Cost of living comparison
compared to
California vs. Norway Cost of Living Summary
California is 17.5% more expensive than Norway overall.
California vs. Norway Cost Breakdown
If you lived in California instead of Norway, you would:
pay 12.0% less for restaurants
|
Norway
|
California
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant |
$22.46
NOK214.62
|
$22.31
|
|
|
Fast food combo meal
McDonalds, or similar
|
$15.20
NOK145.25
|
$12.78
|
|
| Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz) |
$3.98
NOK38.08
|
$2.96
|
|
| Bottle of water (11 fl. oz) |
$3.16
NOK30.24
|
$2.26
|
|
Norway vs. California - Cost of restaurants
pay 2.9% more for groceries
|
Norway
|
California
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Bread
1 loaf
|
$3.73
NOK35.66
|
$4.33
|
|
| Local cheese (8 oz) |
$6.51
NOK62.21
|
$7.51
|
|
| Milk (1 gallon) |
$9.11
NOK87.06
|
$4.92
|
|
|
Eggs
1 dozen
|
$5.06
NOK48.39
|
$5.18
|
|
| Boneless chicken breast (1 lb) |
$6.95
NOK66.40
|
$6.10
|
|
| Apples (1 lb) |
$1.62
NOK15.45
|
$2.32
|
|
| Bananas (1 lb) |
$1.22
NOK11.66
|
$0.94
|
|
| Oranges (1 lb) |
$1.65
NOK15.79
|
$2.02
|
|
| Tomatoes (1 lb) |
$2.31
NOK22.11
|
$2.60
|
|
| Potatoes (1 lb) |
$1.20
NOK11.42
|
$1.61
|
|
| Onions (1 lb) |
$1.34
NOK12.79
|
$1.39
|
|
Norway vs. California - Cost of groceries
pay 26.2% less for transportation
|
Norway
|
California
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Gasoline (1 gallon) |
$8.73
NOK83.43
|
$5.53
|
|
| Monthly public transit pass |
$78.63
NOK751.41
|
$64.45
|
|
| New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition) |
$45,459.95
NOK434K
|
$35,604.61
|
|
| Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles) |
$25.74
NOK245.94
|
$20.97
|
|
Norway vs. California - Cost of transportation
pay 63.0% more for housing
|
Norway
|
California
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Internet connection
50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl
|
$65.87
NOK629.49
|
$69.16
|
|
| 1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area |
$1,278.72
NOK12,220.13
|
$2,414.89
|
|
| 1-Bedroom apartment outside city center |
$1,052.00
NOK10,053.45
|
$2,061.17
|
|
|
Utilities for two
(700 sq ft apartment)
including electric, gas, water, heating
|
$221.33
NOK2,115.10
|
$172.98
|
|
Norway vs. California - Cost of housing
pay 4.5 times more for childcare
|
Norway
|
California
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Private preschool for 1 child, monthly |
$256.93
NOK2,455.35
|
$1,659.26
|
|
| Middle school for 1 child, two semesters |
$9,715.88
NOK92,849.82
|
$30,706.19
|
|
Norway vs. California - Cost of childcare
pay 11.3% less for entertainment and sports
|
Norway
|
California
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Domestic/local beer (1 pint) |
$11.32
NOK108.21
|
$7.15
|
|
| Cappuccino in mid-range area |
$5.55
NOK53.04
|
$5.63
|
|
|
Pack of cigarettes
Marlboro or similar
|
$16.96
NOK162.10
|
$11.42
|
|
| Monthly membership at local gym |
$53.57
NOK511.94
|
$65.06
|
|
| Movie ticket to theater/cinema |
$17.67
NOK168.90
|
$15.07
|
|
Norway vs. California - Cost of entertainment and sports
pay 28.1% less for clothing
|
Norway
|
California
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Regular jeans
Levi's brand
|
$102.56
NOK980.12
|
$58.89
|
|
|
Regular dress
from H&M or similar store
|
$56.21
NOK537.13
|
$43.96
|
|
|
Running shoes
Nike or Adidas
|
$125.90
NOK1,203.14
|
$91.63
|
|
| Men's business shoes (leather) |
$159.02
NOK1,519.70
|
$130.37
|
|
Norway vs. California - 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: Norway vs. California
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City Size Comparison · See true size
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Compare countries by overall cost of living
See the
cost of living in Norway vs. United States.
This provides a comparison of the average cost of living from cities within Norway and United States.
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