Cost of living comparison

Russia

compared to

Kazakhstan

Almaty vs. Moscow Cost of Living Summary

Almaty is 23.6% cheaper than Moscow.

Restaurants: pay 14.7% more in Almaty
Groceries: pay 4.0% more in Almaty
Transportation: pay 35.4% less in Almaty
Housing: pay 39.1% less in Almaty
Childcare: pay 48.9% less in Almaty
Entertainment and Sports: pay 7.4% less in Almaty
Clothing: pay 15.8% less in Almaty

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

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Almaty vs. Moscow Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Almaty instead of Moscow, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 14.7% more for restaurants

	Moscow	Almaty
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$11.70 RUB939.35	$13.42 KZT6,078.37	+14.7%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$7.02 RUB563.61	$8.95 KZT4,052.25	+27.5%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.62 RUB129.90	$1.36 KZT614.98	-16.1%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.84 RUB67.12	$0.91 KZT410.59	+8.5%
Average			+14.7%

Moscow vs. Almaty - Cost of restaurants

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pay 4.0% more for groceries

	Moscow	Almaty
Bread 1 loaf	$1.02 RUB81.72	$0.94 KZT424.89	-7.8%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$7.14 RUB573.15	$6.46 KZT2,923.33	-9.6%
Milk (1 gallon)	$4.61 RUB370.44	$6.48 KZT2,936.59	+40.6%
Eggs 1 dozen	$1.86 RUB149.70	$2.45 KZT1,109.14	+31.4%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.98 RUB239.58	$3.09 KZT1,400.54	+3.7%
Apples (1 lb)	$0.93 RUB74.84	$0.86 KZT387.44	-8.2%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.81 RUB65.34	$1.06 KZT481.32	+30.6%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.90 RUB72.42	$1.37 KZT621.11	+52.1%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.79 RUB143.43	$1.34 KZT604.89	-25.2%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.41 RUB32.63	$0.35 KZT160.48	-12.8%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.32 RUB25.98	$0.26 KZT119.16	-18.7%
Average			+4.0%

Moscow vs. Almaty - Cost of groceries

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pay 35.4% less for transportation

	Moscow	Almaty
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$3.31 RUB265.91	$2.64 KZT1,197.33	-20.2%
Monthly public transit pass	$40.65 RUB3,264.22	$22.15 KZT10,029.31	-45.5%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$38,895.19 RUB3M	$22,370.46 KZT10M	-42.5%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$10.06 RUB807.84	$6.71 KZT3,039.19	-33.3%
Average			-35.4%

Moscow vs. Almaty - Cost of transportation

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pay 39.1% less for housing

	Moscow	Almaty
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$9.88 RUB793.40	$18.11 KZT8,201.75	+83.3%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$1,454.91 RUB117K	$802.28 KZT363K	-44.9%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$804.40 RUB64,593.79	$513.47 KZT233K	-36.2%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$142.85 RUB11,470.69	$69.56 KZT31,502.48	-51.3%
Average			-39.1%

Moscow vs. Almaty - Cost of housing

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pay 48.9% less for childcare

	Moscow	Almaty
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$809.00 RUB64,963.13	$456.34 KZT207K	-43.6%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$26,421.03 RUB2M	$12,216.13 KZT6M	-53.8%
Average			-48.9%

Moscow vs. Almaty - Cost of childcare

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pay 7.4% less for entertainment and sports

	Moscow	Almaty
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$4.68 RUB375.74	$3.24 KZT1,468.94	-30.7%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.70 RUB297.04	$3.30 KZT1,496.57	-10.7%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$3.45 RUB277.11	$2.63 KZT1,190.35	-23.8%
Monthly membership at local gym	$42.01 RUB3,373.59	$70.49 KZT31,922.00	+67.8%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$9.36 RUB751.48	$6.71 KZT3,039.19	-28.3%
Average			-7.4%

Moscow vs. Almaty - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 15.8% less for clothing

	Moscow	Almaty
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$108.46 RUB8,709.83	$96.07 KZT43,505.37	-11.4%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$62.47 RUB5,016.10	$47.45 KZT21,486.00	-24.0%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$145.30 RUB11,668.01	$145.68 KZT65,972.03	+0.3%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$180.19 RUB14,469.53	$134.22 KZT60,783.71	-25.5%
Average			-15.8%

Moscow vs. Almaty - 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 November 2026). How we calculate this

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