Cost of living comparison

United States

compared to

France

Paris vs. Chapel Hill Cost of Living Summary

Paris is 3.2% more expensive than Chapel Hill.

Restaurants: pay 19.5% more in Paris
Groceries: pay 28.0% less in Paris
Transportation: pay 46.3% more in Paris
Housing: pay 10.4% less in Paris
Childcare: pay 82.9% more in Paris
Entertainment and Sports: pay 2.8% less in Paris
Clothing: pay 58.5% more in Paris

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

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Paris vs. Chapel Hill Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Paris instead of Chapel Hill, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 19.5% more for restaurants

	Chapel Hill	Paris
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$18.00	$17.92 €16.07	-0.5%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$10.00	$13.44 €12.05	+34.4%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$2.90	$4.55 €4.08	+56.8%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$2.00	$2.76 €2.48	+37.9%
Average			+19.5%

Chapel Hill vs. Paris - Cost of restaurants

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pay 28.0% less for groceries

	Chapel Hill	Paris
Bread 1 loaf	$4.68	$2.49 €2.23	-46.9%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$9.04	$11.08 €9.94	+22.7%
Milk (1 gallon)	$4.36	$5.83 €5.23	+33.5%
Eggs 1 dozen	$5.44	$4.41 €3.96	-18.9%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$6.23	$6.25 €5.60	+0.2%
Apples (1 lb)	$3.60	$1.47 €1.32	-59.2%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.82	$1.01 €0.91	+23.8%
Oranges (1 lb)	$3.10	$1.32 €1.18	-57.5%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$2.76	$1.92 €1.73	-30.3%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$2.18	$0.89 €0.80	-59.2%
Onions (1 lb)	$1.80	$1.13 €1.02	-37.1%
Average			-28.0%

Chapel Hill vs. Paris - Cost of groceries

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pay 46.3% more for transportation

	Chapel Hill	Paris
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$3.68	$8.46 €7.59	+130.3%
Monthly public transit pass	??	$101.67 €91.22
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$35,535.00	$34,599.83 €31,041.24	-2.6%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$20.34	$20.60 €18.48	+1.3%
Average			+46.3%

Chapel Hill vs. Paris - Cost of transportation

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pay 10.4% less for housing

	Chapel Hill	Paris
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$70.83	$29.90 €26.82	-57.8%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$1,766.67	$1,564.13 €1,403.26	-11.5%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$1,300.00	$1,192.71 €1,070.04	-8.3%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$168.71	$188.92 €169.49	+12.0%
Average			-10.4%

Chapel Hill vs. Paris - Cost of housing

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pay 82.9% more for childcare

	Chapel Hill	Paris
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$1,400.00	$1,800.03 €1,614.90	+28.6%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$10,000.00	$26,004.30 €23,329.76	+160.0%
Average			+82.9%

Chapel Hill vs. Paris - Cost of childcare

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pay 2.8% less for entertainment and sports

	Chapel Hill	Paris
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$6.00	$7.84 €7.03	+30.6%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$4.75	$5.05 €4.53	+6.3%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$7.95	$14.56 €13.06	+83.1%
Monthly membership at local gym	$78.00	$39.05 €35.03	-49.9%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$13.50	$14.56 €13.06	+7.8%
Average			-2.8%

Chapel Hill vs. Paris - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 58.5% more for clothing

	Chapel Hill	Paris
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$39.00	$110.29 €98.95	+182.8%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$31.25	$52.46 €47.07	+67.9%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$103.33	$118.77 €106.56	+14.9%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$137.50	$158.84 €142.51	+15.5%
Average			+58.5%

Chapel Hill vs. Paris - 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 November 2026). How we calculate this

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Size Comparison · See true size

Chapel Hill is about 1.9 times smaller than Paris.

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