Cologne vs Washington - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: June 21, 2026

	Cologne	Washington
🚶 Cost of living one person	$1941	$3350
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$4759	$7781
🏠 One person rent	$1049	$2159
🏘️ Family rent	$1816	$3818
🍽️ Food expenses	$538	$775
🚐 Transport expenses	$208	$171
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$3341	$7152
😷 Air quality	Excellent	Excellent
✈️ Airport proximity	15 km	5 km
🎓 Higher education	92	100
😀 Quality of life	95	94
🏙️ Population	1.09M	690K

The cost of living in Cologne is 42% less expensive than in Washington. Cities ranked 2200th and 74th ($1941 vs $3350) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 19th and 56th 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 2.1 months in Washington. Cologne ranked 2nd best city to live in Germany vs Washington ranked 6th in the United States, while ranked 21st and 31st among best cities to live in the world.

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the estimated difference in money purchasing power

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Prices in Cologne vs Washington

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

	Cologne	Washington
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$16.2	$22.9
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$74.1	$101
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$11.7	$12
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$5.56	$8.68
☕ Cappuccino	$4.07	$6.1
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$3.76	$3.39
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1071	$2374
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$805	$1850
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1941	$4205
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1445	$3379
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$150	$136
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$231	$206
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$40.5	$68.2
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	3.88%	6.12%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$8050	$8429
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$5385	$3565
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$4.12	$3.03
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$69	$115
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$26.4	$18.6
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$2.08	$0.99
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.43	$1.17
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$2.16	$3.61
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.11	$6.22
🥚 Eggs, x12	$4.14	$5.43
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$13.6	$18.9
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$11.1	$15.9
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$27.6	$19.7
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.97	$5.8
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.12	$2.3
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.34	$5.02
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.98	$5.56
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.65	$2.74
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.17	$3.62
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.75	$1.66
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$2.38	$3.62
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$7.48	$17.5
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.24	$4.52
🚬 Cigarette pack	$9.3	$13.6
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$8.17	$9.34
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$2.61	$4.75
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$1.75	$4.31
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$1.95	$2.57
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$42.8	$113
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$15.1	$16.5
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$55.4	$196
💇 Haircut, simple	$19.1	$35.5
👖 Brand Jeans	$95.1	$70
👟 Brand Sneakers	$105	$116
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$1042	$1892
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$23900	$24903

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	$1728
10 km or 6.4 mi	Leverkusen	$1972
10 km or 6.4 mi	Frechen	$1715
13 km or 7.9 mi	Bruhl	$1713
13 km or 7.9 mi	Pulheim	$1726
14 km or 8.4 mi	Wesseling	$1722
14 km or 8.5 mi	Bergisch Gladbach	$1689
15 km or 9.3 mi	Niederkassel	$1732
16 km or 10 mi	Rosrath	$1693
18 km or 11 mi	Monheim am Rhein	$1713
19 km or 12 mi	Dormagen	$1699
19 km or 12 mi	Erftstadt	$1689
19 km or 12 mi	Langenfeld	$1716
20 km or 12 mi	Troisdorf	$1721
20 km or 12 mi	Leichlingen	$1696
20 km or 12 mi	Kerpen	$1674
21 km or 13 mi	Bornheim	$1764
21 km or 13 mi	Lohmar	$1686
22 km or 14 mi	Bergheim	$1667
23 km or 15 mi	Siegburg	$1711
24 km or 15 mi	Overath	$1657
25 km or 16 mi	Sankt Augustin	$1738
25 km or 16 mi	Bonn	$1948
26 km or 16 mi	Hilden	$1673
26 km or 16 mi	Solingen	$1698
27 km or 17 mi	Elsdorf	$1658
28 km or 17 mi	Wermelskirchen	$1631
28 km or 17 mi	Haan	$1662
28 km or 18 mi	Bedburg	$1653
29 km or 18 mi	Hennef	$1668
31 km or 19 mi	Grevenbroich	$1652
31 km or 19 mi	Remscheid	$1617
31 km or 20 mi	Erkrath	$1653
33 km or 20 mi	Konigswinter	$1597
34 km or 21 mi	Euskirchen	$1665
34 km or 21 mi	Neuss	$1685
34 km or 21 mi	Mettmann	$1629
35 km or 21 mi	Zulpich	$1650
35 km or 21 mi	Meckenheim	$1686
35 km or 22 mi	Dusseldorf	$1913

Cities near Washington

Distance	City	Cost of living
2.5 km or 1.5 mi	Georgetown	$3031
9.5 km or 5.9 mi	Bailey's Crossroads	$2572
10 km or 6.3 mi	Alexandria	$2913
11 km or 6.8 mi	Bethesda	$2769
12 km or 7.5 mi	Silver Spring	$2223
15 km or 9.2 mi	College Park	$3016
17 km or 11 mi	Springfield	$2367
17 km or 11 mi	Greenbelt	$2774
23 km or 14 mi	Rockville	$2678
24 km or 15 mi	Fairfax	$2803
26 km or 16 mi	Bowie	$2596
27 km or 17 mi	Laurel	$2377
28 km or 17 mi	Reston	$2801
30 km or 19 mi	Waldorf	$2508
31 km or 19 mi	Gaithersburg	$2512
32 km or 20 mi	Herndon	$2799
34 km or 21 mi	Woodbridge	$2696
34 km or 21 mi	Marumsco	$2608
36 km or 22 mi	Centreville	$3338
37 km or 23 mi	Germantown	$2695
38 km or 23 mi	Columbia	$2856
41 km or 26 mi	Manassas	$2379
42 km or 26 mi	Ashburn	$2793
47 km or 29 mi	Annapolis	$2862
49 km or 31 mi	Catonsville	$2484
51 km or 32 mi	Leesburg	$2341
57 km or 35 mi	Eldersburg	$2554
57 km or 35 mi	Baltimore	$2224
61 km or 38 mi	Owings Mills	$2603
68 km or 42 mi	Frederick	$2318
76 km or 47 mi	Fredericksburg	$2363
83 km or 52 mi	Charles Town	$1977
87 km or 54 mi	Edgewood	$3012
92 km or 57 mi	Bel Air South	$2787
93 km or 58 mi	Bel Air North	$2694
102 km or 63 mi	Hanover	$2275
102 km or 63 mi	Hagerstown	$2037
103 km or 64 mi	Winchester	$2252
106 km or 66 mi	Waynesboro	$2109
122 km or 76 mi	York	$2088