Cost of living comparison
compared to
San Jose vs. Boston Cost of Living Summary
San Jose is 5.5% more expensive than Boston.
- Restaurants
-
pay 0.9% more in San Jose
- Groceries
-
pay 9.5% more in San Jose
- Transportation
-
pay 19.9% more in San Jose
- Housing
-
pay 6.0% more in San Jose
- Childcare
-
pay 5.8% more in San Jose
- Entertainment and Sports
-
pay 9.0% more in San Jose
- Clothing
-
pay 12.3% less in San Jose
The cost of transportation, groceries, entertainment and sports, housing, childcare, and restaurants in San Jose are more expensive than in Boston.
San Jose vs. Boston Cost Breakdown
If you lived in San Jose instead of Boston, you would:
pay 0.9% more for restaurants
|
Boston
|
San Jose
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant |
$25.00
|
$20.50
|
|
|
Fast food combo meal
McDonalds, or similar
|
$12.00
|
$12.00
|
|
| Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz) |
$2.87
|
$3.42
|
|
| Bottle of water (11 fl. oz) |
$2.40
|
$2.44
|
|
Boston vs. San Jose - Cost of restaurants
pay 9.5% more for groceries
|
Boston
|
San Jose
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Bread
1 loaf
|
$4.16
|
$5.00
|
|
| Local cheese (8 oz) |
$8.92
|
$11.39
|
|
| Milk (1 gallon) |
$4.80
|
$5.64
|
|
|
Eggs
1 dozen
|
$4.93
|
$5.40
|
|
| Boneless chicken breast (1 lb) |
$6.15
|
$6.98
|
|
| Apples (1 lb) |
$2.70
|
$2.95
|
|
| Bananas (1 lb) |
$1.00
|
$1.18
|
|
| Oranges (1 lb) |
$2.83
|
$2.62
|
|
| Tomatoes (1 lb) |
$3.61
|
$3.01
|
|
| Potatoes (1 lb) |
$2.09
|
$1.94
|
|
| Onions (1 lb) |
$1.81
|
$2.19
|
|
Boston vs. San Jose - Cost of groceries
pay 19.9% more for transportation
|
Boston
|
San Jose
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Gasoline (1 gallon) |
$3.46
|
$4.84
|
|
| Monthly public transit pass |
$90.00
|
$90.00
|
|
| New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition) |
$34,000.00
|
$36,753.89
|
|
| Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles) |
$16.52
|
$18.41
|
|
Boston vs. San Jose - Cost of transportation
pay 6.0% more for housing
|
Boston
|
San Jose
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Internet connection
50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl
|
$77.28
|
$70.13
|
|
| 1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area |
$3,451.79
|
$2,916.67
|
|
| 1-Bedroom apartment outside city center |
$2,596.36
|
$2,700.00
|
|
|
Utilities for two
(700 sq ft apartment)
including electric, gas, water, heating
|
$153.30
|
$221.60
|
|
Boston vs. San Jose - Cost of housing
pay 5.8% more for childcare
|
Boston
|
San Jose
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Private preschool for 1 child, monthly |
$2,793.33
|
$1,866.67
|
|
| Middle school for 1 child, two semesters |
$27,500.00
|
$39,800.00
|
|
Boston vs. San Jose - Cost of childcare
pay 9.0% more for entertainment and sports
|
Boston
|
San Jose
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Domestic/local beer (1 pint) |
$8.00
|
$9.00
|
|
| Cappuccino in mid-range area |
$5.36
|
$5.83
|
|
|
Pack of cigarettes
Marlboro or similar
|
$13.00
|
$11.50
|
|
| Monthly membership at local gym |
$88.48
|
$113.89
|
|
| Movie ticket to theater/cinema |
$15.00
|
$16.00
|
|
Boston vs. San Jose - Cost of entertainment and sports
pay 12.3% less for clothing
|
Boston
|
San Jose
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Regular jeans
Levi's brand
|
$69.87
|
$56.50
|
|
|
Regular dress
from H&M or similar store
|
$43.75
|
$46.00
|
|
|
Running shoes
Nike or Adidas
|
$107.71
|
$88.89
|
|
| Men's business shoes (leather) |
$152.08
|
$125.00
|
|
Boston vs. San Jose - 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: December 2025
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