Cost of living comparison
compared to
Arlington vs. Alexandria Cost of Living Summary
Arlington is 3.8% more expensive than Alexandria.
Arlington vs. Alexandria Cost Breakdown
If you lived in Arlington instead of Alexandria, you would:
pay 7.3% more for restaurants
|
Alexandria
|
Arlington
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant |
$20.00
|
$24.00
|
|
|
Fast food combo meal
McDonalds, or similar
|
$12.00
|
$11.00
|
|
| Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz) |
$2.70
|
$3.04
|
|
| Bottle of water (11 fl. oz) |
$2.30
|
$2.46
|
|
Alexandria vs. Arlington - Cost of restaurants
pay 7.3% more for groceries
|
Alexandria
|
Arlington
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Bread
1 loaf
|
$3.85
|
$4.45
|
|
| Local cheese (8 oz) |
$8.15
|
$10.87
|
|
| Milk (1 gallon) |
$4.40
|
$4.64
|
|
|
Eggs
1 dozen
|
$4.62
|
$5.16
|
|
| Boneless chicken breast (1 lb) |
$7.00
|
$7.14
|
|
| Apples (1 lb) |
$2.83
|
$2.55
|
|
| Bananas (1 lb) |
$0.63
|
$0.85
|
|
| Oranges (1 lb) |
$3.33
|
$2.11
|
|
| Tomatoes (1 lb) |
$3.67
|
$2.64
|
|
| Potatoes (1 lb) |
$0.99
|
$1.47
|
|
| Onions (1 lb) |
$1.22
|
$1.73
|
|
Alexandria vs. Arlington - Cost of groceries
pay 18.2% more for transportation
|
Alexandria
|
Arlington
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Gasoline (1 gallon) |
$3.83
|
$3.90
|
|
| Monthly public transit pass |
$52.50
|
$122.50
|
|
| New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition) |
$36,227.00
|
$34,521.50
|
|
| Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles) |
$20.16
|
$13.94
|
|
Alexandria vs. Arlington - Cost of transportation
pay 0.6% less for housing
|
Alexandria
|
Arlington
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Internet connection
50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl
|
$77.80
|
$62.00
|
|
| 1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area |
$2,360.00
|
$2,457.78
|
|
| 1-Bedroom apartment outside city center |
$1,767.50
|
$1,994.29
|
|
|
Utilities for two
(700 sq ft apartment)
including electric, gas, water, heating
|
$185.44
|
$124.91
|
|
Alexandria vs. Arlington - Cost of housing
pay 33.4% less for childcare
|
Alexandria
|
Arlington
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Private preschool for 1 child, monthly |
$2,000.00
|
$1,597.92
|
|
| Middle school for 1 child, two semesters |
$65,000.00
|
$36,066.67
|
|
Alexandria vs. Arlington - Cost of childcare
pay 8.0% more for entertainment and sports
|
Alexandria
|
Arlington
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Domestic/local beer (1 pint) |
$6.50
|
$8.00
|
|
| Cappuccino in mid-range area |
$4.50
|
$5.86
|
|
|
Pack of cigarettes
Marlboro or similar
|
$9.11
|
$10.55
|
|
| Monthly membership at local gym |
$72.50
|
$70.67
|
|
| Movie ticket to theater/cinema |
$18.25
|
$16.50
|
|
Alexandria vs. Arlington - Cost of entertainment and sports
pay 11.2% more for clothing
|
Alexandria
|
Arlington
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Regular jeans
Levi's brand
|
$47.50
|
$55.33
|
|
|
Regular dress
from H&M or similar store
|
$48.33
|
$62.50
|
|
|
Running shoes
Nike or Adidas
|
$121.67
|
$102.08
|
|
| Men's business shoes (leather) |
$134.75
|
$163.19
|
|
Alexandria vs. Arlington - 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 October 2026). How we calculate this
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