Medan vs New York City - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 02, 2025

	Medan	New York City
🚶 Cost of living one person	$481	$4441
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$1335	$10033
🏠 One person rent	$187	$2960
🏘️ Family rent	$394	$5380
🍽️ Food expenses	$189	$886
🚐 Transport expenses	$35.6	$364
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$262	$5544
😷 Air quality	Moderate	Good
✈️ Airport proximity	12 km	13 km
🎓 Higher education	53	100
😀 Quality of life	44	95
🏙️ Population	2.11M	8.8M

The cost of living in Medan is 89% less expensive than in New York City. Cities ranked 8745th and 3rd ($481 vs $4441) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 47th and 1st in Indonesia and the United States, respectively. Check Indonesia vs the United States comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 0.5 months in Medan compared to 1.2 months in New York City. Medan ranked 14th best city to live in Indonesia vs New York City ranked 2nd in the United States, while ranked 6633rd and 22nd among best cities to live in the world.

Salary adjustment calculator
the estimated difference in money purchasing power

Cost of living in Medan vs New York City infographic

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<img src="https://livingcost.org/assets/photo/cost/medan/new-york.jpg" alt="Cost of living in Medan vs New York City infographic" style="max-width: 100%; height: auto;"><p>Source: <a href="https://livingcost.org/cost/medan/new-york" target="_blank">Medan vs New York City - Cost of Living Comparison</a></p>

Prices in Medan vs New York City

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

	Medan	New York City
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$1.97	$29.7
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$12.8	$133
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$3.31	$12
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.39	$8.94
☕ Cappuccino	$2.24	$5.95
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$0.45	$3.2
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$174	$3501
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$107	$2603
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$469	$4776
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$265	$5236
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$40.4	$112
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$62.2	$171
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$26.1	$65.5
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	9.24%	6.55%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1337	$17935
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$614	$12929
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$0.31	$2.91
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$8.02	$132
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$2.8	$22.5
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$0.79	$1
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.37	$1.53
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$1.14	$5.04
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.98	$7.95
🥚 Eggs, x12	$1.55	$5.54
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$8.21	$17.6
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.56	$15.4
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$6.98	$20
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.38	$7.6
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.01	$2.37
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.5	$6.05
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.84	$6.2
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.75	$3.66
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.29	$3.84
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.31	$1.72
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.13	$3.41
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$15.6	$20
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.68	$2.89
🚬 Cigarette pack	$2.26	$18.1
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$2.01	$9.89
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$2.41	$5.44
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$0.83	$6.94
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$0.77	$1.95
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$23	$71
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$3.48	$20.1
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$15.1	$173
💇 Haircut, simple	$2.73	$36.1
👖 Brand Jeans	$55.3	$67.3
👟 Brand Sneakers	$105	$113
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$124	$1784
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$10763	$21465

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

$349

$907

$6.64K

Cost of Living in the nearest cities

Cities near Medan

Distance	City	Cost of living
21 km or 13 mi	Binjai	$470
67 km or 41 mi	Tebing Tinggi	$474
90 km or 56 mi	Pematangsiantar	$486
119 km or 74 mi	Langsa	$461
148 km or 92 mi	Tanjungbalai	$503
238 km or 148 mi	Lhokseumawe	$435
264 km or 164 mi	Teluk Intan	$631
264 km or 164 mi	Taiping	$695
264 km or 164 mi	Padangsidempuan	$582
268 km or 166 mi	George Town	$620
269 km or 167 mi	Butterworth	$619
286 km or 178 mi	Ipoh	$628
298 km or 185 mi	Sungai Petani	$605
307 km or 191 mi	Gunungsitoli	$571
317 km or 197 mi	Klang	$670
322 km or 200 mi	Ko Lipe	$719
324 km or 201 mi	Langkawi	$560
325 km or 202 mi	Shah Alam	$645
331 km or 206 mi	Alor Setar	$490
332 km or 206 mi	Subang Jaya	$714
332 km or 206 mi	Petaling Jaya	$701
341 km or 212 mi	Kuala Lumpur	$810
342 km or 212 mi	Cyberjaya	$585
345 km or 215 mi	Putrajaya	$532
352 km or 219 mi	Kangar	$536
378 km or 235 mi	Seremban	$604
381 km or 237 mi	Dumai	$543
422 km or 262 mi	Hat Yai	$570
426 km or 265 mi	Banda Aceh	$398
431 km or 268 mi	Malacca	$669
445 km or 277 mi	Ko Lanta	$772
466 km or 289 mi	Pekanbaru	$542
468 km or 291 mi	Muar	$682
470 km or 292 mi	Phuket	$940
483 km or 300 mi	Kota Bharu	$485
487 km or 303 mi	Ao Nang	$792
489 km or 304 mi	Krabi	$782
515 km or 320 mi	Batu Pahat	$703
518 km or 322 mi	Kuantan	$529
529 km or 329 mi	Kuala Terengganu	$501

Cities near New York City

Distance	City	Cost of living
11 km or 6.6 mi	Astoria	$2534
11 km or 6.8 mi	Hoboken	$3271
11 km or 7.1 mi	Jersey	$3040
13 km or 8.3 mi	Union	$2886
14 km or 8.8 mi	West New York	$2703
14 km or 8.9 mi	Bayonne	$3302
15 km or 9.6 mi	North Bergen	$2701
17 km or 10 mi	Secaucus	$2756
17 km or 11 mi	Cliffside Park	$2698
18 km or 11 mi	Kearny	$2720
20 km or 12 mi	Valley Stream	$2730
20 km or 13 mi	Fort Lee	$2792
20 km or 13 mi	Lyndhurst	$2667
22 km or 14 mi	Newark	$2729
23 km or 14 mi	Elizabeth	$2740
23 km or 14 mi	Belleville	$2512
25 km or 15 mi	Hillside	$2693
25 km or 15 mi	Long Beach	$2732
25 km or 15 mi	Nutley	$2531
25 km or 16 mi	East Orange	$2587
25 km or 16 mi	Irvington	$2637
26 km or 16 mi	Rockville Centre	$2614
26 km or 16 mi	Linden	$2749
26 km or 16 mi	Hackensack	$2664
26 km or 16 mi	Bloomfield	$2480
26 km or 16 mi	Teaneck	$2715
26 km or 16 mi	Carteret	$2722
26 km or 16 mi	Passaic	$2676
27 km or 17 mi	Roselle	$2747
27 km or 17 mi	Hempstead	$2664
28 km or 17 mi	Union Township	$2716
28 km or 18 mi	Clifton	$2745
28 km or 18 mi	Maplewood	$2611
29 km or 18 mi	Montclair	$2456
29 km or 18 mi	Bergenfield	$2674
29 km or 18 mi	Mount Vernon	$2772
30 km or 18 mi	Rahway	$2730
30 km or 18 mi	Uniondale	$2610
30 km or 18 mi	West Orange	$2456
30 km or 18 mi	New Rochelle	$3111