Philadelphia vs Washington - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 02, 2025

	Philadelphia	Washington
🚶 Cost of living one person	$2597	$3149
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$6395	$7865
🏠 One person rent	$1516	$2045
🏘️ Family rent	$2783	$4037
🍽️ Food expenses	$737	$738
🚐 Transport expenses	$188	$167
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$4131	$5859
😷 Air quality	Good	Good
✈️ Airport proximity	11 km	5 km
🎓 Higher education	99	100
😀 Quality of life	90	94
🏙️ Population	1.6M	690K

The cost of living in Philadelphia is 18% less expensive than in Washington. Cities ranked 664th and 96th ($2597 vs $3149) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 610th and 86th in the United States.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 1.6 months in Philadelphia compared to 1.9 months in Washington. Ranked 28th vs 5th best cities to live in the United States, and 138th 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 Philadelphia vs Washington infographic

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Prices in Philadelphia vs Washington

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

	Philadelphia	Washington
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$20.1	$22.3
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$94.2	$86.7
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$12.1	$11.9
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$5.96	$8.65
☕ Cappuccino	$5.09	$5.66
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$2.56	$2.99
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1616	$2298
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1200	$1750
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$3231	$4716
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$2273	$3555
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$161	$123
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$247	$187
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$71.2	$62.1
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	6.74%	6.6%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$3404	$7543
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$2379	$6152
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$2.49	$2.51
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$95.3	$94.2
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$15.3	$23.3
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$0.94	$0.91
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.38	$1.09
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$4.25	$3.54
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$9.38	$4.92
🥚 Eggs, x12	$4.09	$4.44
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$19.2	$18.2
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$12.8	$15.7
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$20.7	$19.3
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$6.02	$5.25
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.2	$2.02
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$5.12	$5.22
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$5.41	$6.03
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.59	$3.21
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.4	$3.8
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.66	$1.72
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$3.63	$2.99
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$15.1	$16.4
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.93	$3.25
🚬 Cigarette pack	$13.9	$11.6
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$9.19	$9.31
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$5.92	$4.77
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$3.89	$4.98
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$2.31	$2.58
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$50.6	$105
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$14.1	$16.2
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$102	$114
💇 Haircut, simple	$24.6	$31.9
👖 Brand Jeans	$52.3	$76
👟 Brand Sneakers	$89.6	$113
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$2066	$2464
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$19774	$24653

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	$2625
9.2 km or 5.7 mi	Pennsauken Township	$2596
12 km or 7.1 mi	Cherry Hill	$2683
12 km or 7.7 mi	West Deptford Township	$2621
16 km or 9.9 mi	Fox Chase	$2415
16 km or 9.9 mi	Deptford Township	$2610
19 km or 12 mi	Moorestown	$2574
21 km or 13 mi	Gloucester Township	$2604
21 km or 13 mi	Chester	$2477
22 km or 14 mi	Mount Laurel	$2567
25 km or 15 mi	Evesham Township	$2600
25 km or 16 mi	Willingboro Township	$2591
31 km or 19 mi	Medford	$2608
35 km or 22 mi	Levittown	$2368
35 km or 22 mi	Winslow Township	$2600
36 km or 23 mi	Monroe Township	$2611
38 km or 23 mi	West Chester	$2787
40 km or 25 mi	Wilmington	$2493
46 km or 28 mi	Trenton	$2423
46 km or 29 mi	Ewing Township	$2582
50 km or 31 mi	Hamilton Township	$2541
52 km or 32 mi	Pottstown	$2353
54 km or 33 mi	Lawrence Township	$2683
56 km or 35 mi	Vineland	$2676
58 km or 36 mi	Newark	$2085
59 km or 36 mi	Bridgeton	$2653
62 km or 38 mi	Princeton	$2901
63 km or 39 mi	Millville	$2642
64 km or 39 mi	East Windsor Township	$2739
65 km or 40 mi	Plainsboro Township	$2919
67 km or 42 mi	Montgomery Township	$2819
67 km or 42 mi	Manchester Township	$2723
71 km or 44 mi	Jackson Township	$2782
72 km or 45 mi	South Brunswick	$2849
77 km or 48 mi	Allentown	$2303
77 km or 48 mi	Bethlehem	$2264
77 km or 48 mi	Hillsborough Township	$2880
78 km or 48 mi	Reading	$2320
78 km or 49 mi	Barnegat Township	$2557
79 km or 49 mi	Manalapan Township	$2693

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