New Bern vs. New York City Cost of Living Summary

New Bern is 47.4% cheaper than New York City.

Restaurants
pay 25.6% less in New Bern
Groceries
pay 35.6% less in New Bern
Transportation
pay 20.0% less in New Bern
Housing
pay 66.9% less in New Bern
Entertainment and Sports
pay 44.0% less in New Bern
Clothing
pay 30.1% less in New Bern

Expenses including housing, entertainment and sports, groceries, clothing, restaurants, and transportation are lower in New Bern.

New Bern vs. New York City Cost Breakdown

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

pay 25.6% less for restaurants

 
New York City
New Bern
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant $26.50
 
$18.00
 
Fast food combo meal
McDonalds, or similar
$14.50
 
$12.00
 
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz) $3.95
 
$2.85
 

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pay 35.6% less for groceries

 
New York City
New Bern
Bread
1 loaf
$4.78
 
$3.25
 
Local cheese (8 oz) $9.47
 
$6.47
 
Milk (1 gallon) $5.13
 
$3.53
 

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pay 20.0% less for transportation

 
New York City
New Bern
Gasoline (1 gallon) $4.31
 
$3.22
 
Monthly public transit pass $140.00
 
??
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition) $35,458.00
 
$28,000.00
 

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pay 66.9% less for housing

 
New York City
New Bern
Internet connection
50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl
$71.57
 
$69.00
 
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area $4,447.32
 
$1,158.00
 
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center $3,217.65
 
$882.67
 

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pay (unknown) more for childcare

 
New York City
New Bern
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly $3,379.10
 
??
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters $60,882.67
 
??

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pay 44.0% less for entertainment and sports

 
New York City
New Bern
Domestic/local beer (1 pint) $8.50
 
$6.00
 
Cappuccino in mid-range area $6.50
 
$5.16
 
Pack of cigarettes
Marlboro or similar
$19.00
 
$7.49
 

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pay 30.1% less for clothing

 
New York City
New Bern
Regular jeans
Levi's brand
$75.86
 
$60.00
 
Regular dress
from H&M or similar store
$54.45
 
$35.00
 
Running shoes
Nike or Adidas
$120.38
 
$84.67
 

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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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