Cost of living comparison

compared to

Birmingham vs. Reykjavik Cost of Living Summary

Birmingham is 43.4% more expensive than Reykjavik.

Restaurants: pay 28.6% less in Birmingham
Groceries: pay 35.7% less in Birmingham
Transportation: pay 13.1% less in Birmingham
Housing: pay 58.5% more in Birmingham
Childcare: pay 4.6 times more in Birmingham
Entertainment and Sports: pay 9.9% less in Birmingham
Clothing: pay 31.9% less in Birmingham

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

Birmingham vs. Reykjavik Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Birmingham instead of Reykjavik, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 28.6% less for restaurants

	Reykjavik	Birmingham
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$20.00 ISK2,796	$19.37 £15.59	-3.1%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$18.02 ISK2,519	$9.04 £7.28	-49.8%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$3.15 ISK441	$2.11 £1.70	-33.2%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$2.19 ISK305	$1.57 £1.26	-28.2%
Average			-28.6%

Reykjavik vs. Birmingham - Cost of restaurants

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pay 35.7% less for groceries

	Reykjavik	Birmingham
Bread 1 loaf	$3.61 ISK505	$1.60 £1.29	-55.6%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$7.76 ISK1,084	$4.91 £3.95	-36.7%
Milk (1 gallon)	$6.40 ISK895	$6.22 £5.00	-2.9%
Eggs 1 dozen	$5.76 ISK805	$3.47 £2.79	-39.7%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$9.45 ISK1,321	$3.37 £2.72	-64.3%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.40 ISK196	$1.13 £0.91	-19.3%
Bananas (1 lb)	$1.01 ISK141	$0.84 £0.67	-17.2%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.22 ISK170	$0.87 £0.70	-28.4%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$2.22 ISK311	$1.20 £0.96	-46.2%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$1.43 ISK201	$0.77 £0.62	-46.1%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.93 ISK131	$0.59 £0.48	-36.5%
Average			-35.7%

Reykjavik vs. Birmingham - Cost of groceries

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pay 13.1% less for transportation

	Reykjavik	Birmingham
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$8.50 ISK1,188	$7.07 £5.69	-16.8%
Monthly public transit pass	$74.95 ISK10,477	$77.49 £62.38	+3.4%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$42,450.45 ISK5,933,724	$36,531.14 £29,406.07	-13.9%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$24.05 ISK3,362	$18.03 £14.51	-25.0%
Average			-13.1%

Reykjavik vs. Birmingham - Cost of transportation

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pay 58.5% more for housing

	Reykjavik	Birmingham
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$69.87 ISK9,766	$37.78 £30.41	-45.9%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$1,971.17 ISK275,530	$1,287.50 £1,036.39	-34.7%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$1,803.44 ISK252,085	$1,020.31 £821.31	-43.4%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$53.95 ISK7,542	$247.07 £198.88	+357.9%
Average			+58.5%

Reykjavik vs. Birmingham - Cost of housing

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pay 4.6 times more for childcare

	Reykjavik	Birmingham
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$252.14 ISK35,244	$1,536.82 £1,237.08	+509.5%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$5,993.99 ISK837,840	$19,157.81 £15,421.25	+219.6%
Average			+364.6%

Reykjavik vs. Birmingham - Cost of childcare

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pay 9.9% less for entertainment and sports

	Reykjavik	Birmingham
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$10.81 ISK1,511	$6.46 £5.20	-40.3%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$5.31 ISK742	$4.36 £3.51	-17.8%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$12.25 ISK1,712	$18.73 £15.07	+52.9%
Monthly membership at local gym	$69.95 ISK9,777	$35.41 £28.50	-49.4%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$14.77 ISK2,065	$15.50 £12.48	+4.9%
Average			-9.9%

Reykjavik vs. Birmingham - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 31.9% less for clothing

	Reykjavik	Birmingham
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$108.97 ISK15,232	$84.31 £67.86	-22.6%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$49.72 ISK6,950	$36.16 £29.11	-27.3%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$151.85 ISK21,226	$100.56 £80.94	-33.8%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$194.16 ISK27,139	$108.86 £87.63	-43.9%
Average			-31.9%

Reykjavik vs. Birmingham - 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: January 2025

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