Cost of living comparison

District of Columbia, USA

compared to

France

Paris vs. District of Columbia Cost of Living Summary

Paris is 22.0% cheaper than District of Columbia.

Restaurants: pay 11.4% less in Paris
Groceries: pay 23.8% less in Paris
Transportation: pay 23.4% more in Paris
Housing: pay 39.0% less in Paris
Childcare: pay 40.8% less in Paris
Entertainment and Sports: pay 31.9% less in Paris
Clothing: pay 27.6% more in Paris

The cost of clothing and transportation in Paris are more expensive than in District of Columbia. Expenses including childcare, housing, entertainment and sports, groceries, and restaurants are lower in Paris.

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Paris vs. District of Columbia Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Paris instead of District of Columbia, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 11.4% less for restaurants

	District of Columbia	Paris
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$28.00	$17.92 €15.99	-36.0%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$12.00	$13.44 €11.99	+12.0%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$3.17	$4.55 €4.06	+43.6%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$2.64	$2.76 €2.46	+4.6%
Average			-11.4%

District of Columbia vs. Paris - Cost of restaurants

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pay 23.8% less for groceries

	District of Columbia	Paris
Bread 1 loaf	$4.11	$2.49 €2.22	-39.5%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$8.53	$11.08 €9.89	+29.9%
Milk (1 gallon)	$4.95	$5.83 €5.20	+17.8%
Eggs 1 dozen	$5.64	$4.41 €3.94	-21.8%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$7.63	$6.25 €5.58	-18.1%
Apples (1 lb)	$3.17	$1.47 €1.31	-53.7%
Bananas (1 lb)	$1.06	$1.01 €0.91	-4.6%
Oranges (1 lb)	$2.27	$1.32 €1.18	-42.0%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$2.64	$1.92 €1.72	-27.1%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$1.29	$0.89 €0.79	-31.1%
Onions (1 lb)	$1.73	$1.13 €1.01	-34.4%
Average			-23.8%

District of Columbia vs. Paris - Cost of groceries

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pay 23.4% more for transportation

	District of Columbia	Paris
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$4.19	$8.46 €7.55	+102.1%
Monthly public transit pass	$120.00	$101.67 €90.75	-15.3%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$36,375.00	$34,599.83 €30,881.66	-4.9%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$16.73	$20.60 €18.39	+23.2%
Average			+23.4%

District of Columbia vs. Paris - Cost of transportation

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pay 39.0% less for housing

	District of Columbia	Paris
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$77.77	$29.90 €26.69	-61.6%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$2,717.33	$1,564.13 €1,396.04	-42.4%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$2,228.89	$1,192.71 €1,064.54	-46.5%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$161.22	$188.92 €168.62	+17.2%
Average			-39.0%

District of Columbia vs. Paris - Cost of housing

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pay 40.8% less for childcare

	District of Columbia	Paris
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$3,221.33	$1,800.03 €1,606.60	-44.1%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$41,506.00	$26,004.30 €23,209.83	-37.3%
Average			-40.8%

District of Columbia vs. Paris - Cost of childcare

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pay 31.9% less for entertainment and sports

	District of Columbia	Paris
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$9.00	$7.84 €7.00	-12.9%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$6.15	$5.05 €4.51	-17.9%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$13.94	$14.56 €12.99	+4.4%
Monthly membership at local gym	$114.30	$39.05 €34.85	-65.8%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$18.00	$14.56 €12.99	-19.1%
Average			-31.9%

District of Columbia vs. Paris - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 27.6% more for clothing

	District of Columbia	Paris
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$71.42	$110.29 €98.44	+54.4%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$44.11	$52.46 €46.82	+18.9%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$104.50	$118.77 €106.01	+13.7%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$125.16	$158.84 €141.77	+26.9%
Average			+27.6%

District of Columbia 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 October 2026). How we calculate this

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District of Columbia is about 1.7 times bigger than Paris.

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