Philadelphia vs Raleigh - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 11, 2026

	Philadelphia	Raleigh
🚶 Cost of living one person	$2597	$2317
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$5854	$5372
🏠 One person rent	$1514	$1430
🏘️ Family rent	$2239	$2327
🍽️ Food expenses	$740	$612
🚐 Transport expenses	$187	$90.3
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$4328	$4411
😷 Air quality	Excellent	Excellent
✈️ Airport proximity	11 km	14 km
🎓 Higher education	100	82
😀 Quality of life	92	89
🏙️ Population	1.6M	468K

The cost of living in Philadelphia is 12% more expensive than in Raleigh. Cities ranked 742nd and 1246th ($2597 vs $2317) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 648th and 1054th in the United States.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 1.7 months in Philadelphia compared to 1.9 months in Raleigh. Ranked 14th vs 64th best cities to live in the United States, and 87th vs 245th among the 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/philadelphia/raleigh.jpg" alt="Cost of living in Philadelphia vs Raleigh infographic" style="max-width: 100%; height: auto;"><p>Source: <a href="https://livingcost.org/cost/philadelphia/raleigh" target="_blank">Philadelphia vs Raleigh - Cost of Living Comparison</a></p>

Prices in Philadelphia vs Raleigh

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

	Philadelphia	Raleigh
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$23.2	$18
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$89.8	$72.5
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$12.4	$9.6
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$6.02	$5.67
☕ Cappuccino	$5.15	$6.02
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$2.9	$2.48
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1612	$1562
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1201	$1149
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$2399	$2603
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1810	$1919
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$158	$133
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$238	$207
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$72.7	$65.1
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	6.52%	6.42%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$3762	$3603
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1992	$2208
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$2.48	$1.68
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$95.6	$48.1
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$15.3	$16.3
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$0.84	$0.79
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.41	$0.97
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$4.2	$3.39
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$8.74	$2.78
🥚 Eggs, x12	$4.6	$4.45
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$15.4	$14.3
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$13.2	$10.4
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$17.7	$16.8
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$6.15	$5.47
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.94	$1.26
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.78	$4.98
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$5.7	$5.45
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3	$2.68
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.12	$3.36
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.6	$1.46
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$3.81	$2.63
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$15	$15
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.24	$2.92
🚬 Cigarette pack	$12.3	$8.71
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$9.25	$10.6
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$6.94	$4.44
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$3.99	$3.97
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$2.37	$2.73
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$60.3	$44.2
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$15.1	$15
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$85.8	$137
💇 Haircut, simple	$29.1	$28.8
👖 Brand Jeans	$49	$54.3
👟 Brand Sneakers	$93.6	$108
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$2195	$1374
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$17603	$24650

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

Cost of Living in the nearest cities

Cities near Philadelphia

Distance	City	Cost of living
5.2 km or 3.2 mi	Camden	$2612
9.2 km or 5.7 mi	Pennsauken Township	$2604
12 km or 7.1 mi	Cherry Hill	$2699
12 km or 7.7 mi	West Deptford Township	$2636
16 km or 9.9 mi	Fox Chase	$2412
16 km or 9.9 mi	Deptford Township	$2632
19 km or 12 mi	Moorestown	$2572
21 km or 13 mi	Gloucester Township	$2626
21 km or 13 mi	Chester	$2493
22 km or 14 mi	Mount Laurel	$2549
25 km or 15 mi	Evesham Township	$2609
25 km or 16 mi	Willingboro Township	$2600
31 km or 19 mi	Medford	$2612
35 km or 22 mi	Levittown	$2350
35 km or 22 mi	Winslow Township	$2639
36 km or 23 mi	Monroe Township	$2639
38 km or 23 mi	West Chester	$2793
40 km or 25 mi	Wilmington	$2445
46 km or 28 mi	Trenton	$2392
46 km or 29 mi	Ewing Township	$2541
50 km or 31 mi	Hamilton Township	$2520
52 km or 32 mi	Pottstown	$2315
54 km or 33 mi	Lawrence Township	$2668
56 km or 35 mi	Vineland	$2603
58 km or 36 mi	Newark	$2207
59 km or 36 mi	Bridgeton	$2648
62 km or 38 mi	Princeton	$3077
63 km or 39 mi	Millville	$2609
64 km or 39 mi	East Windsor Township	$2740
65 km or 40 mi	Plainsboro Township	$2802
67 km or 42 mi	Montgomery Township	$2835
67 km or 42 mi	Manchester Township	$2714
71 km or 44 mi	Jackson Township	$2753
72 km or 45 mi	South Brunswick	$2835
77 km or 48 mi	Allentown	$2301
77 km or 48 mi	Bethlehem	$2323
77 km or 48 mi	Hillsborough Township	$2933
78 km or 48 mi	Reading	$2171
78 km or 49 mi	Barnegat Township	$2684
79 km or 49 mi	Manalapan Township	$2801

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