Cost of living comparison

Moldova

compared to

United States

New York City vs. Chisinau Cost of Living Summary

New York City is 3.3 times more expensive than Chisinau.

Restaurants: pay 2.2 times more in New York City
Groceries: pay 3.2 times more in New York City
Transportation: pay 89.8% more in New York City
Housing: pay 5.1 times more in New York City
Childcare: pay 9.0 times more in New York City
Entertainment and Sports: pay 3.2 times more in New York City
Clothing: pay 7.3% more in New York City

The cost of childcare, housing, entertainment and sports, groceries, restaurants, and transportation in New York City are more expensive than in Chisinau. Notably, childcare, housing, and entertainment and sports are significantly more expensive in New York City.

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New York City vs. Chisinau Cost Breakdown

If you lived in New York City instead of Chisinau, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 2.2 times more for restaurants

	Chisinau	New York City
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$11.22 MDL201.18	$26.50	+136.2%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$8.70 MDL155.91	$14.50	+66.8%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.21 MDL21.67	$3.95	+226.9%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.89 MDL15.97	$2.97	+233.1%
Average			+123.6%

Chisinau vs. New York City - Cost of restaurants

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pay 3.2 times more for groceries

	Chisinau	New York City
Bread 1 loaf	$0.71 MDL12.75	$4.78	+572.3%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$4.89 MDL87.65	$9.47	+93.7%
Milk (1 gallon)	$4.73 MDL84.86	$5.13	+8.3%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.79 MDL49.96	$6.03	+116.3%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.36 MDL42.26	$7.93	+236.5%
Apples (1 lb)	$0.44 MDL7.86	$3.11	+610.7%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.87 MDL15.64	$0.96	+10.4%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.94 MDL16.84	$2.83	+201.7%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.01 MDL18.02	$3.08	+206.4%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.31 MDL5.60	$1.83	+484.8%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.25 MDL4.41	$2.04	+729.6%
Average			+220.1%

Chisinau vs. New York City - Cost of groceries

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pay 89.8% more for transportation

	Chisinau	New York City
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$6.44 MDL115.41	$4.31	-33.1%
Monthly public transit pass	$13.52 MDL242.42	$140.00	+935.5%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$29,507.41 MDL529K	$35,458.00	+20.2%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$4.94 MDL88.52	$20.44	+314.1%
Average			+89.8%

Chisinau vs. New York City - Cost of transportation

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pay 5.1 times more for housing

	Chisinau	New York City
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$10.59 MDL189.96	$71.57	+575.6%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$679.74 MDL12,188.37	$4,447.32	+554.3%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$435.34 MDL7,806.10	$3,217.65	+639.1%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$185.85 MDL3,332.52	$164.80	-11.3%
Average			+409.8%

Chisinau vs. New York City - Cost of housing

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pay 9.0 times more for childcare

	Chisinau	New York City
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$434.06 MDL7,783.01	$3,379.10	+678.5%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$5,841.67 MDL105K	$60,882.67	+942.2%
Average			+800.8%

Chisinau vs. New York City - Cost of childcare

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pay 3.2 times more for entertainment and sports

	Chisinau	New York City
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$2.24 MDL40.24	$8.50	+278.8%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.16 MDL38.79	$6.50	+200.5%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$3.42 MDL61.36	$19.00	+455.2%
Monthly membership at local gym	$41.67 MDL747.23	$121.41	+191.3%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$8.41 MDL150.88	$22.50	+167.4%
Average			+222.5%

Chisinau vs. New York City - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 7.3% more for clothing

	Chisinau	New York City
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$79.80 MDL1,430.86	$75.86	-4.9%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$47.07 MDL843.93	$54.45	+15.7%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$114.14 MDL2,046.58	$120.38	+5.5%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$115.56 MDL2,072.11	$132.00	+14.2%
Average			+7.3%

Chisinau vs. New York City - 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 October 2026). How we calculate this

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