Ottawa vs Seattle - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 11, 2026

	Ottawa	Seattle
🚶 Cost of living one person	$2133	$3154
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$4730	$7508
🏠 One person rent	$1249	$1981
🏘️ Family rent	$1952	$3422
🍽️ Food expenses	$587	$796
🚐 Transport expenses	$172	$169
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$3871	$6532
😷 Air quality	Excellent	Excellent
✈️ Airport proximity	6 km	9 km
🎓 Higher education	49	80
😀 Quality of life	92	95
🏙️ Population	1.02M	737K

The cost of living in Ottawa is 32% less expensive than in Seattle. Cities ranked 1668th and 142nd ($2133 vs $3154) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 27th and 101st 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 2.1 months in Seattle. Ottawa ranked 10th best city to live in Canada vs Seattle ranked 5th in the United States, while ranked 123rd and 32nd among best cities to live in the world.

Salary adjustment calculator
the estimated difference in money purchasing power

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

Prices in Ottawa vs Seattle

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

	Ottawa	Seattle
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$16.4	$22.3
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$62.9	$96.5
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$11	$14.6
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$5.87	$7.73
☕ Cappuccino	$4.25	$6.45
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$2.1	$2.97
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1328	$2110
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1047	$1647
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$2126	$3872
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1662	$2891
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$96.9	$169
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$148	$262
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$48.9	$72.8
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	4.48%	6.53%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$4318	$7394
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$3670	$5077
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$2.99	$3.01
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$99.5	$111
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$15.9	$16.9
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1	$1.21
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$2.18	$1.44
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$2.68	$4.47
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.89	$4.23
🥚 Eggs, x12	$3.59	$6.95
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$13	$20.7
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$13.2	$16.8
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$16.8	$21.9
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.13	$5.6
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.37	$2.27
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.85	$5.07
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4	$6.09
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.57	$3.03
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.08	$3.45
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.05	$1.74
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$2.84	$3.47
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$11.9	$17.2
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.74	$3.65
🚬 Cigarette pack	$13.8	$12.5
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$12.8	$10.5
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$4.26	$8.04
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$1.99	$6.86
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$2.04	$2.42
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$44.4	$83.5
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$11	$17.8
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$68.3	$147
💇 Haircut, simple	$16.7	$24.7
👖 Brand Jeans	$56.4	$69.7
👟 Brand Sneakers	$89.3	$122
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$882	$2521
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$17337	$28950

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 Seattle

Distance	City	Cost of living
9.1 km or 5.7 mi	Mercer Island	$2896
11 km or 6.5 mi	Bellevue	$3292
14 km or 8.5 mi	Kirkland	$3041
15 km or 9.2 mi	Tukwila	$2681
15 km or 9.5 mi	Burien	$2717
16 km or 10 mi	Bainbridge Island	$2855
17 km or 10 mi	Shoreline	$2778
17 km or 10 mi	Renton	$2604
17 km or 11 mi	Redmond	$3559
17 km or 11 mi	Kenmore	$2702
19 km or 12 mi	SeaTac	$2807
21 km or 13 mi	Bothell	$2737
22 km or 14 mi	Sammamish	$2915
22 km or 14 mi	Edmonds	$2739
23 km or 14 mi	Issaquah	$2798
24 km or 15 mi	Des Moines	$2677
24 km or 15 mi	Lynnwood	$2734
24 km or 15 mi	Bremerton	$2475
26 km or 16 mi	Kent	$2814
30 km or 19 mi	Mill Creek	$2717
33 km or 20 mi	Federal Way	$2587
34 km or 21 mi	Maple Valley	$2656
35 km or 21 mi	Mukilteo	$2674
35 km or 22 mi	Auburn	$2325
41 km or 25 mi	Everett	$2641
42 km or 26 mi	Tacoma	$2519
46 km or 28 mi	University Place	$2720
48 km or 30 mi	Puyallup	$2828
50 km or 31 mi	Lake Stevens	$2641
51 km or 32 mi	Lakewood	$2582
52 km or 33 mi	Marysville	$2628
57 km or 35 mi	Spanaway	$2362
74 km or 46 mi	Lacey	$2584
76 km or 47 mi	Olympia	$2558
78 km or 48 mi	Sequim	$2710
80 km or 50 mi	Oak Harbor	$2754
90 km or 56 mi	Mount Vernon	$2456
100 km or 62 mi	Port Angeles	$2539
109 km or 68 mi	Centralia	$2747
119 km or 74 mi	Victoria	$2173