Cost of living comparison
compared to
San Mateo vs. Austin Cost of Living Summary
San Mateo is 37.4% more expensive than Austin.
San Mateo vs. Austin Cost Breakdown
If you lived in San Mateo instead of Austin, you would:
pay 14.2% more for restaurants
|
Austin
|
San Mateo
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant |
$20.00
|
$22.00
|
|
|
Fast food combo meal
McDonalds, or similar
|
$11.00
|
$13.00
|
|
| Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz) |
$2.67
|
$3.12
|
|
| Bottle of water (11 fl. oz) |
$2.09
|
$2.34
|
|
Austin vs. San Mateo - Cost of restaurants
pay 55.4% more for groceries
|
Austin
|
San Mateo
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Bread
1 loaf
|
$3.40
|
$5.11
|
|
| Local cheese (8 oz) |
$6.17
|
$7.44
|
|
| Milk (1 gallon) |
$3.93
|
$6.00
|
|
|
Eggs
1 dozen
|
$4.85
|
$8.00
|
|
| Boneless chicken breast (1 lb) |
$5.15
|
$9.67
|
|
| Apples (1 lb) |
$2.20
|
$3.00
|
|
| Bananas (1 lb) |
$0.70
|
$0.90
|
|
| Oranges (1 lb) |
$1.96
|
$1.75
|
|
| Tomatoes (1 lb) |
$1.75
|
$3.33
|
|
| Potatoes (1 lb) |
$1.18
|
$2.70
|
|
| Onions (1 lb) |
$1.24
|
$2.00
|
|
Austin vs. San Mateo - Cost of groceries
pay 53.7% more for transportation
|
Austin
|
San Mateo
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Gasoline (1 gallon) |
$2.79
|
$4.76
|
|
| Monthly public transit pass |
$41.38
|
$65.60
|
|
| New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition) |
$27,900.00
|
$36,753.89
|
|
| Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles) |
$17.67
|
?? | |
Austin vs. San Mateo - Cost of transportation
pay 41.4% more for housing
|
Austin
|
San Mateo
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Internet connection
50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl
|
$68.20
|
$63.00
|
|
| 1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area |
$2,134.75
|
$2,743.33
|
|
| 1-Bedroom apartment outside city center |
$1,434.41
|
$2,855.00
|
|
|
Utilities for two
(700 sq ft apartment)
including electric, gas, water, heating
|
$133.86
|
$194.97
|
|
Austin vs. San Mateo - Cost of housing
pay 2.0 times more for childcare
|
Austin
|
San Mateo
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Private preschool for 1 child, monthly |
$1,343.18
|
$2,823.00
|
|
| Middle school for 1 child, two semesters |
$22,093.75
|
$42,750.00
|
|
Austin vs. San Mateo - Cost of childcare
pay 10.9% more for entertainment and sports
|
Austin
|
San Mateo
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Domestic/local beer (1 pint) |
$6.00
|
$7.00
|
|
| Cappuccino in mid-range area |
$5.56
|
$5.20
|
|
|
Pack of cigarettes
Marlboro or similar
|
$9.00
|
$8.50
|
|
| Monthly membership at local gym |
$66.33
|
$95.00
|
|
| Movie ticket to theater/cinema |
$15.00
|
$15.99
|
|
Austin vs. San Mateo - Cost of entertainment and sports
pay 15.5% less for clothing
|
Austin
|
San Mateo
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Regular jeans
Levi's brand
|
$52.74
|
$60.00
|
|
|
Regular dress
from H&M or similar store
|
$43.79
|
$25.00
|
|
|
Running shoes
Nike or Adidas
|
$87.55
|
$101.67
|
|
| Men's business shoes (leather) |
$117.47
|
$60.00
|
|
Austin vs. San Mateo - Cost of clothing
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: June 2026
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