Cost of living comparison
compared to
Columbus vs. Charlotte Cost of Living Summary
Columbus is 6.7% cheaper than Charlotte.
Columbus vs. Charlotte Cost Breakdown
If you lived in Columbus instead of Charlotte, you would:
pay 11.3% more for restaurants
|
Charlotte
|
Columbus
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant |
$18.00
|
$22.00
|
|
|
Fast food combo meal
McDonalds, or similar
|
$11.00
|
$12.00
|
|
| Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz) |
$2.67
|
$2.52
|
|
| Bottle of water (11 fl. oz) |
$2.21
|
$2.04
|
|
Charlotte vs. Columbus - Cost of restaurants
pay 2.1% less for groceries
|
Charlotte
|
Columbus
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Bread
1 loaf
|
$4.07
|
$3.16
|
|
| Local cheese (8 oz) |
$8.29
|
$7.00
|
|
| Milk (1 gallon) |
$3.70
|
$3.35
|
|
|
Eggs
1 dozen
|
$4.35
|
$3.85
|
|
| Boneless chicken breast (1 lb) |
$7.16
|
$6.71
|
|
| Apples (1 lb) |
$2.42
|
$2.93
|
|
| Bananas (1 lb) |
$0.66
|
$0.77
|
|
| Oranges (1 lb) |
$2.10
|
$2.74
|
|
| Tomatoes (1 lb) |
$2.09
|
$2.15
|
|
| Potatoes (1 lb) |
$1.70
|
$1.31
|
|
| Onions (1 lb) |
$1.41
|
$1.55
|
|
Charlotte vs. Columbus - Cost of groceries
pay 10.0% less for transportation
|
Charlotte
|
Columbus
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Gasoline (1 gallon) |
$3.79
|
$3.88
|
|
| Monthly public transit pass |
$88.00
|
$62.00
|
|
| New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition) |
$35,535.00
|
$36,168.00
|
|
| Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles) |
$17.91
|
$13.16
|
|
Charlotte vs. Columbus - Cost of transportation
pay 13.2% less for housing
|
Charlotte
|
Columbus
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Internet connection
50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl
|
$81.11
|
$67.75
|
|
| 1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area |
$1,898.22
|
$1,543.62
|
|
| 1-Bedroom apartment outside city center |
$1,371.75
|
$1,102.89
|
|
|
Utilities for two
(700 sq ft apartment)
including electric, gas, water, heating
|
$132.74
|
$170.46
|
|
Charlotte vs. Columbus - Cost of housing
pay 22.2% more for childcare
|
Charlotte
|
Columbus
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Private preschool for 1 child, monthly |
$1,481.94
|
$1,593.33
|
|
| Middle school for 1 child, two semesters |
$24,700.00
|
$34,300.00
|
|
Charlotte vs. Columbus - Cost of childcare
pay 16.9% less for entertainment and sports
|
Charlotte
|
Columbus
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Domestic/local beer (1 pint) |
$6.00
|
$6.00
|
|
| Cappuccino in mid-range area |
$5.73
|
$5.39
|
|
|
Pack of cigarettes
Marlboro or similar
|
$10.00
|
$10.00
|
|
| Monthly membership at local gym |
$57.76
|
$35.00
|
|
| Movie ticket to theater/cinema |
$16.00
|
$13.25
|
|
Charlotte vs. Columbus - Cost of entertainment and sports
pay 7.9% less for clothing
|
Charlotte
|
Columbus
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Regular jeans
Levi's brand
|
$50.70
|
$49.77
|
|
|
Regular dress
from H&M or similar store
|
$37.28
|
$41.35
|
|
|
Running shoes
Nike or Adidas
|
$94.83
|
$81.28
|
|
| Men's business shoes (leather) |
$141.77
|
$109.05
|
|
Charlotte vs. Columbus - 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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