Raleigh vs Reykjavik - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 11, 2026

	Raleigh	Reykjavik
🚶 Cost of living one person	$2317	$3322
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$5372	$6846
🏠 One person rent	$1430	$2058
🏘️ Family rent	$2327	$3020
🍽️ Food expenses	$612	$916
🚐 Transport expenses	$90.3	$102
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$4411	$4546
😷 Air quality	Excellent	Excellent
✈️ Airport proximity	14 km	4 km
🎓 Higher education	82	52
😀 Quality of life	89	89
🏙️ Population	468K	139K

The cost of living in Raleigh is 30% less expensive than in Reykjavik. Cities ranked 1246th and 86th ($2317 vs $3322) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 1054th 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 64th best city to live in the United States vs Reykjavik ranked 1st in Iceland, while ranked 245th and 268th 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/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	$28.6
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$72.5	$90.8
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$9.6	$20.3
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$5.67	$12.6
☕ Cappuccino	$6.02	$6.19
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$2.48	$3.25
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1562	$2151
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1149	$1861
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$2603	$3373
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1919	$2721
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$133	$51.6
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$207	$81.7
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$65.1	$87.2
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	6.42%	8.79%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$3603	$7832
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$2208	$6385
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$1.68	$5.51
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$48.1	$87.9
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$16.3	$29.5
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$0.79	$2.49
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.97	$1.98
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$3.39	$4.44
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.78	$3.58
🥚 Eggs, x12	$4.45	$6.83
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$14.3	$19.7
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$10.4	$26
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$16.8	$44.9
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$5.47	$3.55
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.26	$2.67
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.98	$3.41
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$5.45	$5.8
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.68	$3.52
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.36	$2.2
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.46	$1.27
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$2.63	$3.01
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$15	$24.2
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.92	$3.95
🚬 Cigarette pack	$8.71	$14
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$10.6	$12.7
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$4.44	$5.93
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$3.97	$5.26
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$2.73	$3.63
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$44.2	$95.3
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$15	$18.6
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$137	$93.8
💇 Haircut, simple	$28.8	$46.1
👖 Brand Jeans	$54.3	$144
👟 Brand Sneakers	$108	$176
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$1374	$408
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$24650	$30361

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	$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

Cities near Reykjavik

Distance	City	Cost of living
6.8 km or 4.2 mi	Kopavogur	$3219
9.8 km or 6.1 mi	Hafnarfjorur	$3212
38 km or 24 mi	Keflavik	$2621
247 km or 153 mi	Akureyri	$2974
795 km or 494 mi	Torshavn	$2066
1204 km or 748 mi	Inverness	$2053
1230 km or 764 mi	Elgin	$1540
1300 km or 808 mi	Derry	$1620
1309 km or 813 mi	Greenock	$1645
1321 km or 821 mi	Aberdeen	$1848
1325 km or 823 mi	Perth	$1656
1328 km or 825 mi	Stirling	$1852
1331 km or 827 mi	Paisley	$1906
1333 km or 828 mi	Alloa	$1862
1337 km or 831 mi	Glasgow	$2121
1339 km or 832 mi	Dundee	$1585
1340 km or 833 mi	Omagh	$1769
1341 km or 833 mi	Cumbernauld	$1652
1342 km or 834 mi	Irvine	$1707
1348 km or 838 mi	East Kilbride	$1902
1349 km or 838 mi	Kilmarnock	$1568
1351 km or 839 mi	Dunfermline	$1782
1353 km or 841 mi	Hamilton	$1854
1357 km or 843 mi	Ayr	$1588
1360 km or 845 mi	Kirkcaldy	$1821
1365 km or 848 mi	Livingston	$1784
1372 km or 852 mi	Edinburgh	$2331
1382 km or 859 mi	Newtownabbey	$1892
1387 km or 862 mi	Belfast	$1954
1390 km or 864 mi	Bangor	$1496
1391 km or 864 mi	Lisburn	$1945
1401 km or 871 mi	Alesund	$1980
1413 km or 878 mi	Galway	$2978
1425 km or 886 mi	Dundalk	$2179
1431 km or 889 mi	Dumfries	$1490
1433 km or 891 mi	Nuuk	$2363
1441 km or 895 mi	Molde	$2135
1454 km or 903 mi	Kristiansund	$1984
1455 km or 904 mi	Drogheda	$2627
1455 km or 904 mi	Bergen	$2409