Cost of living comparison

Poland

compared to

United States

Charleston vs. Warsaw Cost of Living Summary

Charleston is 58.6% more expensive than Warsaw.

Restaurants: pay 39.7% more in Charleston
Groceries: pay 2.5 times more in Charleston
Transportation: pay 2.2% more in Charleston
Housing: pay 69.9% more in Charleston
Childcare: pay 2.0 times more in Charleston
Entertainment and Sports: pay 31.9% more in Charleston
Clothing: pay 1.7% more in Charleston

The cost of groceries, childcare, housing, restaurants, entertainment and sports, and transportation in Charleston are more expensive than in Warsaw. Notably, groceries and childcare are significantly more expensive in Charleston.

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Charleston vs. Warsaw Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Charleston instead of Warsaw, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 39.7% more for restaurants

	Warsaw	Charleston
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$11.51 PLN45.40	$20.00	+73.8%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$10.23 PLN40.35	$12.00	+17.3%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$2.24 PLN8.83	$2.92	+30.3%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$2.24 PLN8.85	$2.31	+2.8%
Average			+39.7%

Warsaw vs. Charleston - Cost of restaurants

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pay 2.5 times more for groceries

	Warsaw	Charleston
Bread 1 loaf	$1.49 PLN5.88	$4.12	+176.6%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$4.41 PLN17.40	$11.45	+159.6%
Milk (1 gallon)	$4.07 PLN16.05	$4.29	+5.5%
Eggs 1 dozen	$3.89 PLN15.35	$5.41	+39.2%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.95 PLN11.64	$6.58	+123.0%
Apples (1 lb)	$0.54 PLN2.15	$3.66	+572.3%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.77 PLN3.05	$0.82	+6.1%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.77 PLN3.05	$2.30	+197.3%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.83 PLN7.23	$3.15	+71.8%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.40 PLN1.59	$2.32	+475.9%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.41 PLN1.61	$1.70	+315.2%
Average			+146.6%

Warsaw vs. Charleston - Cost of groceries

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pay 2.2% more for transportation

	Warsaw	Charleston
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$6.61 PLN26.08	$3.76	-43.1%
Monthly public transit pass	$28.12 PLN110.97	$57.00	+102.7%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$30,654.89 PLN121K	$35,112.00	+14.5%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$12.78 PLN50.44	$12.94	+1.2%
Average			+2.2%

Warsaw vs. Charleston - Cost of transportation

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pay 69.9% more for housing

	Warsaw	Charleston
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$16.12 PLN63.60	$84.89	+426.7%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$1,178.19 PLN4,648.84	$2,324.88	+97.3%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$950.41 PLN3,750.09	$1,708.67	+79.8%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$262.73 PLN1,036.65	$176.85	-32.7%
Average			+69.9%

Warsaw vs. Charleston - Cost of housing

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pay 2.0 times more for childcare

	Warsaw	Charleston
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$588.07 PLN2,320.36	$1,264.00	+114.9%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$14,458.55 PLN57,049.74	$27,566.67	+90.7%
Average			+102.4%

Warsaw vs. Charleston - Cost of childcare

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pay 31.9% more for entertainment and sports

	Warsaw	Charleston
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$4.60 PLN18.16	$6.50	+41.2%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$4.27 PLN16.84	$5.88	+37.6%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$6.39 PLN25.22	$10.00	+56.4%
Monthly membership at local gym	$46.71 PLN184.30	$45.71	-2.1%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$9.20 PLN36.32	$14.00	+52.1%
Average			+31.9%

Warsaw vs. Charleston - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 1.7% more for clothing

	Warsaw	Charleston
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$107.88 PLN425.67	$77.50	-28.2%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$39.61 PLN156.30	$46.25	+16.8%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$106.17 PLN418.94	$112.33	+5.8%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$111.84 PLN441.29	$135.00	+20.7%
Average			+1.7%

Warsaw vs. Charleston - Cost of clothing

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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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