Plano vs. Bethesda Cost of Living Summary

Plano is 7.5% cheaper than Bethesda.

Restaurants
pay 12.5% more in Plano
Groceries
pay 20.5% more in Plano
Transportation
pay 17.6% more in Plano
Housing
pay 0.9% more in Plano
Childcare
pay 68.0% less in Plano
Entertainment and Sports
pay 16.7% less in Plano
Clothing
pay 19.3% less in Plano

The cost of groceries, transportation, restaurants, and housing in Plano are more expensive than in Bethesda. Expenses including childcare, clothing, and entertainment and sports are lower in Plano.

Plano vs. Bethesda Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Plano instead of Bethesda, you would:

pay 12.5% more for restaurants

 
Bethesda
Plano
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant $16.50
 
$20.00
 
Fast food combo meal
McDonalds, or similar
$8.00
 
$10.00
 
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz) $2.50
 
$2.75
 

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pay 20.5% more for groceries

 
Bethesda
Plano
Bread
1 loaf
$3.97
 
$2.95
 
Local cheese (8 oz) $4.38
 
$6.58
 
Milk (1 gallon) $3.58
 
$3.63
 

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pay 17.6% more for transportation

 
Bethesda
Plano
Gasoline (1 gallon) $3.16
 
$2.83
 
Monthly public transit pass $100.00
 
$105.00
 
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition) $23,000.00
 
$36,755.39
 

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pay 0.9% more for housing

 
Bethesda
Plano
Internet connection
50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl
$62.50
 
$54.17
 
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area $2,250.00
 
$1,560.57
 
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center $1,866.67
 
$1,250.00
 

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pay 68.0% less for childcare

 
Bethesda
Plano
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly $3,175.00
 
$1,151.88
 
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters $65,000.00
 
$18,000.00
 

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pay 16.7% less for entertainment and sports

 
Bethesda
Plano
Domestic/local beer (1 pint) $5.00
 
$6.90
 
Cappuccino in mid-range area $5.60
 
$4.94
 
Pack of cigarettes
Marlboro or similar
$14.00
 
$10.00
 

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pay 19.3% less for clothing

 
Bethesda
Plano
Regular jeans
Levi's brand
$70.00
 
$55.69
 
Regular dress
from H&M or similar store
$56.67
 
$38.33
 
Running shoes
Nike or Adidas
$115.00
 
$86.25
 

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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: July 2026
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