Cost of living comparison
compared to
Madison vs. Helsinki Cost of Living Summary
Madison is 24.5% more expensive than Helsinki.
Madison vs. Helsinki Cost Breakdown
If you lived in Madison instead of Helsinki, you would:
pay 2.4% more for restaurants
|
Helsinki
|
Madison
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant |
$17.92
€15.99
|
$20.00
|
|
|
Fast food combo meal
McDonalds, or similar
|
$13.44
€11.99
|
$13.00
|
|
| Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz) |
$3.45
€3.08
|
$3.15
|
|
| Bottle of water (11 fl. oz) |
$2.59
€2.31
|
$2.47
|
|
Helsinki vs. Madison - Cost of restaurants
pay 30.3% more for groceries
|
Helsinki
|
Madison
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Bread
1 loaf
|
$2.76
€2.46
|
$3.50
|
|
| Local cheese (8 oz) |
$4.96
€4.42
|
$7.45
|
|
| Milk (1 gallon) |
$5.08
€4.54
|
$3.64
|
|
|
Eggs
1 dozen
|
$3.93
€3.51
|
$3.69
|
|
| Boneless chicken breast (1 lb) |
$6.02
€5.37
|
$5.98
|
|
| Apples (1 lb) |
$1.26
€1.12
|
$2.13
|
|
| Bananas (1 lb) |
$0.99
€0.88
|
$0.73
|
|
| Oranges (1 lb) |
$1.12
€1.00
|
$2.38
|
|
| Tomatoes (1 lb) |
$1.77
€1.58
|
$2.20
|
|
| Potatoes (1 lb) |
$0.55
€0.49
|
$1.28
|
|
| Onions (1 lb) |
$0.74
€0.66
|
$1.38
|
|
Helsinki vs. Madison - Cost of groceries
pay 31.7% less for transportation
|
Helsinki
|
Madison
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Gasoline (1 gallon) |
$8.89
€7.93
|
$3.87
|
|
| Monthly public transit pass |
$81.74
€72.96
|
$65.00
|
|
| New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition) |
$36,622.07
€32,689.52
|
$35,957.00
|
|
| Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles) |
$26.34
€23.51
|
$20.00
|
|
Helsinki vs. Madison - Cost of transportation
pay 70.4% more for housing
|
Helsinki
|
Madison
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Internet connection
50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl
|
$24.77
€22.11
|
$82.25
|
|
| 1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area |
$1,207.26
€1,077.62
|
$1,789.29
|
|
| 1-Bedroom apartment outside city center |
$904.00
€806.93
|
$1,544.62
|
|
|
Utilities for two
(700 sq ft apartment)
including electric, gas, water, heating
|
$104.89
€93.62
|
$206.36
|
|
Helsinki vs. Madison - Cost of housing
pay 2.6 times more for childcare
|
Helsinki
|
Madison
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Private preschool for 1 child, monthly |
$476.51
€425.34
|
$1,722.92
|
|
| Middle school for 1 child, two semesters |
$12,685.20
€11,323.04
|
$23,429.75
|
|
Helsinki vs. Madison - Cost of childcare
pay 7.4% less for entertainment and sports
|
Helsinki
|
Madison
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Domestic/local beer (1 pint) |
$10.08
€9.00
|
$7.00
|
|
| Cappuccino in mid-range area |
$5.23
€4.67
|
$5.73
|
|
|
Pack of cigarettes
Marlboro or similar
|
$14.00
€12.49
|
$10.73
|
|
| Monthly membership at local gym |
$46.96
€41.92
|
$58.75
|
|
| Movie ticket to theater/cinema |
$18.48
€16.49
|
$15.00
|
|
Helsinki vs. Madison - Cost of entertainment and sports
pay 9.5% less for clothing
|
Helsinki
|
Madison
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Regular jeans
Levi's brand
|
$92.46
€82.53
|
$64.22
|
|
|
Regular dress
from H&M or similar store
|
$43.55
€38.87
|
$50.56
|
|
|
Running shoes
Nike or Adidas
|
$104.85
€93.59
|
$107.16
|
|
| Men's business shoes (leather) |
$149.45
€133.40
|
$121.80
|
|
Helsinki vs. Madison - 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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Compare further: Helsinki vs. Madison
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cost of living in Finland vs. United States.
This provides a comparison of the average cost of living from cities within Finland and United States.
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