Cost of Living Comparison

  1. Cost of Living
  2. United States
  3. United Kingdom
  4. Comparison
USD
COMPARED TO
GBP

United States is 2.2% more expensive than United Kingdom.

If you lived in United Kingdom instead of United States, you would:
local_dining

pay 4.2% more for restaurants

  United States help_outline United Kingdom help_outline  
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant $13.54 $15.63
£12.08
+15.4%
Fast food combo meal
McDonalds, or similar
 $7.28 $6.74
£5.21
-7.5%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz) $1.78 $1.52
£1.18
-14.6%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz) $1.43 $1.15
£0.88
-20.0%
United States vs. United Kingdom - Cost of restaurants
Improve prices · Change currency (USD)
local_grocery_store

pay 34.0% less for groceries

  United States help_outline United Kingdom help_outline  
Bread
1 loaf
 $2.58 $1.22
£0.94
-52.6%
Local cheese (8 oz) $5.28 $3.21
£2.48
-39.2%
Milk (1 gallon) $3.15 $4.29
£3.31
+36.3%
Eggs
1 dozen
 $2.29 $2.30
£1.78
+0.6%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb) $3.89 $3.26
£2.52
-16.2%
Apples (1 lb) $2.01 $1.02
£0.79
-49.2%
Bananas (1 lb) $0.70 $0.61
£0.47
-12.5%
Oranges (1 lb) $1.86 $0.93
£0.72
-50.2%
Tomatoes (1 lb) $1.82 $0.99
£0.76
-45.7%
Potatoes (1 lb) $1.16 $0.66
£0.51
-43.5%
Onions (1 lb) $1.17 $0.57
£0.44
-50.9%
United States vs. United Kingdom - Cost of groceries
Improve prices · Change currency (USD)
drive_eta

pay 5.2% more for transportation

  United States help_outline United Kingdom help_outline  
Gasoline (1 gallon) $2.74 $5.98
£4.62
+118.3%
Monthly public transit pass $58.82 $80.21
£61.97
+36.4%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition) $21,664.66 $22,773.83
£17,595.51
+5.1%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles) $17.34 $23.44
£18.11
+35.2%
United States vs. United Kingdom - Cost of transportation
Improve prices · Change currency (USD)
home

pay 19.5% less for housing

  United States help_outline United Kingdom help_outline  
Internet connection
50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl
 $63.66 $37.35
£28.86
-41.3%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area $1,140.46 $908.65
£702.04
-20.3%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center $963.54 $754.23
£582.73
-21.7%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment)
including electric, gas, water, heating
 $120.78 $141.49
£109.32
+17.1%
United States vs. United Kingdom - Cost of housing
Improve prices · Change currency (USD)
child_care

pay 9.2% less for childcare

  United States help_outline United Kingdom help_outline  
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly $827.50 $1,034.26
£799.09
+25.0%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters $16,711.80 $14,894.38
£11,507.69
-10.9%
United States vs. United Kingdom - Cost of childcare
Improve prices · Change currency (USD)
gamepad

pay 10.4% more for entertainment and sports

  United States help_outline United Kingdom help_outline  
Domestic/local beer (1 pint) $4.35 $4.30
£3.32
-1.0%
Cappuccino in mid-range area $3.99 $3.28
£2.53
-17.8%
Pack of cigarettes
Marlboro or similar
 $7.34 $12.12
£9.36
+65.0%
Monthly membership at local gym $37.07 $38.68
£29.89
+4.4%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema $11.39 $12.45
£9.62
+9.3%
United States vs. United Kingdom - Cost of entertainment and sports
Improve prices · Change currency (USD)
store

pay 4.1% more for clothing

  United States help_outline United Kingdom help_outline  
Regular jeans
Levi's brand
 $42.23 $68.21
£52.70
+61.5%
Regular dress
from H&M or similar store
 $34.48 $36.08
£27.88
+4.6%
Running shoes
Nike or Adidas
 $73.53 $74.75
£57.75
+1.7%
Men's business shoes (leather) $92.94 $74.08
£57.23
-20.3%
United States vs. United Kingdom - Cost of clothing
Improve prices · Change currency (USD)
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: January 2020
More cost of living comparisons
United States vs. Turkey
United States vs. Mexico
United States vs. Spain
United Kingdom vs. New Zealand
United Kingdom vs. Cambodia
United Kingdom vs. Ukraine
Help us improve these prices
MyLifeElsewhere is a collaborative project. Please enter price information for your location (Ashburn, VA, United States) to help assist us in making these comparisons more accurate. Learn more
Contribute prices for United Kingdom
Narrow your comparison by city:
Select a city in United States:
Select a city in United Kingdom:
For example, try comparing the cost of living in Washington vs. London
question_answer HAVE A QUESTION? ASK THE COMMUNITY
Join the Elsewhere community and ask a question about United Kingdom. It's a free, question-and-answer based forum to discuss what life is like in countries and cities around the world.