Cost of living comparison

compared to

Moscow vs. Saint Petersburg Cost of Living Summary

Moscow is 20.5% more expensive than Saint Petersburg.

Restaurants: pay 23.2% more in Moscow
Groceries: pay 7.6% more in Moscow
Transportation: pay 14.6% less in Moscow
Housing: pay 35.0% more in Moscow
Childcare: pay 69.2% more in Moscow
Entertainment and Sports: pay 21.1% more in Moscow
Clothing: pay 1.8% more in Moscow

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

Moscow vs. Saint Petersburg Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 23.2% more for restaurants

	Saint Petersburg	Moscow
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$9.53 RUB759.29	$11.93 RUB950.80	+25.2%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$5.96 RUB474.55	$5.97 RUB475.40	+0.2%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.99 RUB79.09	$1.38 RUB110.14	+39.3%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.48 RUB38.07	$0.61 RUB48.73	+28.0%
Average			+23.2%

Saint Petersburg vs. Moscow - Cost of restaurants

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pay 7.6% more for groceries

	Saint Petersburg	Moscow
Bread 1 loaf	$0.84 RUB67.06	$0.85 RUB67.42	+0.5%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$5.68 RUB452.87	$6.27 RUB499.56	+10.3%
Milk (1 gallon)	$4.33 RUB344.91	$4.62 RUB368.11	+6.7%
Eggs 1 dozen	$1.66 RUB131.89	$1.68 RUB134.05	+1.6%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.29 RUB182.23	$2.46 RUB196.24	+7.7%
Apples (1 lb)	$0.79 RUB62.96	$0.81 RUB64.48	+2.4%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.77 RUB61.39	$0.87 RUB69.32	+12.9%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.81 RUB64.61	$0.90 RUB71.85	+11.2%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.49 RUB119.08	$1.64 RUB130.64	+9.7%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.42 RUB33.52	$0.43 RUB34.01	+1.5%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.28 RUB22.62	$0.34 RUB26.98	+19.3%
Average			+7.6%

Saint Petersburg vs. Moscow - Cost of groceries

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pay 14.6% less for transportation

	Saint Petersburg	Moscow
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$2.76 RUB219.93	$2.84 RUB226.14	+2.8%
Monthly public transit pass	$50.21 RUB4,000.49	$36.64 RUB2,918.97	-27.0%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$35,737.37 RUB2,847,323.71	$36,994.59 RUB2,947,491.41	+3.5%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$9.17 RUB730.81	$5.73 RUB456.39	-37.6%
Average			-14.6%

Saint Petersburg vs. Moscow - Cost of transportation

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pay 35.0% more for housing

	Saint Petersburg	Moscow
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$7.63 RUB607.70	$7.82 RUB622.74	+2.5%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$783.62 RUB62,433.50	$1,253.04 RUB99,834.39	+59.9%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$441.53 RUB35,178.23	$709.24 RUB56,507.99	+60.6%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$94.44 RUB7,524.16	$110.60 RUB8,811.54	+17.1%
Average			+35.0%

Saint Petersburg vs. Moscow - Cost of housing

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pay 69.2% more for childcare

	Saint Petersburg	Moscow
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$373.01 RUB29,718.94	$656.36 RUB52,294.20	+76.0%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$8,803.31 RUB701,390.74	$14,285.88 RUB1,138,207.09	+62.3%
Average			+69.2%

Saint Petersburg vs. Moscow - Cost of childcare

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pay 21.1% more for entertainment and sports

	Saint Petersburg	Moscow
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$2.98 RUB237.28	$4.18 RUB332.78	+40.3%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.43 RUB193.67	$3.16 RUB251.50	+29.9%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$2.78 RUB221.14	$2.98 RUB237.70	+7.5%
Monthly membership at local gym	$39.87 RUB3,176.30	$44.58 RUB3,551.75	+11.8%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$5.65 RUB450.35	$6.56 RUB522.94	+16.1%
Average			+21.1%

Saint Petersburg vs. Moscow - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 1.8% more for clothing

	Saint Petersburg	Moscow
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$93.20 RUB7,425.95	$76.06 RUB6,059.63	-18.4%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$48.79 RUB3,887.03	$47.73 RUB3,803.21	-2.2%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$115.24 RUB9,181.83	$122.95 RUB9,795.53	+6.7%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$129.44 RUB10,312.95	$156.80 RUB12,492.50	+21.1%
Average			+1.8%

Saint Petersburg vs. Moscow - Cost of clothing

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The statistics used to build this comparison are calculated using data from users just like you. We average the price of thousands of data points entered by users across the world. Learn more about our data sources. Page last updated: December 2025

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