Milwaukee vs New York City - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: June 21, 2026

	Milwaukee	New York City
🚶 Cost of living one person	$2088	$4202
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$5072	$9189
🏠 One person rent	$1201	$2718
🏘️ Family rent	$1937	$4417
🍽️ Food expenses	$594	$842
🚐 Transport expenses	$119	$400
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$3838	$5389
😷 Air quality	Excellent	Excellent
✈️ Airport proximity	12 km	13 km
🎓 Higher education	81	100
😀 Quality of life	89	95
🏙️ Population	577K	8.8M

The cost of living in Milwaukee is 50% less expensive than in New York City. Cities ranked 1786th and 4th ($2088 vs $4202) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 1421st and 1st in the United States.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 1.8 months in Milwaukee compared to 1.3 months in New York City. Ranked 57th vs 2nd best cities to live in the United States, and 224th vs 15th 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 Milwaukee vs New York City

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

	Milwaukee	New York City
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$16.8	$22.6
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$61.1	$90
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$10.1	$13.4
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$5.61	$8.3
☕ Cappuccino	$5.05	$6.22
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$2.93	$3.28
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1419	$3692
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$918	$2206
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$2352	$5140
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1521	$3874
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$120	$144
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$186	$218
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$63.5	$70.6
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	6.16%	6.31%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$2602	$18073
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1709	$7831
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$1.99	$3.01
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$74.9	$138
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$16	$27
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$0.9	$1.02
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.89	$1.44
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$2.91	$4.07
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.21	$5.67
🥚 Eggs, x12	$4.55	$6.75
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$10.6	$16.6
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$13.2	$14.6
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$16.8	$18.5
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.38	$6.3
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.48	$2.24
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.64	$5.79
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.3	$6.72
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.19	$3.21
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.56	$3.96
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.57	$1.67
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$2.33	$3.57
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$16	$19.7
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.82	$4.61
🚬 Cigarette pack	$10.6	$18.5
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$9.28	$23.4
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$4.36	$14
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$3.52	$8.02
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$1.84	$2.86
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$38.4	$132
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$13.3	$21.7
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$165	$159
💇 Haircut, simple	$16.9	$40.5
👖 Brand Jeans	$49.1	$61.1
👟 Brand Sneakers	$86.5	$115
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$1817	$2095
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$24100	$21713

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

Cost of Living in the nearest cities

Cities near Milwaukee

Distance	City	Cost of living
5.6 km or 3.5 mi	West Allis	$1923
6.3 km or 3.9 mi	Wauwatosa	$1949
10 km or 6.4 mi	Greenfield	$1927
13 km or 8.3 mi	Brookfield	$1993
15 km or 9.4 mi	New Berlin	$1934
17 km or 11 mi	South Milwaukee	$2000
17 km or 11 mi	Menomonee Falls	$1979
17 km or 11 mi	Franklin	$1963
19 km or 12 mi	Oak Creek	$1993
19 km or 12 mi	Mequon	$1990
22 km or 14 mi	Muskego	$1930
23 km or 14 mi	Waukesha	$1746
27 km or 17 mi	Caledonia	$1996
37 km or 23 mi	Mount Pleasant	$2058
38 km or 24 mi	Racine	$2065
46 km or 28 mi	West Bend	$1946
53 km or 33 mi	Kenosha	$2039
57 km or 36 mi	Pleasant Prairie	$2097
64 km or 40 mi	Watertown	$1950
67 km or 42 mi	Zion	$2344
74 km or 46 mi	Fort Atkinson	$1771
76 km or 47 mi	Round Lake Beach	$2382
76 km or 47 mi	Gurnee	$2389
77 km or 48 mi	Waukegan	$2443
78 km or 49 mi	Grayslake	$2364
80 km or 50 mi	Sheboygan	$1825
81 km or 51 mi	North Chicago	$2407
84 km or 52 mi	McHenry	$2434
85 km or 53 mi	Libertyville	$2418
87 km or 54 mi	Mundelein	$2162
90 km or 56 mi	Fond du Lac	$1813
91 km or 57 mi	Woodstock	$2249
91 km or 57 mi	Vernon Hills	$2428
96 km or 60 mi	Janesville	$1796
97 km or 60 mi	Crystal Lake	$2555
97 km or 60 mi	Highland Park	$2418
98 km or 61 mi	Buffalo Grove	$2410
101 km or 63 mi	Lake in the Hills	$2559
102 km or 63 mi	Wheeling	$2453
103 km or 64 mi	Northbrook	$2400

Cities near New York City

Distance	City	Cost of living
11 km or 6.6 mi	Astoria	$2940
11 km or 6.8 mi	Hoboken	$3729
11 km or 7.1 mi	Jersey	$3110
13 km or 8.3 mi	Union	$3145
14 km or 8.8 mi	West New York	$2842
14 km or 8.9 mi	Bayonne	$3304
15 km or 9.6 mi	North Bergen	$2840
17 km or 10 mi	Secaucus	$2917
17 km or 11 mi	Cliffside Park	$2795
18 km or 11 mi	Kearny	$2791
20 km or 12 mi	Valley Stream	$2820
20 km or 13 mi	Fort Lee	$2821
20 km or 13 mi	Lyndhurst	$2707
22 km or 14 mi	Newark	$2797
23 km or 14 mi	Elizabeth	$2805
23 km or 14 mi	Belleville	$2545
25 km or 15 mi	Hillside	$2725
25 km or 15 mi	Long Beach	$2823
25 km or 15 mi	Nutley	$2540
25 km or 16 mi	East Orange	$2557
25 km or 16 mi	Irvington	$2665
26 km or 16 mi	Rockville Centre	$2700
26 km or 16 mi	Linden	$2791
26 km or 16 mi	Hackensack	$2692
26 km or 16 mi	Bloomfield	$2485
26 km or 16 mi	Teaneck	$2697
26 km or 16 mi	Carteret	$2775
26 km or 16 mi	Passaic	$2614
27 km or 17 mi	Roselle	$2779
27 km or 17 mi	Hempstead	$2710
28 km or 17 mi	Union Township	$2729
28 km or 18 mi	Clifton	$2669
28 km or 18 mi	Maplewood	$2634
29 km or 18 mi	Montclair	$2450
29 km or 18 mi	Bergenfield	$2713
29 km or 18 mi	Mount Vernon	$2863
30 km or 18 mi	Rahway	$2762
30 km or 18 mi	Uniondale	$2694
30 km or 18 mi	West Orange	$2488
30 km or 18 mi	New Rochelle	$3192