Columbus vs. Albuquerque Cost of Living Summary

Columbus is 20.7% more expensive than Albuquerque.

Restaurants
pay 16.0% more in Columbus
Groceries
pay 9.2% more in Columbus
Transportation
pay 2.0 times more in Columbus
Housing
pay 16.8% more in Columbus
Childcare
pay 20.3% more in Columbus
Entertainment and Sports
pay 6.6% less in Columbus
Clothing
pay 11.1% less in Columbus

The cost of transportation, childcare, housing, restaurants, and groceries in Columbus are more expensive than in Albuquerque. Expenses including clothing and entertainment and sports are lower in Columbus. Notably, transportation is significantly more expensive in Columbus.

Columbus vs. Albuquerque Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Columbus instead of Albuquerque, you would:

pay 16.0% more for restaurants

 
Albuquerque
Columbus
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant $17.00
 
$22.00
 
Fast food combo meal
McDonalds, or similar
$10.00
 
$12.00
 
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz) $2.94
 
$2.52
 

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pay 9.2% more for groceries

 
Albuquerque
Columbus
Bread
1 loaf
$3.23
 
$3.16
 
Local cheese (8 oz) $5.91
 
$7.00
 
Milk (1 gallon) $3.62
 
$3.35
 

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pay 2.0 times more for transportation

 
Albuquerque
Columbus
Gasoline (1 gallon) $3.75
 
$3.88
 
Monthly public transit pass $4.00
 
$62.00
 
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition) $30,680.00
 
$36,168.00
 

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pay 16.8% more for housing

 
Albuquerque
Columbus
Internet connection
50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl
$72.44
 
$67.75
 
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area $1,167.38
 
$1,543.62
 
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center $1,117.78
 
$1,102.89
 

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pay 20.3% more for childcare

 
Albuquerque
Columbus
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly $1,500.00
 
$1,593.33
 
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters $25,175.33
 
$34,300.00
 

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pay 6.6% less for entertainment and sports

 
Albuquerque
Columbus
Domestic/local beer (1 pint) $6.00
 
$6.00
 
Cappuccino in mid-range area $5.00
 
$5.39
 
Pack of cigarettes
Marlboro or similar
$10.42
 
$10.00
 

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pay 11.1% less for clothing

 
Albuquerque
Columbus
Regular jeans
Levi's brand
$54.31
 
$49.77
 
Regular dress
from H&M or similar store
$43.63
 
$41.35
 
Running shoes
Nike or Adidas
$104.18
 
$81.28
 

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We average the price of thousands of data points entered by users across the world. Sources: MyLifeElsewhere's cost-of-living dataset (prices updated October 2026). How we calculate this

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