Detroit vs Philadelphia - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 11, 2026

	Detroit	Philadelphia
🚶 Cost of living one person	$2032	$2597
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$4925	$5854
🏠 One person rent	$1105	$1514
🏘️ Family rent	$1878	$2239
🍽️ Food expenses	$664	$740
🚐 Transport expenses	$121	$187
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$3072	$4328
😷 Air quality	Excellent	Excellent
✈️ Airport proximity	9 km	11 km
🎓 Higher education	77	100
😀 Quality of life	88	92
🏙️ Population	639K	1.6M

The cost of living in Detroit is 22% less expensive than in Philadelphia. Cities ranked 1947th and 742nd ($2032 vs $2597) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 1526th and 648th in the United States.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 1.5 months in Detroit compared to 1.7 months in Philadelphia. Ranked 95th vs 14th best cities to live in the United States, and 318th vs 87th among the best cities to live in the world.

Salary adjustment calculator
the estimated difference in money purchasing power

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Prices in Detroit vs Philadelphia

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

	Detroit	Philadelphia
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$18.1	$23.2
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$66.5	$89.8
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$11.5	$12.4
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$6.88	$6.02
☕ Cappuccino	$5.48	$5.15
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$2.95	$2.9
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1299	$1612
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$820	$1201
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$2296	$2399
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1448	$1810
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$130	$158
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$201	$238
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$59.3	$72.7
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	6.34%	6.52%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1602	$3762
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1188	$1992
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$2	$2.48
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$75.1	$95.6
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$15.4	$15.3
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$0.88	$0.84
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.95	$1.41
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$3.34	$4.2
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$6.68	$8.74
🥚 Eggs, x12	$3.71	$4.6
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$13.8	$15.4
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$12.1	$13.2
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$16.1	$17.7
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$5.04	$6.15
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.4	$1.94
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$5.46	$4.78
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$5.71	$5.7
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.49	$3
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.83	$3.12
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.6	$1.6
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$3.05	$3.81
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$15.8	$15
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$3.04	$2.24
🚬 Cigarette pack	$10.3	$12.3
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$13.9	$9.25
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$7.05	$6.94
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$3.46	$3.99
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$1.75	$2.37
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$40.6	$60.3
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$11.8	$15.1
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$88.2	$85.8
💇 Haircut, simple	$18.2	$29.1
👖 Brand Jeans	$58.3	$49
👟 Brand Sneakers	$100	$93.6
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$1360	$2195
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$19339	$17603

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

Cost of Living in the nearest cities

Cities near Detroit

Distance	City	Cost of living
1.9 km or 1.2 mi	Windsor	$1980
7.4 km or 4.6 mi	Hamtramck	$1947
14 km or 8.6 mi	Dearborn	$1975
15 km or 9.1 mi	Lincoln Park	$1926
16 km or 9.8 mi	Allen Park	$1993
16 km or 10 mi	Ferndale	$1939
17 km or 10 mi	Wyandotte	$1758
17 km or 11 mi	Eastpointe	$1909
18 km or 11 mi	Madison Heights	$1969
18 km or 11 mi	Warren	$1820
19 km or 12 mi	Oak Park	$1943
19 km or 12 mi	Southgate	$1907
19 km or 12 mi	Royal Oak	$1946
20 km or 12 mi	Dearborn Heights	$1926
21 km or 13 mi	Roseville	$1905
21 km or 13 mi	Taylor	$2030
21 km or 13 mi	Southfield	$1915
22 km or 14 mi	St. Clair Shores	$1905
22 km or 14 mi	Inkster	$1941
24 km or 15 mi	Garden	$1876
26 km or 16 mi	Amherstburg	$1926
27 km or 17 mi	Birmingham	$1968
28 km or 17 mi	Sterling Heights	$1837
28 km or 17 mi	Livonia	$1920
29 km or 18 mi	Troy	$1972
29 km or 18 mi	Westland	$1945
30 km or 19 mi	Clinton Township	$1944
31 km or 19 mi	Romulus	$2004
32 km or 20 mi	Farmington Hills	$2181
37 km or 23 mi	Rochester Hills	$1940
39 km or 24 mi	Novi	$2307
40 km or 25 mi	Pontiac	$1796
42 km or 26 mi	Auburn Hills	$1913
54 km or 34 mi	Monroe	$1701
58 km or 36 mi	Ann Arbor	$2285
71 km or 44 mi	Chatham-Kent	$1843
86 km or 54 mi	Toledo	$1624
88 km or 54 mi	Burton	$1635
88 km or 54 mi	Port Huron	$1957
89 km or 55 mi	Sarnia	$1619

Cities near Philadelphia

Distance	City	Cost of living
5.2 km or 3.2 mi	Camden	$2612
9.2 km or 5.7 mi	Pennsauken Township	$2604
12 km or 7.1 mi	Cherry Hill	$2699
12 km or 7.7 mi	West Deptford Township	$2636
16 km or 9.9 mi	Fox Chase	$2412
16 km or 9.9 mi	Deptford Township	$2632
19 km or 12 mi	Moorestown	$2572
21 km or 13 mi	Gloucester Township	$2626
21 km or 13 mi	Chester	$2493
22 km or 14 mi	Mount Laurel	$2549
25 km or 15 mi	Evesham Township	$2609
25 km or 16 mi	Willingboro Township	$2600
31 km or 19 mi	Medford	$2612
35 km or 22 mi	Levittown	$2350
35 km or 22 mi	Winslow Township	$2639
36 km or 23 mi	Monroe Township	$2639
38 km or 23 mi	West Chester	$2793
40 km or 25 mi	Wilmington	$2445
46 km or 28 mi	Trenton	$2392
46 km or 29 mi	Ewing Township	$2541
50 km or 31 mi	Hamilton Township	$2520
52 km or 32 mi	Pottstown	$2315
54 km or 33 mi	Lawrence Township	$2668
56 km or 35 mi	Vineland	$2603
58 km or 36 mi	Newark	$2207
59 km or 36 mi	Bridgeton	$2648
62 km or 38 mi	Princeton	$3077
63 km or 39 mi	Millville	$2609
64 km or 39 mi	East Windsor Township	$2740
65 km or 40 mi	Plainsboro Township	$2802
67 km or 42 mi	Montgomery Township	$2835
67 km or 42 mi	Manchester Township	$2714
71 km or 44 mi	Jackson Township	$2753
72 km or 45 mi	South Brunswick	$2835
77 km or 48 mi	Allentown	$2301
77 km or 48 mi	Bethlehem	$2323
77 km or 48 mi	Hillsborough Township	$2933
78 km or 48 mi	Reading	$2171
78 km or 49 mi	Barnegat Township	$2684
79 km or 49 mi	Manalapan Township	$2801