Indianapolis vs Raleigh - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 11, 2026

	Indianapolis	Raleigh
🚶 Cost of living one person	$2374	$2317
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$5581	$5372
🏠 One person rent	$1437	$1430
🏘️ Family rent	$2329	$2327
🍽️ Food expenses	$656	$612
🚐 Transport expenses	$123	$90.3
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$4148	$4411
😷 Air quality	Excellent	Excellent
✈️ Airport proximity	13 km	14 km
🎓 Higher education	70	82
😀 Quality of life	89	89
🏙️ Population	888K	468K

The cost of living in Indianapolis is 2% more expensive than in Raleigh. Cities ranked 1140th and 1246th ($2374 vs $2317) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 975th and 1054th in the United States.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 1.7 months in Indianapolis compared to 1.9 months in Raleigh. Ranked 82nd vs 64th best cities to live in the United States, and 289th vs 245th among the best cities to live in the world.

Salary adjustment calculator
the estimated difference in money purchasing power

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Prices in Indianapolis vs Raleigh

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

	Indianapolis	Raleigh
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$21.1	$18
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$73.5	$72.5
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$12.6	$9.6
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$6.94	$5.67
☕ Cappuccino	$5.67	$6.02
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$3.24	$2.48
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1555	$1562
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1158	$1149
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$2660	$2603
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1908	$1919
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$129	$133
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$200	$207
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$71.1	$65.1
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	6.43%	6.42%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$2259	$3603
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1739	$2208
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$1.75	$1.68
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$59.6	$48.1
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$15.7	$16.3
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$0.85	$0.79
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.87	$0.97
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$3.35	$3.39
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.8	$2.78
🥚 Eggs, x12	$3.74	$4.45
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$11.5	$14.3
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$12.6	$10.4
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$16.5	$16.8
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$5.32	$5.47
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.47	$1.26
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$5.29	$4.98
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.83	$5.45
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.42	$2.68
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.92	$3.36
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.58	$1.46
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$2.8	$2.63
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$15.7	$15
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.98	$2.92
🚬 Cigarette pack	$10.3	$8.71
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$9.32	$10.6
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$5.99	$4.44
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$5.33	$3.97
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$1.94	$2.73
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$43.6	$44.2
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$14.9	$15
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$102	$137
💇 Haircut, simple	$17	$28.8
👖 Brand Jeans	$57.8	$54.3
👟 Brand Sneakers	$112	$108
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$1809	$1374
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$25946	$24650

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

Cost of Living in the nearest cities

Cities near Indianapolis

Distance	City	Cost of living
17 km or 11 mi	Lawrence	$2074
18 km or 11 mi	Greenwood	$1928
22 km or 14 mi	Plainfield	$2053
22 km or 14 mi	Brownsburg	$1874
23 km or 14 mi	Carmel	$2034
24 km or 15 mi	Fishers	$2011
29 km or 18 mi	Westfield	$1992
32 km or 20 mi	Franklin	$2035
33 km or 21 mi	Greenfield	$1855
33 km or 21 mi	Noblesville	$1954
55 km or 34 mi	Anderson	$1678
65 km or 41 mi	Columbus	$1806
75 km or 46 mi	Bloomington	$2086
79 km or 49 mi	Kokomo	$1691
81 km or 50 mi	Muncie	$1497
95 km or 59 mi	Lafayette	$1968
96 km or 60 mi	Marion	$1830
99 km or 61 mi	West Lafayette	$2022
108 km or 67 mi	Richmond	$1872
111 km or 69 mi	Terre Haute	$1536
124 km or 77 mi	Oxford	$1911
132 km or 82 mi	Danville	$1952
143 km or 89 mi	Hamilton	$1994
147 km or 91 mi	Fairfield	$1993
155 km or 97 mi	Middletown	$1554
156 km or 97 mi	Florence	$1924
159 km or 99 mi	Cincinnati	$2057
160 km or 99 mi	Trotwood	$1933
162 km or 101 mi	Covington	$2343
165 km or 102 mi	Mason	$1904
165 km or 103 mi	Clarksville	$1895
166 km or 103 mi	Independence	$2122
166 km or 103 mi	New Albany	$1908
167 km or 104 mi	Dayton	$1901
168 km or 104 mi	Jeffersonville	$1742
168 km or 104 mi	Piqua	$1833
169 km or 105 mi	Troy	$1849
169 km or 105 mi	Fort Wayne	$1752
171 km or 106 mi	Lebanon	$1864
172 km or 107 mi	Kettering	$1931

Cities near Raleigh

Distance	City	Cost of living
12 km or 7.6 mi	Garner	$2246
15 km or 9.1 mi	Cary	$2470
17 km or 10 mi	Morrisville	$1831
21 km or 13 mi	Wake Forest	$2194
21 km or 13 mi	Apex	$2278
25 km or 16 mi	Holly Springs	$2313
28 km or 18 mi	Fuquay-Varina	$2242
30 km or 19 mi	Durham	$2109
38 km or 23 mi	Chapel Hill	$2308
60 km or 37 mi	Henderson	$2111
61 km or 38 mi	Sanford	$1943
65 km or 41 mi	Wilson	$2003
77 km or 48 mi	Rocky Mount	$1780
77 km or 48 mi	Goldsboro	$1773
78 km or 49 mi	Burlington	$2123
87 km or 54 mi	Fayetteville	$2159
106 km or 66 mi	Asheboro	$2081
109 km or 68 mi	Danville	$1750
110 km or 68 mi	Greensboro	$2036
114 km or 71 mi	Roanoke Rapids	$2056
114 km or 71 mi	Kinston	$2088
117 km or 73 mi	Greenville	$2057
123 km or 76 mi	High Point	$1917
129 km or 80 mi	Thomasville	$2030
133 km or 83 mi	Kernersville	$2202
137 km or 85 mi	Lumberton	$1987
141 km or 87 mi	Rockingham	$2079
149 km or 92 mi	Winston-Salem	$2122
163 km or 101 mi	Jacksonville	$2001
165 km or 103 mi	New Bern	$1847
166 km or 103 mi	Salisbury	$2080
182 km or 113 mi	Kannapolis	$2027
182 km or 113 mi	Lynchburg	$1814
183 km or 114 mi	Concord	$1963
189 km or 117 mi	Havelock	$1969
190 km or 118 mi	Wilmington	$2211
191 km or 119 mi	Petersburg	$2378
196 km or 122 mi	Monroe	$2126
196 km or 122 mi	Mint Hill	$2174
198 km or 123 mi	Roanoke	$1736