Cost of living comparison

Denmark

compared to

United States

United States vs. Copenhagen Cost of Living Summary

United States is 14.4% cheaper than Copenhagen.

Restaurants: pay 18.8% less in United States
Groceries: pay 11.6% less in United States
Transportation: pay 41.7% less in United States
Housing: pay 2.9% less in United States
Childcare: pay 2.1 times more in United States
Entertainment and Sports: pay 24.2% less in United States
Clothing: pay 37.5% less in United States

Expenses including transportation, clothing, entertainment and sports, restaurants, groceries, and housing are lower in United States. Notably, childcare is significantly more expensive in United States.

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United States vs. Copenhagen Cost Breakdown

If you lived in United States instead of Copenhagen, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 18.8% less for restaurants

	Copenhagen	United States
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$20.97 DKK139.94	$19.86	-5.3%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$13.48 DKK89.96	$11.42	-15.3%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$5.10 DKK34.01	$2.67	-47.7%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$3.77 DKK25.12	$2.05	-45.5%
Average			-18.8%

Copenhagen vs. United States - Cost of restaurants

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pay 11.6% less for groceries

	Copenhagen	United States
Bread 1 loaf	$4.77 DKK31.84	$3.63	-24.0%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$8.64 DKK57.65	$6.52	-24.6%
Milk (1 gallon)	$7.89 DKK52.65	$3.98	-49.5%
Eggs 1 dozen	$5.89 DKK39.31	$4.30	-27.1%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$6.31 DKK42.09	$5.46	-13.4%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.52 DKK10.17	$2.34	+53.3%
Bananas (1 lb)	$1.39 DKK9.25	$0.80	-42.6%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.96 DKK13.07	$2.02	+3.0%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$2.59 DKK17.26	$2.19	-15.3%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$1.07 DKK7.12	$1.34	+25.9%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.95 DKK6.35	$1.39	+45.8%
Average			-11.6%

Copenhagen vs. United States - Cost of groceries

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pay 41.7% less for transportation

	Copenhagen	United States
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$9.58 DKK63.95	$4.01	-58.2%
Monthly public transit pass	$104.86 DKK699.71	$66.70	-36.4%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$50,184.55 DKK335K	$34,164.82	-31.9%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$19.03 DKK126.95	$18.02	-5.3%
Average			-41.7%

Copenhagen vs. United States - Cost of transportation

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pay 2.9% less for housing

	Copenhagen	United States
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$37.42 DKK249.71	$70.22	+87.6%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$1,981.79 DKK13,223.50	$1,681.01	-15.2%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$1,454.31 DKK9,703.88	$1,404.28	-3.4%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$138.83 DKK926.35	$157.64	+13.6%
Average			-2.9%

Copenhagen vs. United States - Cost of housing

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pay 2.1 times more for childcare

	Copenhagen	United States
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$977.91 DKK6,525.08	$1,450.99	+48.4%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$8,580.66 DKK57,254.43	$24,361.50	+183.9%
Average			+105.2%

Copenhagen vs. United States - Cost of childcare

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pay 24.2% less for entertainment and sports

	Copenhagen	United States
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$8.99 DKK59.98	$6.00	-33.3%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$6.97 DKK46.54	$5.31	-23.9%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$9.44 DKK62.97	$10.42	+10.4%
Monthly membership at local gym	$64.00 DKK427.06	$50.68	-20.8%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$20.22 DKK134.94	$13.95	-31.0%
Average			-24.2%

Copenhagen vs. United States - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 37.5% less for clothing

	Copenhagen	United States
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$108.66 DKK725.03	$53.15	-51.1%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$53.68 DKK358.19	$41.88	-22.0%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$128.48 DKK857.31	$89.76	-30.1%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$199.12 DKK1,328.62	$114.01	-42.7%
Average			-37.5%

Copenhagen vs. United States - 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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Copenhagen is about 109,249 times smaller than United States.

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