Cost of living comparison

compared to

Anchorage vs. Madrid Cost of Living Summary

Anchorage is 29.8% more expensive than Madrid.

Restaurants
pay 29.9% more in Anchorage
Groceries
pay 53.4% more in Anchorage
Transportation
pay 0.7% less in Anchorage
Housing
pay 36.7% more in Anchorage
Childcare
pay 2.8% more in Anchorage
Entertainment and Sports
pay 79.1% more in Anchorage
Clothing
pay 9.5% less in Anchorage

The cost of entertainment and sports, groceries, housing, restaurants, and childcare in Anchorage are more expensive than in Madrid. Expenses including clothing and transportation are lower in Anchorage. Notably, entertainment and sports is significantly more expensive in Anchorage.

Anchorage vs. Madrid Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Anchorage instead of Madrid, you would:

pay 29.9% more for restaurants

 
Madrid
Anchorage
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant $17.92
€16.07
$25.00
 
Fast food combo meal
McDonalds, or similar
$11.20
€10.05
$15.00
 
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz) $3.30
€2.96
$3.25
 

Improve prices ·

pay 53.4% more for groceries

 
Madrid
Anchorage
Bread
1 loaf
$1.57
€1.41
$4.89
 
Local cheese (8 oz) $8.35
€7.49
$6.83
 
Milk (1 gallon) $5.25
€4.71
$4.57
 

Improve prices ·

pay 0.7% less for transportation

 
Madrid
Anchorage
Gasoline (1 gallon) $6.88
€6.17
$4.80
 
Monthly public transit pass $36.95
€33.15
$60.00
 
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition) $35,271.67
€31,643.98
$33,740.00
 

Improve prices ·

pay 36.7% more for housing

 
Madrid
Anchorage
Internet connection
50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl
$34.86
€31.28
$139.25
 
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area $1,491.38
€1,337.99
$1,760.00
 
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center $1,193.86
€1,071.07
$1,383.57
 

Improve prices ·

pay 2.8% more for childcare

 
Madrid
Anchorage
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly $668.48
€599.73
$1,220.00
 
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters $17,859.91
€16,023.02
$10,350.00
 

Improve prices ·

pay 79.1% more for entertainment and sports

 
Madrid
Anchorage
Domestic/local beer (1 pint) $3.92
€3.52
$8.00
 
Cappuccino in mid-range area $3.07
€2.76
$6.86
 
Pack of cigarettes
Marlboro or similar
$6.72
€6.03
$12.62
 

Improve prices ·

pay 9.5% less for clothing

 
Madrid
Anchorage
Regular jeans
Levi's brand
$86.50
€77.60
$49.00
 
Regular dress
from H&M or similar store
$42.98
€38.56
$45.83
 
Running shoes
Nike or Adidas
$108.99
€97.78
$113.67
 

Improve prices ·

We average the price of thousands of data points entered by users across the world. Sources: MyLifeElsewhere's cost-of-living dataset (prices updated November 2026). How we calculate this

Share this

Compare countries by overall cost of living

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

Ask the Elsewhere Community

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