Raleigh vs Reykjavik - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: June 21, 2026

	Raleigh	Reykjavik
🚶 Cost of living one person	$2265	$3205
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$5273	$6762
🏠 One person rent	$1374	$1954
🏘️ Family rent	$2201	$2956
🍽️ Food expenses	$624	$904
🚐 Transport expenses	$89.7	$100
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$4362	$4423
😷 Air quality	Excellent	Excellent
✈️ Airport proximity	14 km	4 km
🎓 Higher education	82	53
😀 Quality of life	89	88
🏙️ Population	468K	139K

The cost of living in Raleigh is 29% less expensive than in Reykjavik. Cities ranked 1363rd and 119th ($2265 vs $3205) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 1143rd and 1st in the United States and Iceland, respectively. Check the United States vs Iceland comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 1.9 months in Raleigh compared to 1.4 months in Reykjavik. Raleigh ranked 54th best city to live in the United States vs Reykjavik ranked 1st in Iceland, while ranked 219th and 258th among best cities to live in the world.

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the estimated difference in money purchasing power

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

Prices in Raleigh vs Reykjavik

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

	Raleigh	Reykjavik
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$18.3	$28.3
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$69.7	$97.9
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$10.4	$20
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$5.64	$13.4
☕ Cappuccino	$6.08	$6.5
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$2.82	$3.26
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1531	$2129
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1084	$1743
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$2619	$3328
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1754	$2660
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$138	$52.2
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$211	$80.3
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$63.1	$82
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	6.17%	8.69%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$3898	$7748
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$2197	$6175
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$1.42	$5.38
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$47.7	$90.3
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$16.4	$28.9
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$0.81	$2.12
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.94	$2.04
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$3.23	$4.21
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.67	$3.46
🥚 Eggs, x12	$4.61	$6.99
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$14.6	$20.2
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$10.3	$24.8
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$17.3	$44.1
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$5.38	$3.41
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.25	$2.66
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.7	$3.17
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$5.76	$5.99
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.01	$3.65
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.55	$1.89
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.53	$1.16
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$2.65	$3
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$15.4	$23.2
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.96	$3.72
🚬 Cigarette pack	$9.18	$13.5
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$12.2	$11.6
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$4.45	$5.76
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$3.97	$5.18
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$2.95	$3.63
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$42.7	$90.3
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$15	$19.2
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$127	$92.8
💇 Haircut, simple	$28.8	$47.2
👖 Brand Jeans	$52.7	$146
👟 Brand Sneakers	$101	$178
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$1475	$472
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$24243	$30029

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

Cost of Living in the nearest cities

Cities near Raleigh

Distance	City	Cost of living
12 km or 7.6 mi	Garner	$2229
15 km or 9.1 mi	Cary	$2483
17 km or 10 mi	Morrisville	$1850
21 km or 13 mi	Wake Forest	$2169
21 km or 13 mi	Apex	$2280
25 km or 16 mi	Holly Springs	$2300
28 km or 18 mi	Fuquay-Varina	$2241
30 km or 19 mi	Durham	$2063
38 km or 23 mi	Chapel Hill	$2133
60 km or 37 mi	Henderson	$2116
61 km or 38 mi	Sanford	$1842
65 km or 41 mi	Wilson	$2016
77 km or 48 mi	Rocky Mount	$1803
77 km or 48 mi	Goldsboro	$1766
78 km or 49 mi	Burlington	$2089
87 km or 54 mi	Fayetteville	$2212
106 km or 66 mi	Asheboro	$2059
109 km or 68 mi	Danville	$1775
110 km or 68 mi	Greensboro	$2027
114 km or 71 mi	Roanoke Rapids	$2055
114 km or 71 mi	Kinston	$2073
117 km or 73 mi	Greenville	$2045
123 km or 76 mi	High Point	$1909
129 km or 80 mi	Thomasville	$2007
133 km or 83 mi	Kernersville	$2200
137 km or 85 mi	Lumberton	$1863
141 km or 87 mi	Rockingham	$2070
149 km or 92 mi	Winston-Salem	$2105
163 km or 101 mi	Jacksonville	$2007
165 km or 103 mi	New Bern	$1849
166 km or 103 mi	Salisbury	$2075
182 km or 113 mi	Kannapolis	$2031
182 km or 113 mi	Lynchburg	$1851
183 km or 114 mi	Concord	$1904
189 km or 117 mi	Havelock	$2003
190 km or 118 mi	Wilmington	$2295
191 km or 119 mi	Petersburg	$2375
196 km or 122 mi	Monroe	$2129
196 km or 122 mi	Mint Hill	$2204
198 km or 123 mi	Roanoke	$1729

Cities near Reykjavik

Distance	City	Cost of living
6.8 km or 4.2 mi	Kopavogur	$3092
9.8 km or 6.1 mi	Hafnarfjorur	$3106
38 km or 24 mi	Keflavik	$2581
247 km or 153 mi	Akureyri	$2921
795 km or 494 mi	Torshavn	$2017
1204 km or 748 mi	Inverness	$2005
1230 km or 764 mi	Elgin	$1523
1300 km or 808 mi	Derry	$1646
1309 km or 813 mi	Greenock	$1647
1321 km or 821 mi	Aberdeen	$1806
1325 km or 823 mi	Perth	$1640
1328 km or 825 mi	Stirling	$1835
1331 km or 827 mi	Paisley	$1885
1333 km or 828 mi	Alloa	$1842
1337 km or 831 mi	Glasgow	$2114
1339 km or 832 mi	Dundee	$1593
1340 km or 833 mi	Omagh	$1763
1341 km or 833 mi	Cumbernauld	$1611
1342 km or 834 mi	Irvine	$1704
1348 km or 838 mi	East Kilbride	$1878
1349 km or 838 mi	Kilmarnock	$1600
1351 km or 839 mi	Dunfermline	$1750
1353 km or 841 mi	Hamilton	$1831
1357 km or 843 mi	Ayr	$1586
1360 km or 845 mi	Kirkcaldy	$1794
1365 km or 848 mi	Livingston	$1760
1372 km or 852 mi	Edinburgh	$2295
1382 km or 859 mi	Newtownabbey	$1820
1387 km or 862 mi	Belfast	$1878
1390 km or 864 mi	Bangor	$1485
1391 km or 864 mi	Lisburn	$1923
1401 km or 871 mi	Alesund	$2021
1413 km or 878 mi	Galway	$3003
1425 km or 886 mi	Dundalk	$2264
1431 km or 889 mi	Dumfries	$1456
1433 km or 891 mi	Nuuk	$2508
1441 km or 895 mi	Molde	$2101
1454 km or 903 mi	Kristiansund	$1944
1455 km or 904 mi	Drogheda	$2518
1455 km or 904 mi	Bergen	$2336