Cost of living comparison

compared to

Washington vs. Sweden Cost of Living Summary

Washington is 2.2 times more expensive than Sweden overall.

Restaurants: pay 10.9% more in Washington
Groceries: pay 20.6% more in Washington
Transportation: pay 19.8% less in Washington
Housing: pay 83.4% more in Washington
Childcare: pay 8.4 times more in Washington
Entertainment and Sports: pay 12.2% more in Washington
Clothing: pay 23.8% less in Washington

The cost of childcare, housing, groceries, entertainment and sports, and restaurants in Washington are more expensive than in Sweden. Expenses including clothing and transportation are lower in Washington. Notably, childcare and housing are significantly more expensive in Washington.

Washington vs. Sweden Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Washington instead of Sweden, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 10.9% more for restaurants

	Sweden	Washington
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$14.38 SEK135.86	$20.22	+40.7%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$11.04 SEK104.36	$12.00	+8.7%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$2.58 SEK24.43	$2.63	+1.7%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$2.22 SEK20.96	$2.05	-7.6%
Average			+10.9%

Sweden vs. Washington - Cost of restaurants

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pay 20.6% more for groceries

	Sweden	Washington
Bread 1 loaf	$2.88 SEK27.20	$3.94	+36.8%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$6.00 SEK56.72	$7.07	+17.7%
Milk (1 gallon)	$6.33 SEK59.85	$4.20	-33.7%
Eggs 1 dozen	$4.34 SEK41.01	$4.68	+7.8%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$5.57 SEK52.62	$5.75	+3.3%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.41 SEK13.35	$2.30	+63.2%
Bananas (1 lb)	$1.21 SEK11.44	$0.86	-28.7%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.36 SEK12.85	$2.02	+48.4%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.97 SEK18.66	$2.09	+5.8%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.80 SEK7.55	$1.20	+49.8%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.79 SEK7.49	$1.24	+55.9%
Average			+20.6%

Sweden vs. Washington - Cost of groceries

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pay 19.8% less for transportation

	Sweden	Washington
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$7.32 SEK69.19	$4.20	-42.7%
Monthly public transit pass	$81.92 SEK774.19	$67.70	-17.4%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$31,594.19 SEK298,596.70	$34,322.93	+8.6%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$24.67 SEK233.17	$17.81	-27.8%
Average			-19.8%

Sweden vs. Washington - Cost of transportation

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pay 83.4% more for housing

	Sweden	Washington
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$37.43 SEK353.72	$72.42	+93.5%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$936.32 SEK8,849.16	$1,724.04	+84.1%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$720.46 SEK6,809.11	$1,522.88	+111.4%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$97.92 SEK925.40	$141.51	+44.5%
Average			+83.4%

Sweden vs. Washington - Cost of housing

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pay 8.4 times more for childcare

	Sweden	Washington
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$155.59 SEK1,470.47	$1,634.82	+950.7%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$4,116.05 SEK38,900.77	$25,866.06	+528.4%
Average			+739.5%

Sweden vs. Washington - Cost of childcare

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pay 12.2% more for entertainment and sports

	Sweden	Washington
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$7.74 SEK73.17	$6.54	-15.5%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$4.56 SEK43.10	$5.33	+16.8%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$7.64 SEK72.24	$11.03	+44.3%
Monthly membership at local gym	$44.09 SEK416.68	$56.25	+27.6%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$16.46 SEK155.54	$14.46	-12.1%
Average			+12.2%

Sweden vs. Washington - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 23.8% less for clothing

	Sweden	Washington
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$94.86 SEK896.55	$49.71	-47.6%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$42.53 SEK401.90	$41.67	-2.0%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$106.79 SEK1,009.30	$88.77	-16.9%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$151.29 SEK1,429.84	$108.22	-28.5%
Average			-23.8%

Sweden vs. Washington - 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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