Cost of living comparison

Latvia

compared to

Russia

Moscow vs. Riga Cost of Living Summary

Moscow is 14.2% more expensive than Riga.

Restaurants: pay 25.4% less in Moscow
Groceries: pay 10.8% less in Moscow
Transportation: pay 14.5% less in Moscow
Housing: pay 68.2% more in Moscow
Childcare: pay 37.1% more in Moscow
Entertainment and Sports: pay 16.6% less in Moscow
Clothing: pay 43.8% more in Moscow

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

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Moscow vs. Riga Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 25.4% less for restaurants

	Riga	Moscow
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$16.80 €14.95	$11.70 RUB966.60	-30.4%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$9.24 €8.22	$7.02 RUB579.96	-24.0%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.61 €1.44	$1.62 RUB133.67	+0.3%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$1.18 €1.05	$0.84 RUB69.07	-29.1%
Average			-25.4%

Riga vs. Moscow - Cost of restaurants

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pay 10.8% less for groceries

	Riga	Moscow
Bread 1 loaf	$1.43 €1.27	$1.02 RUB84.09	-28.8%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$5.22 €4.65	$7.14 RUB589.78	+36.7%
Milk (1 gallon)	$4.41 €3.92	$4.61 RUB381.19	+4.6%
Eggs 1 dozen	$3.76 €3.34	$1.86 RUB154.04	-50.4%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$3.91 €3.48	$2.98 RUB246.54	-23.7%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.00 €0.89	$0.93 RUB77.02	-6.4%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.83 €0.73	$0.81 RUB67.24	-1.5%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.13 €1.00	$0.90 RUB74.52	-20.1%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.40 €1.24	$1.79 RUB147.60	+28.0%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.40 €0.36	$0.41 RUB33.58	+1.3%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.42 €0.37	$0.32 RUB26.73	-23.0%
Average			-10.8%

Riga vs. Moscow - Cost of groceries

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pay 14.5% less for transportation

	Riga	Moscow
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$7.75 €6.90	$3.31 RUB273.63	-57.3%
Monthly public transit pass	$33.59 €29.90	$40.65 RUB3,358.95	+21.0%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$27,308.11 €24,305.20	$38,895.19 RUB3M	+42.4%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$11.42 €10.17	$10.06 RUB831.28	-11.9%
Average			-14.5%

Riga vs. Moscow - Cost of transportation

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pay 68.2% more for housing

	Riga	Moscow
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$20.41 €18.17	$9.88 RUB816.43	-51.6%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$582.45 €518.40	$1,454.91 RUB120K	+149.8%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$385.02 €342.68	$804.40 RUB66,468.30	+108.9%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$286.52 €255.02	$142.85 RUB11,803.57	-50.1%
Average			+68.2%

Riga vs. Moscow - Cost of housing

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pay 37.1% more for childcare

	Riga	Moscow
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$645.25 €574.29	$809.00 RUB66,848.36	+25.4%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$17,635.84 €15,696.53	$26,421.03 RUB2M	+49.8%
Average			+37.1%

Riga vs. Moscow - Cost of childcare

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pay 16.6% less for entertainment and sports

	Riga	Moscow
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$5.60 €4.98	$4.68 RUB386.64	-16.4%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.72 €3.31	$3.70 RUB305.66	-0.6%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$6.72 €5.98	$3.45 RUB285.15	-48.6%
Monthly membership at local gym	$49.91 €44.42	$42.01 RUB3,471.49	-15.8%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$10.75 €9.57	$9.36 RUB773.28	-12.9%
Average			-16.6%

Riga vs. Moscow - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 43.8% more for clothing

	Riga	Moscow
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$69.42 €61.79	$108.46 RUB8,962.59	+56.2%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$50.39 €44.85	$62.47 RUB5,161.67	+24.0%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$85.85 €76.41	$145.30 RUB12,006.61	+69.3%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$138.10 €122.91	$180.19 RUB14,889.43	+30.5%
Average			+43.8%

Riga vs. Moscow - 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 October 2026). How we calculate this

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Size Comparison · See true size

Riga is about 8 times smaller than Moscow.

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