Cost of living comparison

United Kingdom

compared to

United States

New York City vs. Edinburgh Cost of Living Summary

New York City is 57.9% more expensive than Edinburgh.

Restaurants: pay 27.1% more in New York City
Groceries: pay 71.7% more in New York City
Transportation: pay 13.3% less in New York City
Housing: pay 2.2 times more in New York City
Childcare: pay 2.1 times more in New York City
Entertainment and Sports: pay 49.2% more in New York City
Clothing: pay 7.2% more in New York City

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

Planning a move to United States? Get up to 5 free, no-obligation quotes from vetted international movers. Get free quotes →

New York City vs. Edinburgh Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 27.1% more for restaurants

	Edinburgh	New York City
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$23.79 £17.96	$26.50	+11.4%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$10.51 £7.94	$14.50	+38.0%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$2.44 £1.85	$3.95	+61.6%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$2.20 £1.66	$2.97	+35.1%
Average			+27.1%

Edinburgh vs. New York City - Cost of restaurants

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 71.7% more for groceries

	Edinburgh	New York City
Bread 1 loaf	$2.32 £1.75	$4.78	+105.7%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$4.60 £3.47	$9.47	+106.0%
Milk (1 gallon)	$6.52 £4.92	$5.13	-21.4%
Eggs 1 dozen	$5.04 £3.81	$6.03	+19.6%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$4.24 £3.21	$7.93	+86.8%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.36 £1.03	$3.11	+128.5%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.87 £0.66	$0.96	+11.1%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.51 £1.14	$2.83	+87.8%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.64 £1.24	$3.08	+87.4%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.92 £0.69	$1.83	+99.3%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.71 £0.53	$2.04	+189.0%
Average			+71.7%

Edinburgh vs. New York City - Cost of groceries

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 13.3% less for transportation

	Edinburgh	New York City
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$7.96 £6.01	$4.31	-45.9%
Monthly public transit pass	$96.46 £72.85	$140.00	+45.1%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$38,182.92 £28,835.78	$35,458.00	-7.1%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$20.09 £15.17	$20.44	+1.8%
Average			-13.3%

Edinburgh vs. New York City - Cost of transportation

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 2.2 times more for housing

	Edinburgh	New York City
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$42.37 £32.00	$71.57	+68.9%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$1,603.85 £1,211.23	$4,447.32	+177.3%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$1,179.13 £890.48	$3,217.65	+172.9%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$248.86 £187.94	$164.80	-33.8%
Average			+116.8%

Edinburgh vs. New York City - Cost of housing

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 2.1 times more for childcare

	Edinburgh	New York City
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$1,774.03 £1,339.75	$3,379.10	+90.5%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$25,173.70 £19,011.21	$60,882.67	+141.9%
Average			+114.6%

Edinburgh vs. New York City - Cost of childcare

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 49.2% more for entertainment and sports

	Edinburgh	New York City
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$7.93 £5.99	$8.50	+7.2%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$5.10 £3.85	$6.50	+27.5%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$23.46 £17.71	$19.00	-19.0%
Monthly membership at local gym	$44.82 £33.85	$121.41	+170.9%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$14.54 £10.98	$22.50	+54.8%
Average			+49.2%

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

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 7.2% more for clothing

	Edinburgh	New York City
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$81.16 £61.29	$75.86	-6.5%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$49.62 £37.47	$54.45	+9.7%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$106.48 £80.41	$120.38	+13.1%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$116.01 £87.61	$132.00	+13.8%
Average			+7.2%

Edinburgh vs. New York City - Cost of clothing

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

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

Compare further: Edinburgh vs. New York City

Salary Calculator · Free tool

What salary would you need in New York City?

Size Comparison · See true size

Edinburgh is about 3 times smaller than New York City.

More cost comparisons

Edinburgh vs.

United States

Edinburgh vs.

Canada

Edinburgh vs.

Moscow

Edinburgh vs.

Washington

Edinburgh vs.

Reykjavik

Edinburgh vs.

Vienna

Edinburgh vs.

Ottawa

Edinburgh vs.

Rome

Share this

Compare countries by overall cost of living

See the cost of living in United Kingdom vs. United States. This provides a comparison of the average cost of living from cities within United Kingdom and United States.

Help us improve these prices

MyLifeElsewhere is a collaborative project. Please enter price information for your location to help assist us in making these comparisons more accurate. Learn more

Add prices for Edinburgh

Add prices for New York City

Ask the Elsewhere Community

Join the Elsewhere community and ask a question about New York City or Edinburgh. It's a free, question-and-answer based forum to discuss what life is like in countries and cities around the world.