Essen vs Milwaukee - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 02, 2025

	Essen	Milwaukee
🚶 Cost of living one person	$1443	$2054
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$3513	$4880
🏠 One person rent	$690	$1211
🏘️ Family rent	$1216	$1862
🍽️ Food expenses	$461	$555
🚐 Transport expenses	$150	$118
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$2980	$3539
😷 Air quality	Excellent	Good
✈️ Airport proximity	25 km	12 km
🎓 Higher education	96	82
😀 Quality of life	94	88
🏙️ Population	587K	577K

The cost of living in Essen is 30% less expensive than in Milwaukee. Cities ranked 3685th and 1702nd ($1443 vs $2054) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 413th and 1506th 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 2.1 months in Essen compared to 1.7 months in Milwaukee. Essen ranked 5th best city to live in Germany vs Milwaukee ranked 55th in the United States, while ranked 33rd and 240th among best cities to live in the world.

Salary adjustment calculator
the estimated difference in money purchasing power

Cost of living in Essen vs Milwaukee infographic

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Prices in Essen vs Milwaukee

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

	Essen	Milwaukee
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$13	$13.3
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$49.2	$54
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$10.4	$9.27
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$4.01	$4.32
☕ Cappuccino	$3.1	$5.06
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$2.45	$3.05
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$574	$1311
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$444	$979
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1177	$2332
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$833	$1469
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$180	$104
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$274	$159
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$40.1	$61.1
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	3.97%	6.66%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$4052	$1890
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$3401	$1701
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$3.43	$1.99
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$56	$73.9
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$25.9	$16.1
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.73	$0.9
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.1	$0.88
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$1.76	$3
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.38	$4.36
🥚 Eggs, x12	$3.2	$3.68
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$12.3	$10.8
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$11.7	$12.2
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$18.8	$15.1
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.74	$4.7
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.62	$1.21
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.18	$5.54
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.75	$4.2
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.49	$1.91
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.61	$2.2
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.62	$1.59
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.85	$2.5
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$6.49	$15.7
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$0.92	$2.65
🚬 Cigarette pack	$7.99	$10.1
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$10.5	$9.34
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$2.46	$4.35
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$1.42	$3.54
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$1.44	$1.84
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$29.7	$50.8
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$13.8	$12.6
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$80.3	$163
💇 Haircut, simple	$13.6	$16.9
👖 Brand Jeans	$89.2	$42
👟 Brand Sneakers	$92.3	$77.2
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$417	$1813
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$8902	$24191

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 Milwaukee

Distance	City	Cost of living
5.6 km or 3.5 mi	West Allis	$2001
6.3 km or 3.9 mi	Wauwatosa	$1987
10 km or 6.4 mi	Greenfield	$1982
13 km or 8.3 mi	Brookfield	$2019
15 km or 9.4 mi	New Berlin	$1942
17 km or 11 mi	South Milwaukee	$2019
17 km or 11 mi	Menomonee Falls	$1986
17 km or 11 mi	Franklin	$1976
19 km or 12 mi	Oak Creek	$2001
19 km or 12 mi	Mequon	$1998
22 km or 14 mi	Muskego	$1932
23 km or 14 mi	Waukesha	$1760
27 km or 17 mi	Caledonia	$1991
37 km or 23 mi	Mount Pleasant	$2017
38 km or 24 mi	Racine	$2023
46 km or 28 mi	West Bend	$1963
53 km or 33 mi	Kenosha	$1968
57 km or 36 mi	Pleasant Prairie	$2017
64 km or 40 mi	Watertown	$1960
67 km or 42 mi	Zion	$2320
74 km or 46 mi	Fort Atkinson	$1847
76 km or 47 mi	Round Lake Beach	$2313
76 km or 47 mi	Gurnee	$2321
77 km or 48 mi	Waukegan	$2312
78 km or 49 mi	Grayslake	$2298
80 km or 50 mi	Sheboygan	$1817
81 km or 51 mi	North Chicago	$2332
84 km or 52 mi	McHenry	$2327
85 km or 53 mi	Libertyville	$2391
87 km or 54 mi	Mundelein	$2078
90 km or 56 mi	Fond du Lac	$1850
91 km or 57 mi	Woodstock	$2179
91 km or 57 mi	Vernon Hills	$2294
96 km or 60 mi	Janesville	$1789
97 km or 60 mi	Crystal Lake	$2484
97 km or 60 mi	Highland Park	$2345
98 km or 61 mi	Buffalo Grove	$2311
101 km or 63 mi	Lake in the Hills	$2461
102 km or 63 mi	Wheeling	$2371
103 km or 64 mi	Northbrook	$2378