Reykjavik vs Seattle - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: June 21, 2026

	Reykjavik	Seattle
🚶 Cost of living one person	$3205	$3183
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$6762	$7493
🏠 One person rent	$1954	$1996
🏘️ Family rent	$2956	$3450
🍽️ Food expenses	$904	$789
🚐 Transport expenses	$100	$175
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$4423	$6618
😷 Air quality	Excellent	Excellent
✈️ Airport proximity	4 km	9 km
🎓 Higher education	53	80
😀 Quality of life	88	91
🏙️ Population	139K	737K

The cost of living in Reykjavik is 0.7% more expensive than in Seattle. Cities ranked 119th and 126th ($3205 vs $3183) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 1st and 94th in Iceland and the United States, respectively. Check Iceland vs the United States comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 1.4 months in Reykjavik compared to 2.1 months in Seattle. Reykjavik ranked 1st best city to live in Iceland vs Seattle ranked 33rd in the United States, while ranked 258th and 147th 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/reykjavik/seattle.jpg" alt="Cost of living in Reykjavik vs Seattle infographic" style="max-width: 100%; height: auto;"><p>Source: <a href="https://livingcost.org/cost/reykjavik/seattle" target="_blank">Reykjavik vs Seattle - Cost of Living Comparison</a></p>

Prices in Reykjavik vs Seattle

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

	Reykjavik	Seattle
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$28.3	$20.5
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$97.9	$92.5
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$20	$14.3
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$13.4	$7.95
☕ Cappuccino	$6.5	$6.46
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$3.26	$2.94
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$2129	$2109
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1743	$1647
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$3328	$3900
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$2660	$2895
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$52.2	$182
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$80.3	$279
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$82	$74.8
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	8.69%	6.32%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$7748	$7971
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$6175	$5180
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$5.38	$2.99
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$90.3	$117
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$28.9	$17.1
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$2.12	$1.29
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$2.04	$1.23
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$4.21	$4.33
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.46	$4.83
🥚 Eggs, x12	$6.99	$5.97
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$20.2	$21.7
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$24.8	$18.5
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$44.1	$22.6
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.41	$5.72
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.66	$1.92
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.17	$5.39
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$5.99	$6.03
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.65	$3.17
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.89	$3.34
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.16	$1.75
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$3	$3.43
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$23.2	$16.2
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$3.72	$4.09
🚬 Cigarette pack	$13.5	$13.3
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$11.6	$9.26
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$5.76	$7.92
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$5.18	$5.8
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$3.63	$2.36
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$90.3	$81.7
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$19.2	$17.8
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$92.8	$167
💇 Haircut, simple	$47.2	$28.5
👖 Brand Jeans	$146	$76.5
👟 Brand Sneakers	$178	$119
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$472	$2124
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$30029	$30033

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

Cost of Living in the nearest cities

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

Cities near Seattle

Distance	City	Cost of living
9.1 km or 5.7 mi	Mercer Island	$2843
11 km or 6.5 mi	Bellevue	$3164
14 km or 8.5 mi	Kirkland	$3012
15 km or 9.2 mi	Tukwila	$2648
15 km or 9.5 mi	Burien	$2678
16 km or 10 mi	Bainbridge Island	$2827
17 km or 10 mi	Shoreline	$2782
17 km or 10 mi	Renton	$2621
17 km or 11 mi	Redmond	$3602
17 km or 11 mi	Kenmore	$2749
19 km or 12 mi	SeaTac	$2783
21 km or 13 mi	Bothell	$2734
22 km or 14 mi	Sammamish	$2884
22 km or 14 mi	Edmonds	$2728
23 km or 14 mi	Issaquah	$2797
24 km or 15 mi	Des Moines	$2637
24 km or 15 mi	Lynnwood	$2736
24 km or 15 mi	Bremerton	$2479
26 km or 16 mi	Kent	$2775
30 km or 19 mi	Mill Creek	$2714
33 km or 20 mi	Federal Way	$2542
34 km or 21 mi	Maple Valley	$2617
35 km or 21 mi	Mukilteo	$2709
35 km or 22 mi	Auburn	$2342
41 km or 25 mi	Everett	$2727
42 km or 26 mi	Tacoma	$2429
46 km or 28 mi	University Place	$2722
48 km or 30 mi	Puyallup	$2822
50 km or 31 mi	Lake Stevens	$2670
51 km or 32 mi	Lakewood	$2576
52 km or 33 mi	Marysville	$2661
57 km or 35 mi	Spanaway	$2378
74 km or 46 mi	Lacey	$2616
76 km or 47 mi	Olympia	$2592
78 km or 48 mi	Sequim	$2690
80 km or 50 mi	Oak Harbor	$2773
90 km or 56 mi	Mount Vernon	$2475
100 km or 62 mi	Port Angeles	$2580
109 km or 68 mi	Centralia	$2765
119 km or 74 mi	Victoria	$2098