Philadelphia vs Washington - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: June 21, 2026

	Philadelphia	Washington
🚶 Cost of living one person	$2597	$3350
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$5854	$7781
🏠 One person rent	$1508	$2159
🏘️ Family rent	$2200	$3818
🍽️ Food expenses	$733	$775
🚐 Transport expenses	$194	$171
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$4443	$7152
😷 Air quality	Excellent	Excellent
✈️ Airport proximity	11 km	5 km
🎓 Higher education	100	100
😀 Quality of life	91	94
🏙️ Population	1.6M	690K

The cost of living in Philadelphia is 22% less expensive than in Washington. Cities ranked 741st and 74th ($2597 vs $3350) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 652nd and 56th in the United States.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 1.7 months in Philadelphia compared to 2.1 months in Washington. Ranked 22nd vs 6th best cities to live in the United States, and 118th vs 31st among the best cities to live in the world.

Salary adjustment calculator
the estimated difference in money purchasing power

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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	$22	$22.9
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$79.2	$101
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$12.6	$12
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$5.98	$8.68
☕ Cappuccino	$5.23	$6.1
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$3.03	$3.39
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1607	$2374
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1212	$1850
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$2381	$4205
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1784	$3379
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$146	$136
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$225	$206
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$71	$68.2
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	6.27%	6.12%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$4124	$8429
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1892	$3565
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$2.88	$3.03
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$99.7	$115
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$15.2	$18.6
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$0.96	$0.99
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.43	$1.17
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$4.41	$3.61
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$8.91	$6.22
🥚 Eggs, x12	$5.31	$5.43
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$13.6	$18.9
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$13.7	$15.9
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$18.8	$19.7
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$5.95	$5.8
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.02	$2.3
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$5.12	$5.02
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$5.55	$5.56
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.99	$2.74
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.15	$3.62
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.67	$1.66
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$3.72	$3.62
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$15	$17.5
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.24	$4.52
🚬 Cigarette pack	$13.1	$13.6
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$9.27	$9.34
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$6.98	$4.75
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$4.04	$4.31
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$2.34	$2.57
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$68.9	$113
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$16	$16.5
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$84.7	$196
💇 Haircut, simple	$29	$35.5
👖 Brand Jeans	$49.4	$70
👟 Brand Sneakers	$99.4	$116
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$2213	$1892
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$20275	$24903

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	$2624
9.2 km or 5.7 mi	Pennsauken Township	$2614
12 km or 7.1 mi	Cherry Hill	$2710
12 km or 7.7 mi	West Deptford Township	$2620
16 km or 9.9 mi	Fox Chase	$2395
16 km or 9.9 mi	Deptford Township	$2626
19 km or 12 mi	Moorestown	$2543
21 km or 13 mi	Gloucester Township	$2622
21 km or 13 mi	Chester	$2498
22 km or 14 mi	Mount Laurel	$2543
25 km or 15 mi	Evesham Township	$2581
25 km or 16 mi	Willingboro Township	$2567
31 km or 19 mi	Medford	$2579
35 km or 22 mi	Levittown	$2359
35 km or 22 mi	Winslow Township	$2623
36 km or 23 mi	Monroe Township	$2636
38 km or 23 mi	West Chester	$2849
40 km or 25 mi	Wilmington	$2458
46 km or 28 mi	Trenton	$2314
46 km or 29 mi	Ewing Township	$2623
50 km or 31 mi	Hamilton Township	$2525
52 km or 32 mi	Pottstown	$2331
54 km or 33 mi	Lawrence Township	$2685
56 km or 35 mi	Vineland	$2635
58 km or 36 mi	Newark	$2222
59 km or 36 mi	Bridgeton	$2662
62 km or 38 mi	Princeton	$3031
63 km or 39 mi	Millville	$2636
64 km or 39 mi	East Windsor Township	$2740
65 km or 40 mi	Plainsboro Township	$2820
67 km or 42 mi	Montgomery Township	$2825
67 km or 42 mi	Manchester Township	$2754
71 km or 44 mi	Jackson Township	$2795
72 km or 45 mi	South Brunswick	$2842
77 km or 48 mi	Allentown	$2313
77 km or 48 mi	Bethlehem	$2333
77 km or 48 mi	Hillsborough Township	$2897
78 km or 48 mi	Reading	$2221
78 km or 49 mi	Barnegat Township	$2656
79 km or 49 mi	Manalapan Township	$2737

Cities near Washington

Distance	City	Cost of living
2.5 km or 1.5 mi	Georgetown	$3031
9.5 km or 5.9 mi	Bailey's Crossroads	$2572
10 km or 6.3 mi	Alexandria	$2913
11 km or 6.8 mi	Bethesda	$2769
12 km or 7.5 mi	Silver Spring	$2223
15 km or 9.2 mi	College Park	$3016
17 km or 11 mi	Springfield	$2367
17 km or 11 mi	Greenbelt	$2774
23 km or 14 mi	Rockville	$2678
24 km or 15 mi	Fairfax	$2803
26 km or 16 mi	Bowie	$2596
27 km or 17 mi	Laurel	$2377
28 km or 17 mi	Reston	$2801
30 km or 19 mi	Waldorf	$2508
31 km or 19 mi	Gaithersburg	$2512
32 km or 20 mi	Herndon	$2799
34 km or 21 mi	Woodbridge	$2696
34 km or 21 mi	Marumsco	$2608
36 km or 22 mi	Centreville	$3338
37 km or 23 mi	Germantown	$2695
38 km or 23 mi	Columbia	$2856
41 km or 26 mi	Manassas	$2379
42 km or 26 mi	Ashburn	$2793
47 km or 29 mi	Annapolis	$2862
49 km or 31 mi	Catonsville	$2484
51 km or 32 mi	Leesburg	$2341
57 km or 35 mi	Eldersburg	$2554
57 km or 35 mi	Baltimore	$2224
61 km or 38 mi	Owings Mills	$2603
68 km or 42 mi	Frederick	$2318
76 km or 47 mi	Fredericksburg	$2363
83 km or 52 mi	Charles Town	$1977
87 km or 54 mi	Edgewood	$3012
92 km or 57 mi	Bel Air South	$2787
93 km or 58 mi	Bel Air North	$2694
102 km or 63 mi	Hanover	$2275
102 km or 63 mi	Hagerstown	$2037
103 km or 64 mi	Winchester	$2252
106 km or 66 mi	Waynesboro	$2109
122 km or 76 mi	York	$2088