.6
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$20.1	$20.4
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.71	$5.19
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.55	$2.38
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.06	$5.37
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.26	$5.76
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.64	$2.64
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.64	$3.47
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.64	$1.56
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$2.22	$2.91
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$6.56	$17.8
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.02	$3.15
🚬 Cigarette pack	$8.09	$12
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$8.17	$10.4
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$2.2	$5.95
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$1.75	$6.98
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$1.5	$2.49
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$32.5	$65.6
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$11.9	$16
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$49.2	$183
💇 Haircut, simple	$18.4	$25.9
👖 Brand Jeans	$94.7	$68.9
👟 Brand Sneakers	$103	$101
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$773	$2185
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$15595	$29407

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 Seattle

Distance	City	Cost of living
9.1 km or 5.7 mi	Mercer Island	$2826
11 km or 6.5 mi	Bellevue	$3273
14 km or 8.5 mi	Kirkland	$2882
15 km or 9.2 mi	Tukwila	$2624
15 km or 9.5 mi	Burien	$2642
16 km or 10 mi	Bainbridge Island	$2810
17 km or 10 mi	Shoreline	$2973
17 km or 10 mi	Renton	$2595
17 km or 11 mi	Redmond	$3239
17 km or 11 mi	Kenmore	$2718
19 km or 12 mi	SeaTac	$2741
21 km or 13 mi	Bothell	$2625
22 km or 14 mi	Sammamish	$2759
22 km or 14 mi	Edmonds	$2785
23 km or 14 mi	Issaquah	$2606
24 km or 15 mi	Des Moines	$2623
24 km or 15 mi	Lynnwood	$2726
24 km or 15 mi	Bremerton	$2462
26 km or 16 mi	Kent	$2784
30 km or 19 mi	Mill Creek	$2642
33 km or 20 mi	Federal Way	$2532
34 km or 21 mi	Maple Valley	$2579
35 km or 21 mi	Mukilteo	$2637
35 km or 22 mi	Auburn	$2338
41 km or 25 mi	Everett	$2589
42 km or 26 mi	Tacoma	$2517
46 km or 28 mi	University Place	$2604
48 km or 30 mi	Puyallup	$2644
50 km or 31 mi	Lake Stevens	$2604
51 km or 32 mi	Lakewood	$2449
52 km or 33 mi	Marysville	$2598
57 km or 35 mi	Spanaway	$2460
74 km or 46 mi	Lacey	$2571
76 km or 47 mi	Olympia	$2406
78 km or 48 mi	Sequim	$2692
80 km or 50 mi	Oak Harbor	$2751
90 km or 56 mi	Mount Vernon	$2542
100 km or 62 mi	Port Angeles	$2527
109 km or 68 mi	Centralia	$2523
119 km or 74 mi	Victoria	$2093