Cost of living comparison
compared to
United Kingdom vs. United States Cost of Living Summary
United Kingdom is 6.2% cheaper than United States overall.
- Restaurants
-
pay 2.4% less in United Kingdom
- Groceries
-
pay 29.8% less in United Kingdom
- Transportation
-
pay 45.9% more in United Kingdom
- Housing
-
pay 16.1% less in United Kingdom
- Childcare
-
pay 1.7% more in United Kingdom
- Entertainment and Sports
-
pay 6.6% more in United Kingdom
- Clothing
-
pay 12.1% more in United Kingdom
United Kingdom vs. United States Cost Breakdown
If you lived in United Kingdom instead of United States, you would:
pay 2.4% less for restaurants
|
United States
|
United Kingdom
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant |
$19.86
|
$21.32
£15.96
|
|
|
Fast food combo meal
McDonalds, or similar
|
$11.42
|
$10.25
£7.67
|
|
| Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz) |
$2.67
|
$2.54
£1.90
|
|
| Bottle of water (11 fl. oz) |
$2.05
|
$1.79
£1.34
|
|
United States vs. United Kingdom - Cost of restaurants
pay 29.8% less for groceries
|
United States
|
United Kingdom
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Bread
1 loaf
|
$3.63
|
$1.67
£1.25
|
|
| Local cheese (8 oz) |
$6.52
|
$4.62
£3.46
|
|
| Milk (1 gallon) |
$3.98
|
$6.01
£4.50
|
|
|
Eggs
1 dozen
|
$4.30
|
$3.96
£2.97
|
|
| Boneless chicken breast (1 lb) |
$5.46
|
$3.93
£2.94
|
|
| Apples (1 lb) |
$2.34
|
$1.32
£0.99
|
|
| Bananas (1 lb) |
$0.80
|
$0.73
£0.54
|
|
| Oranges (1 lb) |
$2.02
|
$1.21
£0.90
|
|
| Tomatoes (1 lb) |
$2.19
|
$1.51
£1.13
|
|
| Potatoes (1 lb) |
$1.34
|
$0.76
£0.57
|
|
| Onions (1 lb) |
$1.39
|
$0.72
£0.54
|
|
United States vs. United Kingdom - Cost of groceries
pay 45.9% more for transportation
|
United States
|
United Kingdom
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Gasoline (1 gallon) |
$4.01
|
$7.59
£5.68
|
|
| Monthly public transit pass |
$66.70
|
$99.20
£74.27
|
|
| New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition) |
$34,164.82
|
$37,629.43
£28,172.06
|
|
| Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles) |
$18.02
|
$23.43
£17.54
|
|
United States vs. United Kingdom - Cost of transportation
pay 16.1% less for housing
|
United States
|
United Kingdom
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Internet connection
50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl
|
$70.22
|
$41.42
£31.01
|
|
| 1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area |
$1,681.01
|
$1,299.59
£972.96
|
|
| 1-Bedroom apartment outside city center |
$1,404.28
|
$1,069.01
£800.34
|
|
|
Utilities for two
(700 sq ft apartment)
including electric, gas, water, heating
|
$157.64
|
$239.96
£179.65
|
|
United States vs. United Kingdom - Cost of housing
pay 1.7% more for childcare
|
United States
|
United Kingdom
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Private preschool for 1 child, monthly |
$1,450.99
|
$1,589.10
£1,189.72
|
|
| Middle school for 1 child, two semesters |
$24,361.50
|
$23,025.39
£17,238.44
|
|
United States vs. United Kingdom - Cost of childcare
pay 6.6% more for entertainment and sports
|
United States
|
United Kingdom
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Domestic/local beer (1 pint) |
$6.00
|
$6.50
£4.86
|
|
| Cappuccino in mid-range area |
$5.31
|
$4.66
£3.49
|
|
|
Pack of cigarettes
Marlboro or similar
|
$10.42
|
$22.34
£16.73
|
|
| Monthly membership at local gym |
$50.68
|
$49.72
£37.22
|
|
| Movie ticket to theater/cinema |
$13.95
|
$14.11
£10.56
|
|
United States vs. United Kingdom - Cost of entertainment and sports
pay 12.1% more for clothing
|
United States
|
United Kingdom
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Regular jeans
Levi's brand
|
$53.15
|
$85.37
£63.91
|
|
|
Regular dress
from H&M or similar store
|
$41.88
|
$44.93
£33.64
|
|
|
Running shoes
Nike or Adidas
|
$89.76
|
$95.35
£71.39
|
|
| Men's business shoes (leather) |
$114.01
|
$98.21
£73.52
|
|
United States vs. United Kingdom - Cost of clothing
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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Compare further: United States vs. United Kingdom
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Size Comparison · See true size
United States is about 40 times bigger than United Kingdom.
→
Moving from United States to United Kingdom · OECD 2019
17,000 people moved from United States to United Kingdom.
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City Size Comparison · See true size
Compare the size of New York City vs London
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