Helsinki vs Ottawa - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 02, 2025

	Helsinki	Ottawa
🚶 Cost of living one person	$1816	$2055
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$4167	$4624
🏠 One person rent	$918	$1212
🏘️ Family rent	$1517	$1940
🍽️ Food expenses	$580	$563
🚐 Transport expenses	$155	$162
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$3006	$3115
😷 Air quality	Excellent	Excellent
✈️ Airport proximity	16 km	5 km
🎓 Higher education	78	50
😀 Quality of life	95	90
🏙️ Population	676K	1.02M

The cost of living in Helsinki is 12% less expensive than in Ottawa. Cities ranked 2353rd and 1701st ($1816 vs $2055) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 2nd and 25th in Finland and Canada, respectively. Check Finland vs Canada comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 1.7 months in Helsinki compared to 1.5 months in Ottawa. Helsinki ranked 1st best city to live in Finland vs Ottawa ranked 9th in Canada, while ranked 26th and 162nd among best cities to live in the world.

Salary adjustment calculator
the estimated difference in money purchasing power

Cost of living in Helsinki vs Ottawa infographic

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

Prices in Helsinki vs Ottawa

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

	Helsinki	Ottawa
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$14.7	$16
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$79.4	$65.6
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$12	$10.6
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$8.29	$5.54
☕ Cappuccino	$4.73	$3.82
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$2.88	$1.97
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$980	$1214
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$796	$1014
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1796	$2032
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1297	$1649
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$64.9	$109
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$99.4	$165
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$20.8	$49.7
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	4.1%	6.14%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$8076	$4939
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$4860	$4597
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$3.1	$2.82
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$70	$92
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$21.3	$15
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.93	$1.07
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.38	$2.38
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$2.62	$2.62
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.53	$2.98
🥚 Eggs, x12	$3.66	$3.53
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$9.1	$13.9
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$13.5	$12.7
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$20.5	$14.8
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.42	$4.03
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.98	$1.31
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.31	$3.49
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.94	$3.8
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.27	$2.55
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.88	$2.95
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.24	$1.03
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$2.88	$2.38
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$15	$13.3
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$3.05	$2.47
🚬 Cigarette pack	$11.1	$12.3
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$11.7	$9.31
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$3.2	$4.15
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$1.75	$1.95
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$2.14	$1.46
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$45.2	$41.1
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$18.2	$10.5
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$79.4	$58.8
💇 Haircut, simple	$19.8	$15.9
👖 Brand Jeans	$97.3	$53.6
👟 Brand Sneakers	$96.8	$88.5
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$345	$942
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$9361	$19030

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

$349

$907

$6.64K

Cost of Living in the nearest cities

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

Cities near Ottawa

Distance	City	Cost of living
7.4 km or 4.6 mi	Gatineau	$1768
19 km or 12 mi	Kanata	$2202
87 km or 54 mi	Cornwall	$1633
94 km or 58 mi	Brockville	$1875
124 km or 77 mi	Salaberry-de-Valleyfield	$1894
128 km or 80 mi	Mirabel	$1762
130 km or 81 mi	Vaudreuil-Dorion	$1830
138 km or 86 mi	Saint-Jerome	$1733
141 km or 87 mi	Saint-Eustache	$1768
143 km or 89 mi	Kirkland	$1807
144 km or 89 mi	Blainville	$1761
146 km or 90 mi	Sainte-Therese	$1753
147 km or 91 mi	Pointe-Claire	$1819
147 km or 91 mi	Boisbriand	$1732
147 km or 91 mi	Dollard-des-Ormeaux	$1814
147 km or 91 mi	Kingston	$1704
150 km or 93 mi	Le Ray	$1814
152 km or 94 mi	Dorval	$1810
152 km or 94 mi	Chateauguay	$1841
153 km or 95 mi	Laval	$1900
157 km or 98 mi	Saint-Lin-Laurentides	$1690
158 km or 98 mi	Cote-Saint-Luc	$1803
160 km or 100 mi	Mount Royal	$1792
162 km or 101 mi	Watertown	$1658
163 km or 102 mi	Terrebonne	$1776
163 km or 102 mi	Westmount	$1773
166 km or 103 mi	Saint-Constant	$1824
167 km or 104 mi	Montreal	$1857
167 km or 104 mi	Mascouche	$1735
170 km or 106 mi	Saint-Lambert	$1790
170 km or 106 mi	Candiac	$1852
170 km or 106 mi	Longueuil	$1835
171 km or 106 mi	La Prairie	$1889
175 km or 109 mi	Brossard	$2004
176 km or 109 mi	Boucherville	$1804
177 km or 110 mi	Repentigny	$1743
178 km or 111 mi	Varennes	$1764
183 km or 114 mi	L'Assomption	$1651
183 km or 114 mi	Saint-Bruno-de-Montarville	$1836
185 km or 115 mi	Sainte-Julie	$1800