District of Columbia vs. United States Cost of Living Summary
District of Columbia vs. United States Cost Breakdown

If you lived in District of Columbia instead of United States, you would:

pay 18.4% more for restaurants

 
United States
District of Columbia
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant $18.59
 
$25.00
 
Fast food combo meal
McDonalds, or similar
$10.47
 
$12.00
 
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz) $2.50
 
$2.78
 

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pay 17.8% more for groceries

 
United States
District of Columbia
Bread
1 loaf
$3.49
 
$4.34
 
Local cheese (8 oz) $6.33
 
$7.84
 
Milk (1 gallon) $3.91
 
$4.14
 

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pay 15.8% more for transportation

 
United States
District of Columbia
Gasoline (1 gallon) $3.61
 
$3.66
 
Monthly public transit pass $65.15
 
$75.00
 
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition) $31,583.67
 
$35,699.74
 

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pay 23.9% more for housing

 
United States
District of Columbia
Internet connection
50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl
$67.50
 
$66.46
 
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area $1,655.99
 
$2,582.95
 
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center $1,423.40
 
$2,028.70
 

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pay 70.0% more for childcare

 
United States
District of Columbia
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly $1,351.84
 
$2,273.25
 
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters $22,265.44
 
$38,250.00
 

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pay 41.7% more for entertainment and sports

 
United States
District of Columbia
Domestic/local beer (1 pint) $5.78
 
$8.00
 
Cappuccino in mid-range area $5.04
 
$5.55
 
Pack of cigarettes
Marlboro or similar
$9.68
 
$11.75
 

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pay 39.0% more for clothing

 
United States
District of Columbia
Regular jeans
Levi's brand
$50.38
 
$74.13
 
Regular dress
from H&M or similar store
$40.66
 
$50.77
 
Running shoes
Nike or Adidas
$85.52
 
$105.47
 

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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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