Cost of living comparison

Russia

compared to

Russia

Moscow vs. Saint Petersburg Cost of Living Summary

Moscow is 33.4% more expensive than Saint Petersburg.

Restaurants: pay 7.0% more in Moscow
Groceries: pay 15.1% more in Moscow
Transportation: pay 0.1% more in Moscow
Housing: pay 75.6% more in Moscow
Childcare: pay 50.2% more in Moscow
Entertainment and Sports: pay 29.5% more in Moscow
Clothing: pay 23.4% more in Moscow

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

Moscow vs. Saint Petersburg Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 7.0% more for restaurants

	Saint Petersburg	Moscow
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$11.46 RUB920.56	$11.70 RUB939.35	+2.0%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$6.43 RUB516.64	$7.02 RUB563.61	+9.1%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.49 RUB119.77	$1.62 RUB129.90	+8.5%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.69 RUB55.04	$0.84 RUB67.12	+21.9%
Average			+7.0%

Saint Petersburg vs. Moscow - Cost of restaurants

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pay 15.1% more for groceries

	Saint Petersburg	Moscow
Bread 1 loaf	$0.93 RUB74.68	$1.02 RUB81.72	+9.4%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$6.02 RUB483.39	$7.14 RUB573.15	+18.6%
Milk (1 gallon)	$4.17 RUB334.98	$4.61 RUB370.44	+10.6%
Eggs 1 dozen	$1.64 RUB131.74	$1.86 RUB149.70	+13.6%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.85 RUB228.70	$2.98 RUB239.58	+4.8%
Apples (1 lb)	$0.77 RUB61.57	$0.93 RUB74.84	+21.6%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.73 RUB58.34	$0.81 RUB65.34	+12.0%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.75 RUB60.41	$0.90 RUB72.42	+19.9%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.38 RUB111.15	$1.79 RUB143.43	+29.0%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.36 RUB28.81	$0.41 RUB32.63	+13.3%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.28 RUB22.51	$0.32 RUB25.98	+15.4%
Average			+15.1%

Saint Petersburg vs. Moscow - Cost of groceries

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pay 0.1% more for transportation

	Saint Petersburg	Moscow
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$3.25 RUB261.31	$3.31 RUB265.91	+1.8%
Monthly public transit pass	$52.51 RUB4,216.72	$40.65 RUB3,264.22	-22.6%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$35,093.40 RUB3M	$38,895.19 RUB3M	+10.8%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$7.60 RUB610.57	$10.06 RUB807.84	+32.3%
Average			+0.1%

Saint Petersburg vs. Moscow - Cost of transportation

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pay 75.6% more for housing

	Saint Petersburg	Moscow
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$8.55 RUB686.90	$9.88 RUB793.40	+15.5%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$730.46 RUB58,656.88	$1,454.91 RUB117K	+99.2%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$437.21 RUB35,108.02	$804.40 RUB64,593.79	+84.0%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$112.08 RUB9,000.21	$142.85 RUB11,470.69	+27.4%
Average			+75.6%

Saint Petersburg vs. Moscow - Cost of housing

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pay 50.2% more for childcare

	Saint Petersburg	Moscow
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$549.43 RUB44,119.79	$809.00 RUB64,963.13	+47.2%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$17,234.08 RUB1M	$26,421.03 RUB2M	+53.3%
Average			+50.2%

Saint Petersburg vs. Moscow - Cost of childcare

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pay 29.5% more for entertainment and sports

	Saint Petersburg	Moscow
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$2.63 RUB211.35	$4.68 RUB375.74	+77.8%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.03 RUB243.12	$3.70 RUB297.04	+22.2%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$2.92 RUB234.84	$3.45 RUB277.11	+18.0%
Monthly membership at local gym	$39.61 RUB3,180.84	$42.01 RUB3,373.59	+6.1%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$7.02 RUB563.61	$9.36 RUB751.48	+33.3%
Average			+29.5%

Saint Petersburg vs. Moscow - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 23.4% more for clothing

	Saint Petersburg	Moscow
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$92.36 RUB7,416.56	$108.46 RUB8,709.83	+17.4%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$50.79 RUB4,078.74	$62.47 RUB5,016.10	+23.0%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$134.52 RUB10,802.47	$145.30 RUB11,668.01	+8.0%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$121.11 RUB9,724.98	$180.19 RUB14,469.53	+48.8%
Average			+23.4%

Saint Petersburg 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 November 2026). How we calculate this

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Size Comparison · See true size

Saint Petersburg is about 1.8 times smaller than Moscow.

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