Cost of living comparison

Germany

compared to

Italy

Milan vs. Berlin Cost of Living Summary

Milan is 6.7% more expensive than Berlin.

Restaurants: pay 9.1% more in Milan
Groceries: pay 13.6% more in Milan
Transportation: pay 11.8% less in Milan
Housing: pay 1.3% less in Milan
Childcare: pay 2.6 times more in Milan
Entertainment and Sports: pay 1.5% less in Milan
Clothing: pay 10.3% more in Milan

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

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Milan vs. Berlin Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Milan instead of Berlin, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 9.1% more for restaurants

	Berlin	Milan
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$16.80 €14.99	$22.39 €19.99	+33.3%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$13.44 €11.99	$13.44 €11.99
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$3.44 €3.07	$3.72 €3.32	+8.1%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$3.10 €2.77	$1.88 €1.68	-39.5%
Average			+9.1%

Berlin vs. Milan - Cost of restaurants

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pay 13.6% more for groceries

	Berlin	Milan
Bread 1 loaf	$2.40 €2.14	$3.24 €2.90	+35.1%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$8.59 €7.67	$11.46 €10.23	+33.4%
Milk (1 gallon)	$4.72 €4.21	$6.59 €5.88	+39.8%
Eggs 1 dozen	$4.47 €3.99	$4.95 €4.42	+10.6%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$5.44 €4.85	$6.58 €5.87	+20.9%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.61 €1.44	$1.38 €1.23	-14.3%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.90 €0.81	$1.08 €0.96	+19.3%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.52 €1.36	$1.50 €1.34	-1.3%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.70 €1.51	$1.94 €1.73	+14.1%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.94 €0.84	$1.06 €0.95	+12.3%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.98 €0.87	$0.91 €0.81	-6.7%
Average			+13.6%

Berlin vs. Milan - Cost of groceries

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pay 11.8% less for transportation

	Berlin	Milan
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$8.66 €7.73	$8.20 €7.32	-5.4%
Monthly public transit pass	$70.54 €62.97	$43.67 €38.98	-38.1%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$32,914.63 €29,380.19	$36,317.50 €32,417.66	+10.3%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$30.29 €27.04	$25.75 €22.99	-15.0%
Average			-11.8%

Berlin vs. Milan - Cost of transportation

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pay 1.3% less for housing

	Berlin	Milan
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$48.20 €43.02	$29.52 €26.35	-38.8%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$1,478.95 €1,320.13	$1,710.14 €1,526.50	+15.6%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$1,114.14 €994.50	$1,162.13 €1,037.33	+4.3%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$295.08 €263.40	$193.32 €172.56	-34.5%
Average			-1.3%

Berlin vs. Milan - Cost of housing

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pay 2.6 times more for childcare

	Berlin	Milan
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$144.45 €128.93	$847.27 €756.29	+486.6%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$15,853.22 €14,150.87	$18,804.09 €16,784.87	+18.6%
Average			+163.8%

Berlin vs. Milan - Cost of childcare

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pay 1.5% less for entertainment and sports

	Berlin	Milan
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$5.43 €4.85	$6.72 €6.00	+23.7%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$4.34 €3.87	$2.10 €1.87	-51.6%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$10.53 €9.40	$7.28 €6.50	-30.9%
Monthly membership at local gym	$40.06 €35.76	$83.93 €74.92	+109.5%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$15.68 €13.99	$12.32 €10.99	-21.4%
Average			-1.5%

Berlin vs. Milan - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 10.3% more for clothing

	Berlin	Milan
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$95.44 €85.19	$101.48 €90.58	+6.3%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$47.03 €41.98	$50.31 €44.91	+7.0%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$104.60 €93.36	$116.19 €103.71	+11.1%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$141.17 €126.01	$165.48 €147.71	+17.2%
Average			+10.3%

Berlin vs. Milan - Cost of clothing

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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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Size Comparison · See true size

Berlin is about 4.9 times bigger than Milan.

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