Cost of living comparison
compared to
Reykjavik vs. Birmingham Cost of Living Summary
Reykjavik is 39.4% more expensive than Birmingham.
Reykjavik vs. Birmingham Cost Breakdown
If you lived in Reykjavik instead of Birmingham, you would:
pay 99.7% more for restaurants
|
Birmingham
|
Reykjavik
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant |
$17.50
|
$31.06
ISK3,813
|
|
|
Fast food combo meal
McDonalds, or similar
|
$9.00
|
$26.97
ISK3,312
|
|
| Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz) |
$2.70
|
$3.31
ISK407
|
|
| Bottle of water (11 fl. oz) |
$2.33
|
$3.11
ISK381
|
|
Birmingham vs. Reykjavik - Cost of restaurants
pay 11.8% more for groceries
|
Birmingham
|
Reykjavik
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Bread
1 loaf
|
$3.04
|
$4.19
ISK515
|
|
| Local cheese (8 oz) |
$4.76
|
$10.93
ISK1,342
|
|
| Milk (1 gallon) |
$3.99
|
$7.78
ISK955
|
|
|
Eggs
1 dozen
|
$4.16
|
$7.08
ISK869
|
|
| Boneless chicken breast (1 lb) |
$5.04
|
$11.00
ISK1,351
|
|
| Apples (1 lb) |
$2.94
|
$1.50
ISK185
|
|
| Bananas (1 lb) |
$0.61
|
$1.27
ISK156
|
|
| Oranges (1 lb) |
$3.58
|
$1.46
ISK179
|
|
| Tomatoes (1 lb) |
$2.49
|
$2.93
ISK360
|
|
| Potatoes (1 lb) |
$1.92
|
$1.78
ISK218
|
|
| Onions (1 lb) |
$2.40
|
$0.76
ISK93
|
|
Birmingham vs. Reykjavik - Cost of groceries
pay 63.9% more for transportation
|
Birmingham
|
Reykjavik
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Gasoline (1 gallon) |
$3.53
|
$7.76
ISK953
|
|
| Monthly public transit pass |
$80.00
|
$94.80
ISK11,641
|
|
| New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition) |
$34,617.00
|
$50,588.43
ISK6M
|
|
| Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles) |
$15.73
|
$29.26
ISK3,593
|
|
Birmingham vs. Reykjavik - Cost of transportation
pay 22.8% more for housing
|
Birmingham
|
Reykjavik
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Internet connection
50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl
|
$70.00
|
$86.01
ISK10,561
|
|
| 1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area |
$1,706.33
|
$2,522.88
ISK310K
|
|
| 1-Bedroom apartment outside city center |
$1,224.50
|
$2,032.25
ISK250K
|
|
|
Utilities for two
(700 sq ft apartment)
including electric, gas, water, heating
|
$218.90
|
$73.44
ISK9,018
|
|
Birmingham vs. Reykjavik - Cost of housing
pay 12.1% more for childcare
|
Birmingham
|
Reykjavik
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Private preschool for 1 child, monthly |
$1,350.00
|
$1,185.23
ISK146K
|
|
| Middle school for 1 child, two semesters |
$18,061.33
|
$25,853.51
ISK3M
|
|
Birmingham vs. Reykjavik - Cost of childcare
pay 73.6% more for entertainment and sports
|
Birmingham
|
Reykjavik
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Domestic/local beer (1 pint) |
$5.00
|
$13.89
ISK1,706
|
|
| Cappuccino in mid-range area |
$5.74
|
$6.74
ISK828
|
|
|
Pack of cigarettes
Marlboro or similar
|
$9.79
|
$13.89
ISK1,706
|
|
| Monthly membership at local gym |
$40.00
|
$100.25
ISK12,310
|
|
| Movie ticket to theater/cinema |
$16.00
|
$19.57
ISK2,403
|
|
Birmingham vs. Reykjavik - Cost of entertainment and sports
pay 90.3% more for clothing
|
Birmingham
|
Reykjavik
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Regular jeans
Levi's brand
|
$58.50
|
$149.01
ISK18,297
|
|
|
Regular dress
from H&M or similar store
|
$38.75
|
$65.79
ISK8,078
|
|
|
Running shoes
Nike or Adidas
|
$108.75
|
$181.84
ISK22,328
|
|
| Men's business shoes (leather) |
$137.25
|
$248.81
ISK30,551
|
|
Birmingham vs. Reykjavik - 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 November 2026). How we calculate this
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Compare further: Birmingham vs. Reykjavik
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cost of living in United States vs. Iceland.
This provides a comparison of the average cost of living from cities within United States and Iceland.
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