Cost of living comparison

compared to

Sri Lanka vs. United States Cost of Living Summary

Sri Lanka is 61.7% cheaper than United States overall.

Restaurants: pay 66.2% less in Sri Lanka
Groceries: pay 36.7% less in Sri Lanka
Transportation: pay 42.5% less in Sri Lanka
Housing: pay 82.6% less in Sri Lanka
Childcare: pay 97.8% less in Sri Lanka
Entertainment and Sports: pay 54.4% less in Sri Lanka
Clothing: pay 51.9% less in Sri Lanka

Expenses including childcare, housing, restaurants, entertainment and sports, clothing, and transportation are lower in Sri Lanka.

Sri Lanka vs. United States Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Sri Lanka instead of United States, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 66.2% less for restaurants

	United States	Sri Lanka
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$19.45	$3.63 LKR1,116.85	-81.3%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$11.12	$7.90 LKR2,426.61	-29.0%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$2.56	$0.73 LKR224.32	-71.5%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$2.00	$0.35 LKR106.15	-82.8%
Average			-66.2%

United States vs. Sri Lanka - Cost of restaurants

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pay 36.7% less for groceries

	United States	Sri Lanka
Bread 1 loaf	$3.56	$0.48 LKR147.07	-86.5%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$6.50	$5.72 LKR1,758.02	-12.0%
Milk (1 gallon)	$3.97	$6.01 LKR1,847.59	+51.4%
Eggs 1 dozen	$4.27	$1.94 LKR597.37	-54.5%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$5.41	$2.05 LKR629.94	-62.1%
Apples (1 lb)	$2.37	$2.40 LKR736.93	+1.2%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.78	$0.44 LKR136.48	-43.3%
Oranges (1 lb)	$2.04	$2.17 LKR665.91	+6.5%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$2.21	$0.55 LKR168.43	-75.2%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$1.34	$0.45 LKR139.78	-66.2%
Onions (1 lb)	$1.38	$0.51 LKR155.98	-63.3%
Average			-36.7%

United States vs. Sri Lanka - Cost of groceries

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pay 42.5% less for transportation

	United States	Sri Lanka
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$3.41	$4.12 LKR1,264.88	+20.6%
Monthly public transit pass	$65.85	$10.74 LKR3,299.78	-83.7%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$32,336.38	$24,680.98 LKR7,584,425.30	-23.7%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$17.61	$3.00 LKR921.91	-83.0%
Average			-42.5%

United States vs. Sri Lanka - Cost of transportation

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pay 82.6% less for housing

	United States	Sri Lanka
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$68.97	$12.84 LKR3,944.37	-81.4%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$1,664.59	$289.17 LKR88,862.02	-82.6%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$1,416.15	$178.38 LKR54,816.88	-87.4%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$150.19	$31.64 LKR9,722.89	-78.9%
Average			-82.6%

United States vs. Sri Lanka - Cost of housing

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pay 97.8% less for childcare

	United States	Sri Lanka
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$1,387.27	$33.87 LKR10,407.01	-97.6%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$23,196.46	$466.09 LKR143,227.52	-98.0%
Average			-97.8%

United States vs. Sri Lanka - Cost of childcare

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pay 54.4% less for entertainment and sports

	United States	Sri Lanka
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$5.84	$2.08 LKR639.65	-64.3%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$5.15	$2.39 LKR735.74	-53.5%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$9.90	$9.25 LKR2,842.89	-6.5%
Monthly membership at local gym	$51.45	$15.04 LKR4,620.30	-70.8%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$13.64	$3.12 LKR959.48	-77.1%
Average			-54.4%

United States vs. Sri Lanka - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 51.9% less for clothing

	United States	Sri Lanka
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$51.08	$25.05 LKR7,697.80	-51.0%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$41.81	$17.03 LKR5,232.27	-59.3%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$87.56	$62.69 LKR19,264.32	-28.4%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$112.04	$35.07 LKR10,776.88	-68.7%
Average			-51.9%

United States vs. Sri Lanka - 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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