Cost of living comparison
compared to
Madison vs. Berlin Cost of Living Summary
Madison is 13.0% more expensive than Berlin.
Madison vs. Berlin Cost Breakdown
If you lived in Madison instead of Berlin, you would:
pay 3.6% more for restaurants
|
Berlin
|
Madison
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant |
$16.80
€14.99
|
$20.00
|
|
|
Fast food combo meal
McDonalds, or similar
|
$13.44
€11.99
|
$13.00
|
|
| Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz) |
$3.44
€3.07
|
$3.15
|
|
| Bottle of water (11 fl. oz) |
$3.10
€2.77
|
$2.47
|
|
Berlin vs. Madison - Cost of restaurants
pay 12.6% more for groceries
|
Berlin
|
Madison
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Bread
1 loaf
|
$2.40
€2.14
|
$3.50
|
|
| Local cheese (8 oz) |
$8.59
€7.67
|
$7.45
|
|
| Milk (1 gallon) |
$4.72
€4.21
|
$3.64
|
|
|
Eggs
1 dozen
|
$4.47
€3.99
|
$3.69
|
|
| Boneless chicken breast (1 lb) |
$5.44
€4.85
|
$5.98
|
|
| Apples (1 lb) |
$1.61
€1.44
|
$2.13
|
|
| Bananas (1 lb) |
$0.90
€0.81
|
$0.73
|
|
| Oranges (1 lb) |
$1.52
€1.36
|
$2.38
|
|
| Tomatoes (1 lb) |
$1.70
€1.51
|
$2.20
|
|
| Potatoes (1 lb) |
$0.94
€0.84
|
$1.28
|
|
| Onions (1 lb) |
$0.98
€0.87
|
$1.38
|
|
Berlin vs. Madison - Cost of groceries
pay 27.2% less for transportation
|
Berlin
|
Madison
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Gasoline (1 gallon) |
$8.66
€7.73
|
$3.87
|
|
| Monthly public transit pass |
$70.54
€62.96
|
$65.00
|
|
| New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition) |
$32,914.63
€29,377.56
|
$35,957.00
|
|
| Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles) |
$30.29
€27.03
|
$20.00
|
|
Berlin vs. Madison - Cost of transportation
pay 19.7% more for housing
|
Berlin
|
Madison
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Internet connection
50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl
|
$48.20
€43.02
|
$82.25
|
|
| 1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area |
$1,478.95
€1,320.02
|
$1,789.29
|
|
| 1-Bedroom apartment outside city center |
$1,114.14
€994.41
|
$1,544.62
|
|
|
Utilities for two
(700 sq ft apartment)
including electric, gas, water, heating
|
$295.08
€263.37
|
$206.36
|
|
Berlin vs. Madison - Cost of housing
pay 4.2 times more for childcare
|
Berlin
|
Madison
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Private preschool for 1 child, monthly |
$144.45
€128.92
|
$1,722.92
|
|
| Middle school for 1 child, two semesters |
$15,853.22
€14,149.60
|
$23,429.75
|
|
Berlin vs. Madison - Cost of childcare
pay 21.3% more for entertainment and sports
|
Berlin
|
Madison
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Domestic/local beer (1 pint) |
$5.43
€4.85
|
$7.00
|
|
| Cappuccino in mid-range area |
$4.34
€3.87
|
$5.73
|
|
|
Pack of cigarettes
Marlboro or similar
|
$10.53
€9.39
|
$10.73
|
|
| Monthly membership at local gym |
$40.06
€35.75
|
$58.75
|
|
| Movie ticket to theater/cinema |
$15.68
€13.99
|
$15.00
|
|
Berlin vs. Madison - Cost of entertainment and sports
pay 10.6% less for clothing
|
Berlin
|
Madison
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Regular jeans
Levi's brand
|
$95.44
€85.18
|
$64.22
|
|
|
Regular dress
from H&M or similar store
|
$47.03
€41.98
|
$50.56
|
|
|
Running shoes
Nike or Adidas
|
$104.60
€93.36
|
$107.16
|
|
| Men's business shoes (leather) |
$141.17
€126.00
|
$121.80
|
|
Berlin vs. Madison - Cost of clothing
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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Compare further: Berlin vs. Madison
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