Cost of living comparison

compared to

Asheville vs. Rome Cost of Living Summary

Asheville is 36.5% more expensive than Rome.

Restaurants
pay 11.1% more in Asheville
Groceries
pay 28.1% more in Asheville
Transportation
pay 8.9% less in Asheville
Housing
pay 62.4% more in Asheville
Childcare
pay 4.1 times more in Asheville
Entertainment and Sports
pay 17.2% more in Asheville
Clothing
pay 18.2% more in Asheville

The cost of childcare, housing, groceries, clothing, entertainment and sports, and restaurants in Asheville are more expensive than in Rome. Notably, childcare is significantly more expensive in Asheville.

Asheville vs. Rome Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Asheville instead of Rome, you would:

pay 11.1% more for restaurants

 
Rome
Asheville
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant $16.80
€15.07
$21.00
 
Fast food combo meal
McDonalds, or similar
$11.20
€10.05
$11.00
 
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz) $2.96
€2.66
$2.54
 

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pay 28.1% more for groceries

 
Rome
Asheville
Bread
1 loaf
$2.22
€2.00
$4.38
 
Local cheese (8 oz) $7.42
€6.66
$8.26
 
Milk (1 gallon) $6.49
€5.82
$4.44
 

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pay 8.9% less for transportation

 
Rome
Asheville
Gasoline (1 gallon) $8.04
€7.21
$3.64
 
Monthly public transit pass $39.19
€35.16
$80.00
 
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition) $35,551.60
€31,895.12
$32,000.00
 

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pay 62.4% more for housing

 
Rome
Asheville
Internet connection
50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl
$31.87
€28.59
$105.60
 
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area $1,208.81
€1,084.48
$2,029.33
 
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center $873.39
€783.57
$1,583.33
 

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pay 4.1 times more for childcare

 
Rome
Asheville
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly $487.21
€437.10
$2,577.11
 
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters $16,862.20
€15,127.92
$54,725.00
 

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pay 17.2% more for entertainment and sports

 
Rome
Asheville
Domestic/local beer (1 pint) $5.60
€5.02
$7.00
 
Cappuccino in mid-range area $2.07
€1.86
$5.83
 
Pack of cigarettes
Marlboro or similar
$7.28
€6.53
$7.95
 

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pay 18.2% more for clothing

 
Rome
Asheville
Regular jeans
Levi's brand
$71.31
€63.98
$63.75
 
Regular dress
from H&M or similar store
$36.31
€32.58
$50.00
 
Running shoes
Nike or Adidas
$83.63
€75.03
$103.75
 

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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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