Ottawa vs Raleigh - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 11, 2026

	Ottawa	Raleigh
🚶 Cost of living one person	$2133	$2317
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$4730	$5372
🏠 One person rent	$1249	$1430
🏘️ Family rent	$1952	$2327
🍽️ Food expenses	$587	$612
🚐 Transport expenses	$172	$90.3
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$3871	$4411
😷 Air quality	Excellent	Excellent
✈️ Airport proximity	6 km	14 km
🎓 Higher education	49	82
😀 Quality of life	92	89
🏙️ Population	1.02M	468K

The cost of living in Ottawa is 8% less expensive than in Raleigh. Cities ranked 1668th and 1246th ($2133 vs $2317) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 27th and 1054th in Canada and the United States, respectively. Check Canada vs the United States comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 1.8 months in Ottawa compared to 1.9 months in Raleigh. Ottawa ranked 10th best city to live in Canada vs Raleigh ranked 64th in the United States, while ranked 123rd and 245th among best cities to live in the world.

Salary adjustment calculator
the estimated difference in money purchasing power

Share this infographic!

Use the link below to embed the infographic from our site and automatically keep the data layer up to date.

If you prefer to download the image, please credit us as a source.

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

Prices in Ottawa vs Raleigh

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

	Ottawa	Raleigh
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$16.4	$18
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$62.9	$72.5
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$11	$9.6
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$5.87	$5.67
☕ Cappuccino	$4.25	$6.02
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$2.1	$2.48
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1328	$1562
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1047	$1149
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$2126	$2603
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1662	$1919
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$96.9	$133
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$148	$207
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$48.9	$65.1
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	4.48%	6.42%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$4318	$3603
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$3670	$2208
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$2.99	$1.68
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$99.5	$48.1
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$15.9	$16.3
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1	$0.79
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$2.18	$0.97
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$2.68	$3.39
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.89	$2.78
🥚 Eggs, x12	$3.59	$4.45
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$13	$14.3
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$13.2	$10.4
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$16.8	$16.8
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.13	$5.47
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.37	$1.26
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.85	$4.98
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4	$5.45
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.57	$2.68
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.08	$3.36
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.05	$1.46
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$2.84	$2.63
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$11.9	$15
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.74	$2.92
🚬 Cigarette pack	$13.8	$8.71
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$12.8	$10.6
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$4.26	$4.44
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$1.99	$3.97
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$2.04	$2.73
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$44.4	$44.2
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$11	$15
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$68.3	$137
💇 Haircut, simple	$16.7	$28.8
👖 Brand Jeans	$56.4	$54.3
👟 Brand Sneakers	$89.3	$108
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$882	$1374
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$17337	$24650

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

Cost of Living in the nearest cities

Cities near Ottawa

Distance	City	Cost of living
7.4 km or 4.6 mi	Gatineau	$1866
19 km or 12 mi	Kanata	$2229
87 km or 54 mi	Cornwall	$1703
94 km or 58 mi	Brockville	$1868
124 km or 77 mi	Salaberry-de-Valleyfield	$1971
128 km or 80 mi	Mirabel	$1896
130 km or 81 mi	Vaudreuil-Dorion	$1924
138 km or 86 mi	Saint-Jerome	$1864
141 km or 87 mi	Saint-Eustache	$1948
143 km or 89 mi	Kirkland	$1930
144 km or 89 mi	Blainville	$1935
146 km or 90 mi	Sainte-Therese	$1950
147 km or 91 mi	Pointe-Claire	$1920
147 km or 91 mi	Boisbriand	$1934
147 km or 91 mi	Dollard-des-Ormeaux	$1944
147 km or 91 mi	Kingston	$1476
150 km or 93 mi	Le Ray	$1927
152 km or 94 mi	Dorval	$1923
152 km or 94 mi	Chateauguay	$1914
153 km or 95 mi	Laval	$2047
157 km or 98 mi	Saint-Lin-Laurentides	$1800
158 km or 98 mi	Cote-Saint-Luc	$1893
160 km or 100 mi	Mount Royal	$1876
162 km or 101 mi	Watertown	$1733
163 km or 102 mi	Terrebonne	$1907
163 km or 102 mi	Westmount	$1862
166 km or 103 mi	Saint-Constant	$1910
167 km or 104 mi	Montreal	$1928
167 km or 104 mi	Mascouche	$1852
170 km or 106 mi	Saint-Lambert	$1875
170 km or 106 mi	Candiac	$1940
170 km or 106 mi	Longueuil	$1923
171 km or 106 mi	La Prairie	$1960
175 km or 109 mi	Brossard	$2080
176 km or 109 mi	Boucherville	$1897
177 km or 110 mi	Repentigny	$1846
178 km or 111 mi	Varennes	$1861
183 km or 114 mi	L'Assomption	$1723
183 km or 114 mi	Saint-Bruno-de-Montarville	$1918
185 km or 115 mi	Sainte-Julie	$1891

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