Where is it more expensive to live – France or the USA? If you’ve ever pondered this question, you’re in the right place. Employing a variety of technical approaches, we’re set to unravel where the cost of living hits the wallet harder. Brace yourselves for the showdown of the century: France vs. the USA!
In summary:
In the United States, the cost of living, including rent, is 29% higher than in France. American rents exceed those in France by 98%. Furthermore, the local purchasing power in the United States is 39% higher than in France, indicating an increased financial capacity for American consumers.
(source: Numbeo)
Let’s take a closer look.
Big Mac Index
Let’s start with an index that is as serious as it sounds ridiculous: the Big Mac Index.
The Big Mac Index is an economic theory proposed by The Economist that uses Big Macs as a metric to compare local purchasing power and cost of living.
A Big Mac costs the same amount to make in every country; therefore, we can establish the income of a person by the number of Big Macs they can afford per hour.
The longer you have to work to pay for a Big Mac, the higher the cost of living is in your country.
While this can’t really give us detailed information, it does give us a fairly accurate general idea.
The French Big Mac Index is 2.8 per hour and the American Index is 4.5 per hour.
Therefore, the cost of living in France (according to the Big Mac Index) is 60.71% higher than it is in the USA.
(source: Numbeo)
Average Yearly Income
We’ve had our appetizer, so here’s the next course: the average yearly income. This one is pretty straightforward: the more you earn, the lower the cost of living is compared to your budget.
The average yearly income in the USA is $65,024.47, while the average yearly income in France is only $40,242.50. the average annual income in the United States is 82% higher than the average annual income in France.
Quality of Life Index
The Quality of Life Index (the higher, the better) is an estimate of overall quality of life using an empirical formula that considers the purchasing power index (the higher, the better), pollution index (the lower, the better), the price to income ratio of real estate (the lower, the better), cost of living index (the lower, the better), safety index (the higher, the better), health care index (the higher, the better), commute time index (the lower, the better), and climate index (the higher, the better).
Quality of Life Index: 174 for the USA and 152 for France.
With the USA’s quality of life index being higher (+14%), one might tend to think that life is more enjoyable in the USA. However, this calculation is full of complexities and nuances. Therefore, we will take a closer look at more specific and concrete things.
(Source: Numbeo )
Manual Comparison
Having all those statistics is nice, but what do they actually represent?
In this last category, we will give you something more approximate and less official, but it will give you a better idea of what is included in the so-called “cost of living”.
We will use the national average.
This is calculated by taking data from all over the country, excluding the most extreme ends of the spectrum (cities such as Paris, New York, San Francisco, etc.). Averaging the rest of the data will give us a good idea of the cost of living in most of the country.
We’ll be using a partial index to measure the difference between the cost of living in both countries based on daily expenses.
Restaurants
| France | USA | |
| Cheap restaurant | $16.21 | $20.00 |
| 2-person meal at a nice restaurant | $64.86 | $75.00 |
| McDonald menu | $10.81 | $10.50 |
| Local beer (0.5L) | $6.49 | $6.00 |
| Foreign beer (0.33L) | $5.40 | $7.00 |
| Cappuccino | $3.24 | $5.08 |
| Coke (0.33L) | $2.95 | $2.47 |
| Water (0.33L) | $2.01 | $2.03 |
The difference in costs is less than 10%, with both countries being higher in approximately half of the categories. We will therefore consider the cost of restaurants to be roughly the same in both countries.
Groceries
| France | USA | |
| Milk (1L) | $1.21 | $1.06 |
| White bread | $1.94 | $3.56 |
| Rice (1 kg) | $2.30 | $4.54 |
| Eggs (dozen) | $4.04 | $3.72 |
| Water (1.5L) | $0.76 | $2.18 |
| Wine | $7.57 | $15.00 |
| Local beer (0.5L) | $2.36 | $1.75 |
| Foreign beer (0.33L) | $2.89 | $3.54 |
| Cigarettes (pack of 20) | $11.89 | $10.00 |
The average grocery index is lower in France by 21%, so it is less expensive to go grocery shopping in France than it is in the USA.
Clothing
| France | USA | |
| Pair of jeans | $91.38 | $52.30 |
| Summer dress | $39.83 | $43.58 |
| Athletic shoes (Nike, etc.) | $95.69 | $88.46 |
| Leather sport chic shoes | $124.06 | $114.06 |
Clothing is 28% more expensive in France than it is in the USA.
Transportation
| France | USA | |
| Single metro ticket | $1.95 | $2.52 |
| Monthly metro pass | $75.02 | $72.00 |
| Base taxi price | $3.08 | $3.75 |
| Taxi (by the km) | $2.01 | $1.74 |
| Gas (by the liter) | $2.06 | $0.96 |
The transportation index is 11% lower in France than it is in the USA, but gas is 40% more expensive in France.
Sports and Entertainment
| France | USA | |
| Gym membership (per month) | $35.62 | $47.38 |
| Tennis court (1 hour) | $16.62 | $22.68 |
| Movie ticket | $12.97 | $14.00 |
Sports and entertainment are 13% cheaper in France than in the USA.
Monthly Utilities
| France | USA | |
| Base (electricity, gas, water, trash, etc. for 80 m²) | $187.55 | $205.86 |
| Prepaid mobile communication (per minute) | $0.17 | $0.15 |
| Unlimited high-speed internet | $32.01 | $70.91 |
The monthly utility index is 16% lower in France than it is in the USA.
Housing
| France | USA | |
| 1-bedroom apartment downtown (monthly rent) | $847.89 | $1,767.53 |
| 3-bedroom apartment downtown (monthly rent) | $1,564.13 | $2,959.60 |
| Price to purchase a downtown apartment (by the m²) | $7,267.52 | $3,470.72 |
| 1-bedroom apartment outside the city center (monthly rent) | $624.65 | $1,450.39 |
| 3-bedroom apartment outside the city center (monthly rent) | $1,235.70 | $2,400.02 |
| Price to purchase an apartment outside the city center (by the m²) | $4,968.85 | $2,76.21 |
Rent costs 49% less in France than in the USA, but purchasing an apartment is 37% cheaper in the USA than it is in France.
Overall, we have seen that it generally costs more to live in the USA than in France.
Conclusion
To sum it all up, here’s one last table that, while rough around the edges, you can now understand.
| France | USA |
|
| Cost of life (including rent) | 45.25 | 59.52 |
| Property price/income ratio index | 12.28 | 4.12 |
| Purchasing power index | 83.45 | 120.91 |
It is much more expensive to be a tourist in the USA than it is in France since pretty much everything is more expensive. But, as a local, due to the average American yearly income being close to twice the average income in France, it ends up being cheaper to live in the USA.
I aim to share my tips and recommendations for the beautiful country of France. My goal is to help you plan your next adventure, whether it’s a weekend getaway or a once-in-a-lifetime trip. From finding the best hotels and restaurants, to discovering unique activities and sights, I’ve got you covered!
