Cost of living comparison
compared to
Manhattan vs. Chapel Hill Cost of Living Summary
Manhattan is 20.1% cheaper than Chapel Hill.
Manhattan vs. Chapel Hill Cost Breakdown
If you lived in Manhattan instead of Chapel Hill, you would:
pay 8.1% less for restaurants
|
Chapel Hill
|
Manhattan
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant |
$18.00
|
$15.00
|
|
|
Fast food combo meal
McDonalds, or similar
|
$10.00
|
$12.00
|
|
| Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz) |
$2.90
|
$2.00
|
|
| Bottle of water (11 fl. oz) |
$2.00
|
$1.50
|
|
Chapel Hill vs. Manhattan - Cost of restaurants
pay 21.6% less for groceries
|
Chapel Hill
|
Manhattan
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Bread
1 loaf
|
$4.68
|
$3.12
|
|
| Local cheese (8 oz) |
$9.04
|
$5.79
|
|
| Milk (1 gallon) |
$4.36
|
$3.23
|
|
|
Eggs
1 dozen
|
$5.44
|
$4.58
|
|
| Boneless chicken breast (1 lb) |
$6.23
|
$3.84
|
|
| Apples (1 lb) |
$3.60
|
$3.10
|
|
| Bananas (1 lb) |
$0.82
|
$0.97
|
|
| Oranges (1 lb) |
$3.10
|
$2.69
|
|
| Tomatoes (1 lb) |
$2.76
|
$1.94
|
|
| Potatoes (1 lb) |
$2.18
|
$1.58
|
|
| Onions (1 lb) |
$1.80
|
$1.70
|
|
Chapel Hill vs. Manhattan - Cost of groceries
pay 4.0% less for transportation
|
Chapel Hill
|
Manhattan
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Gasoline (1 gallon) |
$3.68
|
$3.34
|
|
| Monthly public transit pass | ?? |
$60.00
|
|
| New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition) |
$35,535.00
|
$36,054.00
|
|
| Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles) |
$20.34
|
$19.91
|
|
Chapel Hill vs. Manhattan - Cost of transportation
pay 35.6% less for housing
|
Chapel Hill
|
Manhattan
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Internet connection
50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl
|
$70.83
|
$65.33
|
|
| 1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area |
$1,766.67
|
$916.67
|
|
| 1-Bedroom apartment outside city center |
$1,300.00
|
$987.50
|
|
|
Utilities for two
(700 sq ft apartment)
including electric, gas, water, heating
|
$168.71
|
$110.50
|
|
Chapel Hill vs. Manhattan - Cost of housing
pay 18.0% less for childcare
|
Chapel Hill
|
Manhattan
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Private preschool for 1 child, monthly |
$1,400.00
|
$823.33
|
|
| Middle school for 1 child, two semesters |
$10,000.00
|
$11,440.00
|
|
Chapel Hill vs. Manhattan - Cost of childcare
pay 3.1% more for entertainment and sports
|
Chapel Hill
|
Manhattan
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Domestic/local beer (1 pint) |
$6.00
|
$5.00
|
|
| Cappuccino in mid-range area |
$4.75
|
$5.50
|
|
|
Pack of cigarettes
Marlboro or similar
|
$7.95
|
$9.80
|
|
| Monthly membership at local gym |
$78.00
|
$75.00
|
|
| Movie ticket to theater/cinema |
$13.50
|
$15.00
|
|
Chapel Hill vs. Manhattan - Cost of entertainment and sports
pay 0.3% more for clothing
|
Chapel Hill
|
Manhattan
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Regular jeans
Levi's brand
|
$39.00
|
$48.00
|
|
|
Regular dress
from H&M or similar store
|
$31.25
|
$35.00
|
|
|
Running shoes
Nike or Adidas
|
$103.33
|
$89.00
|
|
| Men's business shoes (leather) |
$137.50
|
$117.25
|
|
Chapel Hill vs. Manhattan - 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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