Edinburgh vs Helsinki - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 02, 2025

	Edinburgh	Helsinki
🚶 Cost of living one person	$2140	$1816
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$5387	$4167
🏠 One person rent	$1269	$918
🏘️ Family rent	$2336	$1517
🍽️ Food expenses	$530	$580
🚐 Transport expenses	$161	$155
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$3522	$3006
😷 Air quality	Excellent	Excellent
✈️ Airport proximity	11 km	16 km
🎓 Higher education	88	78
😀 Quality of life	94	95
🏙️ Population	488K	676K

The cost of living in Edinburgh is 18% more expensive than in Helsinki. Cities ranked 1491st and 2353rd ($2140 vs $1816) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 36th and 2nd in the United Kingdom and Finland, respectively. Check the United Kingdom vs Finland comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 1.6 months in Edinburgh compared to 1.7 months in Helsinki. Edinburgh ranked 3rd best city to live in the United Kingdom vs Helsinki ranked 1st in Finland, while ranked 34th and 26th among best cities to live in the world.

Salary adjustment calculator
the estimated difference in money purchasing power

Cost of living in Edinburgh vs Helsinki infographic

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<img src="https://livingcost.org/assets/photo/cost/edinburgh/helsinki.jpg" alt="Cost of living in Edinburgh vs Helsinki infographic" style="max-width: 100%; height: auto;"><p>Source: <a href="https://livingcost.org/cost/edinburgh/helsinki" target="_blank">Edinburgh vs Helsinki - Cost of Living Comparison</a></p>

Prices in Edinburgh vs Helsinki

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

	Edinburgh	Helsinki
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$17.4	$14.7
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$75.9	$79.4
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$9.21	$12
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$7.09	$8.29
☕ Cappuccino	$4.64	$4.73
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$2.55	$2.88
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1331	$980
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$970	$796
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$2573	$1796
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1865	$1297
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$188	$64.9
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$291	$99.4
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$38.4	$20.8
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	5.75%	4.1%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$6219	$8076
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$4199	$4860
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$2.54	$3.1
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$83	$70
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$27.8	$21.3
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.82	$1.93
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.6	$1.38
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$1.69	$2.62
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.87	$2.53
🥚 Eggs, x12	$4.14	$3.66
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$11.1	$9.1
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$9.87	$13.5
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$16.2	$20.5
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.87	$2.42
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.41	$1.98
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.62	$2.31
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.38	$3.94
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.56	$1.27
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.37	$1.88
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.87	$1.24
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$3.07	$2.88
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$10.5	$15
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.31	$3.05
🚬 Cigarette pack	$18.9	$11.1
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$6.9	$11.7
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$4.45	$3.2
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$3.07	$1.75
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$1.53	$2.14
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$50.2	$45.2
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$15.1	$18.2
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$106	$79.4
💇 Haircut, simple	$21.5	$19.8
👖 Brand Jeans	$111	$97.3
👟 Brand Sneakers	$106	$96.8
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$1772	$345
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$21911	$9361

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

Cost of Living in the nearest cities

Cities near Edinburgh

Distance	City	Cost of living
18 km or 11 mi	Kirkcaldy	$1610
21 km or 13 mi	Livingston	$1608
21 km or 13 mi	Dunfermline	$1692
42 km or 26 mi	Alloa	$1649
49 km or 30 mi	Cumbernauld	$1475
49 km or 31 mi	Stirling	$1604
52 km or 32 mi	Perth	$1500
56 km or 35 mi	Hamilton	$1699
59 km or 37 mi	Dundee	$1482
65 km or 40 mi	East Kilbride	$1763
66 km or 41 mi	Glasgow	$2011
78 km or 48 mi	Paisley	$1765
89 km or 56 mi	Kilmarnock	$1480
98 km or 61 mi	Greenock	$1601
99 km or 61 mi	Irvine	$1551
102 km or 63 mi	Dumfries	$1246
105 km or 65 mi	Ayr	$1404
120 km or 74 mi	Carlisle	$1567
147 km or 91 mi	Newcastle upon Tyne	$1726
149 km or 93 mi	Aberdeen	$1614
150 km or 93 mi	Gateshead	$1705
153 km or 95 mi	Tynemouth	$1638
153 km or 95 mi	Jarrow	$1651
154 km or 96 mi	South Shields	$1628
158 km or 98 mi	Washington	$1637
158 km or 98 mi	Whitehaven	$1732
164 km or 102 mi	Sunderland	$1510
166 km or 103 mi	Durham	$1707
173 km or 107 mi	Bishop Auckland	$1592
182 km or 113 mi	Inverness	$1722
189 km or 117 mi	Hartlepool	$1328
189 km or 117 mi	Elgin	$1393
190 km or 118 mi	Darlington	$1288
194 km or 121 mi	Stockton-on-Tees	$1377
197 km or 123 mi	Middlesbrough	$1500
211 km or 131 mi	Morecambe	$1714
212 km or 132 mi	Bangor	$1382
213 km or 132 mi	Lancaster	$1629
216 km or 134 mi	Douglas	$1968
224 km or 139 mi	Newtownabbey	$1692

Cities near Helsinki

Distance	City	Cost of living
15 km or 9.2 mi	Vantaa	$1671
16 km or 9.7 mi	Espoo	$1879
26 km or 16 mi	Tuusula	$1509
27 km or 17 mi	Kerava	$1486
29 km or 18 mi	Kirkkonummi	$1509
33 km or 21 mi	Nurmijarvi	$1479
34 km or 21 mi	Jarvenpaa	$1533
47 km or 29 mi	Porvoo	$1327
49 km or 30 mi	Lohja	$1220
51 km or 32 mi	Hyvinkaa	$1323
63 km or 39 mi	Riihimaki	$1443
78 km or 48 mi	Maardu	$1219
83 km or 51 mi	Tallinn	$1414
86 km or 53 mi	Raseborg	$1441
96 km or 59 mi	Hameenlinna	$1309
98 km or 61 mi	Lahti	$1398
102 km or 63 mi	Salo	$1396
115 km or 72 mi	Kotka	$1286
122 km or 76 mi	Rakvere	$899
124 km or 77 mi	Kouvola	$1355
131 km or 81 mi	Valkeakoski	$1544
132 km or 82 mi	Hamina	$1329
143 km or 89 mi	Kaarina	$1450
150 km or 93 mi	Turku	$1495
156 km or 97 mi	Raisio	$1450
157 km or 98 mi	Kohtla-Jarve	$973
160 km or 100 mi	Tampere	$1464
164 km or 102 mi	Nokia	$1432
169 km or 105 mi	Ylojarvi	$1426
170 km or 106 mi	Sastamala	$1391
181 km or 113 mi	Sillamae	$952
188 km or 117 mi	Jamsa	$1394
201 km or 125 mi	Parnu	$1064
203 km or 126 mi	Lappeenranta	$1295
203 km or 126 mi	Narva	$953
205 km or 127 mi	Viljandi	$933
210 km or 131 mi	Mikkeli	$1308
214 km or 133 mi	Rauma	$1254
224 km or 139 mi	Pori	$1239
224 km or 139 mi	Tartu	$1045