New York City vs Washington - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 02, 2025

	New York City	Washington
🚶 Cost of living one person	$4441	$3149
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$10033	$7865
🏠 One person rent	$2960	$2045
🏘️ Family rent	$5380	$4037
🍽️ Food expenses	$886	$738
🚐 Transport expenses	$364	$167
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$5544	$5859
😷 Air quality	Good	Good
✈️ Airport proximity	13 km	5 km
🎓 Higher education	100	100
😀 Quality of life	95	94
🏙️ Population	8.8M	690K

The cost of living in New York City is 41% more expensive than in Washington. Cities ranked 3rd and 96th ($4441 vs $3149) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 1st and 86th in the United States.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 1.2 months in New York City compared to 1.9 months in Washington. Ranked 2nd vs 5th best cities to live in the United States, and 22nd vs 43rd among the best cities to live in the world.

Salary adjustment calculator
the estimated difference in money purchasing power

Cost of living in New York City vs Washington infographic

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Prices in New York City vs Washington

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

	New York City	Washington
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$29.7	$22.3
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$133	$86.7
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$12	$11.9
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$8.94	$8.65
☕ Cappuccino	$5.95	$5.66
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$3.2	$2.99
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$3501	$2298
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$2603	$1750
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$4776	$4716
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$5236	$3555
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$112	$123
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$171	$187
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$65.5	$62.1
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	6.55%	6.6%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$17935	$7543
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$12929	$6152
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$2.91	$2.51
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$132	$94.2
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$22.5	$23.3
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1	$0.91
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.53	$1.09
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$5.04	$3.54
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$7.95	$4.92
🥚 Eggs, x12	$5.54	$4.44
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$17.6	$18.2
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$15.4	$15.7
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$20	$19.3
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$7.6	$5.25
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.37	$2.02
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$6.05	$5.22
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$6.2	$6.03
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.66	$3.21
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.84	$3.8
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.72	$1.72
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$3.41	$2.99
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$20	$16.4
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.89	$3.25
🚬 Cigarette pack	$18.1	$11.6
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$9.89	$9.31
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$5.44	$4.77
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$6.94	$4.98
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$1.95	$2.58
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$71	$105
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$20.1	$16.2
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$173	$114
💇 Haircut, simple	$36.1	$31.9
👖 Brand Jeans	$67.3	$76
👟 Brand Sneakers	$113	$113
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$1784	$2464
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$21465	$24653

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

Cost of Living in the nearest cities

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

Cities near Washington

Distance	City	Cost of living
2.5 km or 1.5 mi	Georgetown	$2893
9.5 km or 5.9 mi	Bailey's Crossroads	$2543
10 km or 6.3 mi	Alexandria	$2856
11 km or 6.8 mi	Bethesda	$2777
12 km or 7.5 mi	Silver Spring	$2273
15 km or 9.2 mi	College Park	$2548
17 km or 11 mi	Springfield	$2309
17 km or 11 mi	Greenbelt	$2471
23 km or 14 mi	Rockville	$2596
24 km or 15 mi	Fairfax	$2786
26 km or 16 mi	Bowie	$2566
27 km or 17 mi	Laurel	$2299
28 km or 17 mi	Reston	$2617
30 km or 19 mi	Waldorf	$2498
31 km or 19 mi	Gaithersburg	$2425
32 km or 20 mi	Herndon	$2513
34 km or 21 mi	Woodbridge	$2601
34 km or 21 mi	Marumsco	$2539
36 km or 22 mi	Centreville	$3174
37 km or 23 mi	Germantown	$2791
38 km or 23 mi	Columbia	$2760
41 km or 26 mi	Manassas	$2640
42 km or 26 mi	Ashburn	$2696
47 km or 29 mi	Annapolis	$2961
49 km or 31 mi	Catonsville	$2500
51 km or 32 mi	Leesburg	$2197
57 km or 35 mi	Eldersburg	$2499
57 km or 35 mi	Baltimore	$2287
61 km or 38 mi	Owings Mills	$2584
68 km or 42 mi	Frederick	$2389
76 km or 47 mi	Fredericksburg	$2206
83 km or 52 mi	Charles Town	$1728
87 km or 54 mi	Edgewood	$2909
92 km or 57 mi	Bel Air South	$2727
93 km or 58 mi	Bel Air North	$2640
102 km or 63 mi	Hanover	$2210
102 km or 63 mi	Hagerstown	$2149
103 km or 64 mi	Winchester	$2280
106 km or 66 mi	Waynesboro	$2217
122 km or 76 mi	York	$1979