Helsinki vs Riga - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 02, 2025

	Helsinki	Riga
🚶 Cost of living one person	$1816	$1113
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$4167	$2787
🏠 One person rent	$918	$532
🏘️ Family rent	$1517	$924
🍽️ Food expenses	$580	$390
🚐 Transport expenses	$155	$75.5
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$3006	$1303
😷 Air quality	Excellent	Excellent
✈️ Airport proximity	16 km	9 km
🎓 Higher education	78	61
😀 Quality of life	95	79
🏙️ Population	676K	605K

The cost of living in Helsinki is 63% more expensive than in Riga. Cities ranked 2353rd and 4764th ($1816 vs $1113) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 2nd and 2nd in Finland and Latvia, respectively. Check Finland vs Latvia comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 1.7 months in Helsinki compared to 1.2 months in Riga. Helsinki ranked 1st best city to live in Finland vs Riga ranked 1st in Latvia, while ranked 26th and 596th among best cities to live in the world.

Salary adjustment calculator
the estimated difference in money purchasing power

Cost of living in Helsinki vs Riga infographic

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

Prices in Helsinki vs Riga

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

	Helsinki	Riga
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$14.7	$11.7
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$79.4	$51.6
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$12	$7.59
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$8.29	$5.24
☕ Cappuccino	$4.73	$3.49
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$2.88	$1.47
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$980	$473
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$796	$316
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1796	$915
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1297	$586
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$64.9	$168
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$99.4	$255
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$20.8	$17.4
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	4.1%	4.56%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$8076	$2774
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$4860	$1723
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$3.1	$1.56
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$70	$33
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$21.3	$8.97
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.93	$1.71
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.38	$1.31
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$2.62	$1.33
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.53	$2.16
🥚 Eggs, x12	$3.66	$2.75
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$9.1	$11.4
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$13.5	$7
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$20.5	$10.8
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.42	$1.61
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.98	$1.74
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.31	$2.35
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.94	$3.37
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.27	$0.93
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.88	$0.89
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.24	$0.54
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$2.88	$2.34
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$15	$7.81
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$3.05	$1.71
🚬 Cigarette pack	$11.1	$5.15
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$11.7	$8.06
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$3.2	$4.79
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$1.75	$1.95
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$2.14	$3.14
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$45.2	$40.2
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$18.2	$10
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$79.4	$42.9
💇 Haircut, simple	$19.8	$16.8
👖 Brand Jeans	$97.3	$70.6
👟 Brand Sneakers	$96.8	$92.5
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$345	$488
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$9361	$13840

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 Riga

Distance	City	Cost of living
21 km or 13 mi	Jurmala	$1299
34 km or 21 mi	Ogre	$933
40 km or 25 mi	Jelgava	$804
103 km or 64 mi	Valmiera	$835
118 km or 74 mi	Jekabpils	$840
123 km or 77 mi	Siauliai	$953
129 km or 80 mi	Mazeikiai	$983
137 km or 85 mi	Panevezys	$950
161 km or 100 mi	Ventspils	$869
161 km or 100 mi	Parnu	$1064
174 km or 108 mi	Kuressaare	$1064
181 km or 112 mi	Viljandi	$933
186 km or 115 mi	Utena	$936
190 km or 118 mi	Daugavpils	$843
195 km or 121 mi	Liepaja	$953
203 km or 126 mi	Rezekne	$761
209 km or 130 mi	Jonava	$847
223 km or 138 mi	Tartu	$1045
228 km or 142 mi	Kaunas	$1150
229 km or 142 mi	Klaipeda	$969
262 km or 163 mi	Vilnius	$1261
270 km or 168 mi	Marijampole	$882
271 km or 168 mi	Pskov	$467
279 km or 174 mi	Tallinn	$1414
283 km or 176 mi	Alytus	$850
286 km or 178 mi	Maardu	$1219
298 km or 185 mi	Rakvere	$899
327 km or 203 mi	Suwalki	$1016
330 km or 205 mi	Kohtla-Jarve	$973
335 km or 208 mi	Kaliningrad	$741
339 km or 211 mi	Raseborg	$1441
347 km or 215 mi	Sillamae	$952
353 km or 219 mi	Kirkkonummi	$1509
357 km or 222 mi	Visby	$1273
361 km or 225 mi	Narva	$953
362 km or 225 mi	Helsinki	$1816
364 km or 226 mi	Espoo	$1879
365 km or 227 mi	Grodno	$385
365 km or 227 mi	Elk	$1025
367 km or 228 mi	Lohja	$1220