Cost of living comparison

compared to

London vs. Cambridge Cost of Living Summary

London is 19.1% more expensive than Cambridge.

Restaurants: pay 5.2% more in London
Groceries: pay 1.1% less in London
Transportation: pay 53.0% more in London
Housing: pay 30.6% more in London
Childcare: pay 9.9% more in London
Entertainment and Sports: pay 13.1% more in London
Clothing: pay 22.7% more in London

The cost of transportation, housing, clothing, entertainment and sports, childcare, and restaurants in London are more expensive than in Cambridge.

London vs. Cambridge Cost Breakdown

If you lived in London instead of Cambridge, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 5.2% more for restaurants

	Cambridge	London
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$26.71 £20.02	$26.73 £20.04	+0.1%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$10.68 £8.01	$11.02 £8.26	+3.2%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$2.67 £2.00	$3.12 £2.34	+17.0%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$1.91 £1.43	$1.93 £1.44	+0.6%
Average			+5.2%

Cambridge vs. London - Cost of restaurants

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pay 1.1% less for groceries

	Cambridge	London
Bread 1 loaf	$1.92 £1.44	$2.16 £1.62	+12.4%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$6.16 £4.62	$5.54 £4.15	-10.1%
Milk (1 gallon)	$6.47 £4.85	$6.58 £4.93	+1.7%
Eggs 1 dozen	$4.38 £3.28	$5.02 £3.76	+14.6%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$4.45 £3.33	$3.95 £2.96	-11.1%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.39 £1.04	$1.53 £1.14	+9.9%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.79 £0.59	$0.83 £0.63	+6.0%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.62 £1.21	$1.44 £1.08	-11.0%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.51 £1.14	$1.64 £1.23	+8.4%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.91 £0.68	$0.76 £0.57	-16.6%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.99 £0.74	$0.83 £0.62	-16.1%
Average			-1.1%

Cambridge vs. London - Cost of groceries

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pay 53.0% more for transportation

	Cambridge	London
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$7.23 £5.42	$7.12 £5.34	-1.5%
Monthly public transit pass	$80.13 £60.06	$240.54 £180.32	+200.2%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$37,772.71 £28,315.37	$37,798.76 £28,334.89	+0.1%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$28.04 £21.02	$31.75 £23.80	+13.2%
Average			+53.0%

Cambridge vs. London - Cost of transportation

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pay 30.6% more for housing

	Cambridge	London
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$41.26 £30.93	$42.83 £32.11	+3.8%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$1,874.74 £1,405.35	$3,083.09 £2,311.16	+64.5%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$1,585.83 £1,188.78	$2,340.14 £1,754.23	+47.6%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$240.38 £180.19	$255.85 £191.79	+6.4%
Average			+30.6%

Cambridge vs. London - Cost of housing

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pay 9.9% more for childcare

	Cambridge	London
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$2,228.30 £1,670.39	$2,480.84 £1,859.70	+11.3%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$26,263.51 £19,687.78	$28,512.27 £21,373.51	+8.6%
Average			+9.9%

Cambridge vs. London - Cost of childcare

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pay 13.1% more for entertainment and sports

	Cambridge	London
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$8.01 £6.01	$8.69 £6.51	+8.4%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$4.76 £3.57	$5.21 £3.90	+9.3%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$20.03 £15.02	$22.72 £17.03	+13.4%
Monthly membership at local gym	$59.43 £44.55	$64.95 £48.69	+9.3%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$16.03 £12.01	$20.05 £15.03	+25.1%
Average			+13.1%

Cambridge vs. London - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 22.7% more for clothing

	Cambridge	London
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$95.71 £71.74	$116.11 £87.04	+21.3%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$51.19 £38.37	$52.02 £39.00	+1.6%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$91.57 £68.65	$125.96 £94.43	+37.6%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$123.53 £92.60	$160.88 £120.60	+30.2%
Average			+22.7%

Cambridge vs. London - Cost of clothing

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The statistics used to build this comparison are calculated using data from users just like you. We average the price of thousands of data points entered by users across the world. Learn more about our data sources. Page last updated: December 2025

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