Essen vs Manchester - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 02, 2025

	Essen	Manchester
🚶 Cost of living one person	$1443	$2071
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$3513	$5081
🏠 One person rent	$690	$1241
🏘️ Family rent	$1216	$2185
🍽️ Food expenses	$461	$510
🚐 Transport expenses	$150	$179
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$2980	$2923
😷 Air quality	Excellent	Excellent
✈️ Airport proximity	25 km	13 km
🎓 Higher education	96	91
😀 Quality of life	94	92
🏙️ Population	587K	548K

The cost of living in Essen is 30% less expensive than in Manchester. Cities ranked 3685th and 1662nd ($1443 vs $2071) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 413th and 46th in Germany and the United Kingdom, respectively. Check Germany vs the United Kingdom comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 2.1 months in Essen compared to 1.4 months in Manchester. Essen ranked 5th best city to live in Germany vs Manchester ranked 13th in the United Kingdom, while ranked 33rd and 85th among best cities to live in the world.

Salary adjustment calculator
the estimated difference in money purchasing power

Cost of living in Essen vs Manchester infographic

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Prices in Essen vs Manchester

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

	Essen	Manchester
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$13	$16.7
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$49.2	$73.9
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$10.4	$9.7
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$4.01	$6.16
☕ Cappuccino	$3.1	$4.46
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$2.45	$2.46
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$574	$1351
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$444	$936
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1177	$2179
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$833	$1788
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$180	$186
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$274	$283
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$40.1	$35.9
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	3.97%	5.9%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$4052	$5330
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$3401	$3723
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$3.43	$2.54
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$56	$110
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$25.9	$24.9
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.73	$1.94
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.1	$1.49
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$1.76	$1.46
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.38	$1.8
🥚 Eggs, x12	$3.2	$3.85
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$12.3	$10.3
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$11.7	$8.71
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$18.8	$15.9
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.74	$3.04
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.62	$1.77
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.18	$3.5
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.75	$3.4
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.49	$1.72
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.61	$1.7
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.62	$0.92
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.85	$2.58
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$6.49	$10.3
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$0.92	$2.45
🚬 Cigarette pack	$7.99	$16.6
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$10.5	$7.03
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$2.46	$4.47
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$1.42	$2.35
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$1.44	$1.79
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$29.7	$43.2
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$13.8	$11.5
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$80.3	$84.8
💇 Haircut, simple	$13.6	$13.6
👖 Brand Jeans	$89.2	$86.9
👟 Brand Sneakers	$92.3	$88
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$417	$1818
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$8902	$19551

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

Cost of Living in the nearest cities

Cities near Essen

Distance	City	Cost of living
9.5 km or 5.9 mi	Gelsenkirchen	$1418
9.6 km or 6 mi	Mulheim	$1434
10 km or 6.3 mi	Bottrop	$1367
11 km or 7.1 mi	Oberhausen	$1485
12 km or 7.8 mi	Velbert	$1428
13 km or 8.3 mi	Hattingen	$1444
14 km or 8.4 mi	Gladbeck	$1422
14 km or 8.8 mi	Heiligenhaus	$1444
15 km or 9 mi	Bochum	$1486
18 km or 11 mi	Herne	$1559
18 km or 11 mi	Duisburg	$1314
19 km or 12 mi	Herten	$1438
19 km or 12 mi	Wulfrath	$1433
19 km or 12 mi	Sprockhovel	$1431
20 km or 13 mi	Ratingen	$1497
22 km or 14 mi	Witten	$1489
23 km or 14 mi	Recklinghausen	$1407
23 km or 14 mi	Mettmann	$1479
23 km or 14 mi	Dinslaken	$1430
24 km or 15 mi	Dorsten	$1430
24 km or 15 mi	Castrop-Rauxel	$1464
24 km or 15 mi	Wuppertal	$1233
25 km or 16 mi	Marl	$1435
26 km or 16 mi	Erkrath	$1516
27 km or 17 mi	Schwelm	$1404
27 km or 17 mi	Oer-Erkenschwick	$1432
27 km or 17 mi	Moers	$1439
27 km or 17 mi	Wetter	$1451
28 km or 17 mi	Gevelsberg	$1435
28 km or 18 mi	Voerde	$1434
28 km or 18 mi	Ennepetal	$1431
29 km or 18 mi	Haan	$1517
30 km or 18 mi	Dusseldorf	$1772
30 km or 18 mi	Herdecke	$1455
30 km or 19 mi	Rheinberg	$1435
31 km or 20 mi	Hilden	$1522
32 km or 20 mi	Neukirchen-Vluyn	$1445
32 km or 20 mi	Waltrop	$1459
32 km or 20 mi	Solingen	$1580
32 km or 20 mi	Datteln	$1448

Cities near Manchester

Distance	City	Cost of living
4.3 km or 2.7 mi	Salford	$1948
5.3 km or 3.3 mi	Droylsden	$1800
5.5 km or 3.4 mi	Stretford	$1874
7.5 km or 4.7 mi	Sale	$1845
9.1 km or 5.7 mi	Ashton-under-Lyne	$1720
12 km or 7.2 mi	Oldham	$1602
12 km or 7.6 mi	Altrincham	$1788
15 km or 9.1 mi	Bury	$1806
17 km or 11 mi	Rochdale	$1672
19 km or 12 mi	Bolton	$1806
24 km or 15 mi	Macclesfield	$1720
26 km or 16 mi	Warrington	$1962
28 km or 17 mi	Wigan	$1574
34 km or 21 mi	Chorley	$1675
34 km or 21 mi	St Helens	$1497
35 km or 22 mi	Widnes	$1753
35 km or 22 mi	Blackburn	$1686
35 km or 22 mi	Runcorn	$1762
36 km or 22 mi	Burnley	$1376
36 km or 22 mi	Huddersfield	$1680
38 km or 23 mi	Halifax	$1793
39 km or 25 mi	Brighouse	$1737
42 km or 26 mi	Leek	$1686
43 km or 27 mi	Crewe	$1486
45 km or 28 mi	Preston	$1456
46 km or 29 mi	Dewsbury	$1693
48 km or 30 mi	Bradford	$1598
49 km or 30 mi	Batley	$1707
49 km or 30 mi	Ellesmere Port	$1774
49 km or 31 mi	Keighley	$1680
50 km or 31 mi	Bootle	$1706
51 km or 31 mi	Newcastle-under-Lyme	$1465
51 km or 32 mi	Barnsley	$1401
51 km or 32 mi	Liverpool	$1774
51 km or 32 mi	Sheffield	$1764
52 km or 32 mi	Stoke-on-Trent	$1552
52 km or 33 mi	Chester	$1897
53 km or 33 mi	Bebington	$1710
53 km or 33 mi	Birkenhead	$1697
53 km or 33 mi	Crosby	$1681