Columbus vs Ottawa - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: October 14, 2025

	Columbus	Ottawa
🚶 Cost of living one person	$2181	$2096
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$5273	$4619
🏠 One person rent	$1256	$1231
🏘️ Family rent	$2214	$1937
🍽️ Food expenses	$662	$576
🚐 Transport expenses	$125	$166
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$3957	$3333
😷 Air quality	Excellent	Excellent
✈️ Airport proximity	10 km	5 km
🎓 Higher education	72	50
😀 Quality of life	90	92
🏙️ Population	906K	1.02M

The cost of living in Columbus is 4% more expensive than in Ottawa. Cities ranked 1512th and 1744th ($2181 vs $2096) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 1292nd and 24th in the United States and Canada, respectively. Check the United States vs Canada comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 1.8 months in Columbus compared to 1.6 months in Ottawa. Columbus ranked 64th best city to live in the United States vs Ottawa ranked 11th in Canada, while ranked 217th and 129th among best cities to live in the world.

Salary adjustment calculator
the estimated difference in money purchasing power

Cost of living in Columbus vs Ottawa infographic

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Prices in Columbus vs Ottawa

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

	Columbus	Ottawa
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$19.3	$16.1
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$68	$63.6
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$12.3	$10.8
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$6.21	$5.52
☕ Cappuccino	$4.98	$3.81
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$2.74	$2
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1298	$1295
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$973	$1036
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$2399	$2109
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1787	$1647
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$157	$95.9
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$244	$150
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$60.7	$47.4
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	6.42%	5.23%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$3028	$4937
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$2566	$3196
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$2.01	$2.84
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$61.3	$95.2
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$15.4	$15.2
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$0.83	$1.04
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.92	$2.35
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$3.13	$2.55
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.38	$2.89
🥚 Eggs, x12	$4.13	$3.53
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$13.8	$13.6
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$14.4	$13.7
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$16.1	$15.1
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$6.06	$3.9
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.14	$1.31
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$6.2	$3.6
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.57	$3.88
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.03	$2.59
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.6	$3.16
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.36	$0.99
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$3.25	$2.77
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$18.5	$13.5
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.88	$2.61
🚬 Cigarette pack	$9.33	$12.9
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$9.22	$11.6
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$3.75	$4.18
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$4.04	$1.9
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$2.23	$1.76
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$40.5	$42.4
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$11.7	$10.7
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$86.1	$66
💇 Haircut, simple	$19.9	$16.8
👖 Brand Jeans	$56.1	$56.4
👟 Brand Sneakers	$86.6	$89
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$1105	$783
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$28983	$15527

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

Cost of Living in the nearest cities

Cities near Columbus

Distance	City	Cost of living
8.6 km or 5.3 mi	Upper Arlington	$2105
11 km or 7.1 mi	Grove	$2091
13 km or 8.3 mi	Gahanna	$2020
15 km or 9 mi	Hilliard	$2094
17 km or 11 mi	Reynoldsburg	$2030
18 km or 11 mi	Dublin	$2084
19 km or 12 mi	Westerville	$1836
22 km or 13 mi	Pickerington	$2014
38 km or 24 mi	Delaware	$2028
43 km or 27 mi	Lancaster	$1951
43 km or 27 mi	Marysville	$2019
51 km or 32 mi	Newark	$1932
69 km or 43 mi	Springfield	$1933
70 km or 43 mi	Chillicothe	$1933
70 km or 44 mi	Marion	$1954
84 km or 52 mi	Zanesville	$1928
86 km or 53 mi	Xenia	$1918
89 km or 55 mi	Fairborn	$1842
94 km or 59 mi	Beavercreek	$1918
97 km or 60 mi	Huber Heights	$1934
97 km or 60 mi	Mansfield	$1697
98 km or 61 mi	Riverside	$1947
103 km or 64 mi	Kettering	$1961
103 km or 64 mi	Troy	$1965
104 km or 65 mi	Athens	$1571
104 km or 65 mi	Centerville	$1942
105 km or 65 mi	Dayton	$1917
105 km or 65 mi	Sidney	$2025
108 km or 67 mi	Piqua	$1980
112 km or 69 mi	Trotwood	$1957
116 km or 72 mi	Ashland	$1684
120 km or 74 mi	Lebanon	$1850
128 km or 80 mi	Middletown	$1495
128 km or 80 mi	Lima	$2188
130 km or 81 mi	Wooster	$1482
131 km or 81 mi	Mason	$1899
132 km or 82 mi	Findlay	$1922
136 km or 84 mi	Portsmouth	$1493
144 km or 90 mi	New Philadelphia	$1743
146 km or 91 mi	Norwalk	$2061

Cities near Ottawa

Distance	City	Cost of living
7.4 km or 4.6 mi	Gatineau	$1802
19 km or 12 mi	Kanata	$2166
87 km or 54 mi	Cornwall	$1660
94 km or 58 mi	Brockville	$1836
124 km or 77 mi	Salaberry-de-Valleyfield	$1935
128 km or 80 mi	Mirabel	$1782
130 km or 81 mi	Vaudreuil-Dorion	$1850
138 km or 86 mi	Saint-Jerome	$1753
141 km or 87 mi	Saint-Eustache	$1806
143 km or 89 mi	Kirkland	$1835
144 km or 89 mi	Blainville	$1780
146 km or 90 mi	Sainte-Therese	$1785
147 km or 91 mi	Pointe-Claire	$1838
147 km or 91 mi	Boisbriand	$1763
147 km or 91 mi	Dollard-des-Ormeaux	$1829
147 km or 91 mi	Kingston	$1437
150 km or 93 mi	Le Ray	$1822
152 km or 94 mi	Dorval	$1853
152 km or 94 mi	Chateauguay	$1867
153 km or 95 mi	Laval	$1930
157 km or 98 mi	Saint-Lin-Laurentides	$1719
158 km or 98 mi	Cote-Saint-Luc	$1835
160 km or 100 mi	Mount Royal	$1820
162 km or 101 mi	Watertown	$1649
163 km or 102 mi	Terrebonne	$1805
163 km or 102 mi	Westmount	$1814
166 km or 103 mi	Saint-Constant	$1864
167 km or 104 mi	Montreal	$1903
167 km or 104 mi	Mascouche	$1766
170 km or 106 mi	Saint-Lambert	$1828
170 km or 106 mi	Candiac	$1892
170 km or 106 mi	Longueuil	$1842
171 km or 106 mi	La Prairie	$1911
175 km or 109 mi	Brossard	$2055
176 km or 109 mi	Boucherville	$1820
177 km or 110 mi	Repentigny	$1767
178 km or 111 mi	Varennes	$1786
183 km or 114 mi	L'Assomption	$1671
183 km or 114 mi	Saint-Bruno-de-Montarville	$1869
185 km or 115 mi	Sainte-Julie	$1822