Cost of living comparison

compared to

Saint Petersburg vs. Moscow Cost of Living Summary

Saint Petersburg is 11.7% cheaper than Moscow.

Restaurants: pay 17.6% less in Saint Petersburg
Groceries: pay 6.8% less in Saint Petersburg
Transportation: pay 22.8% more in Saint Petersburg
Housing: pay 23.1% less in Saint Petersburg
Childcare: pay 40.8% less in Saint Petersburg
Entertainment and Sports: pay 16.6% less in Saint Petersburg
Clothing: pay 0.3% more in Saint Petersburg

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

Saint Petersburg vs. Moscow Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Saint Petersburg instead of Moscow, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 17.6% less for restaurants

	Moscow	Saint Petersburg
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$11.93 RUB911.35	$9.53 RUB727.78	-20.1%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$5.97 RUB455.67	$5.96 RUB454.86	-0.2%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.38 RUB105.57	$0.99 RUB75.81	-28.2%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.61 RUB46.71	$0.48 RUB36.49	-21.9%
Average			-17.6%

Moscow vs. Saint Petersburg - Cost of restaurants

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pay 6.8% less for groceries

	Moscow	Saint Petersburg
Bread 1 loaf	$0.85 RUB64.62	$0.84 RUB64.28	-0.5%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$6.27 RUB478.82	$5.68 RUB434.07	-9.3%
Milk (1 gallon)	$4.62 RUB352.84	$4.33 RUB330.59	-6.3%
Eggs 1 dozen	$1.68 RUB128.49	$1.66 RUB126.41	-1.6%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.46 RUB188.10	$2.29 RUB174.66	-7.1%
Apples (1 lb)	$0.81 RUB61.80	$0.79 RUB60.34	-2.4%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.87 RUB66.45	$0.77 RUB58.84	-11.4%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.90 RUB68.87	$0.81 RUB61.92	-10.1%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.64 RUB125.22	$1.49 RUB114.14	-8.8%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.43 RUB32.60	$0.42 RUB32.13	-1.4%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.34 RUB25.86	$0.28 RUB21.68	-16.2%
Average			-6.8%

Moscow vs. Saint Petersburg - Cost of groceries

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pay 22.8% more for transportation

	Moscow	Saint Petersburg
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$2.84 RUB216.76	$2.76 RUB210.80	-2.7%
Monthly public transit pass	$36.64 RUB2,797.83	$50.21 RUB3,834.47	+37.1%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$36,994.59 RUB2,825,171.82	$35,737.37 RUB2,729,161.03	-3.4%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$5.73 RUB437.45	$9.17 RUB700.48	+60.1%
Average			+22.8%

Moscow vs. Saint Petersburg - Cost of transportation

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pay 23.1% less for housing

	Moscow	Saint Petersburg
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$7.82 RUB596.90	$7.63 RUB582.48	-2.4%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$1,253.04 RUB95,691.30	$783.62 RUB59,842.54	-37.5%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$709.24 RUB54,162.93	$441.53 RUB33,718.34	-37.7%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$110.60 RUB8,445.86	$94.44 RUB7,211.91	-14.6%
Average			-23.1%

Moscow vs. Saint Petersburg - Cost of housing

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pay 40.8% less for childcare

	Moscow	Saint Petersburg
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$656.36 RUB50,124.02	$373.01 RUB28,485.62	-43.2%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$14,285.88 RUB1,090,971.99	$8,803.31 RUB672,283.33	-38.4%
Average			-40.8%

Moscow vs. Saint Petersburg - Cost of childcare

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pay 16.6% less for entertainment and sports

	Moscow	Saint Petersburg
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$4.18 RUB318.97	$2.98 RUB227.43	-28.7%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.16 RUB241.06	$2.43 RUB185.63	-23.0%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$2.98 RUB227.84	$2.78 RUB211.96	-7.0%
Monthly membership at local gym	$44.58 RUB3,404.36	$39.87 RUB3,044.48	-10.6%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$6.56 RUB501.24	$5.65 RUB431.66	-13.9%
Average			-16.6%

Moscow vs. Saint Petersburg - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 0.3% more for clothing

	Moscow	Saint Petersburg
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$76.06 RUB5,808.16	$93.20 RUB7,117.78	+22.5%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$47.73 RUB3,645.38	$48.79 RUB3,725.72	+2.2%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$122.95 RUB9,389.02	$115.24 RUB8,800.78	-6.3%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$156.80 RUB11,974.07	$129.44 RUB9,884.97	-17.4%
Average			+0.3%

Moscow vs. Saint Petersburg - Cost of clothing

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The statistics used to build this comparison are calculated using data from users just like you. We average the price of thousands of data points entered by users across the world. Learn more about our data sources. Page last updated: December 2025

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