Cost of living comparison
compared to
Bethesda vs. Cambridge Cost of Living Summary
Bethesda is 1.8% more expensive than Cambridge.
Bethesda vs. Cambridge Cost Breakdown
If you lived in Bethesda instead of Cambridge, you would:
pay 15.5% less for restaurants
|
Cambridge
|
Bethesda
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant |
$17.00
|
$16.50
|
|
|
Fast food combo meal
McDonalds, or similar
|
$15.00
|
$8.00
|
|
| Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz) |
$2.85
|
$2.50
|
|
| Bottle of water (11 fl. oz) |
$2.40
|
$2.40
|
|
Cambridge vs. Bethesda - Cost of restaurants
pay 23.8% less for groceries
|
Cambridge
|
Bethesda
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Bread
1 loaf
|
$4.00
|
$3.97
|
|
| Local cheese (8 oz) |
$7.58
|
$4.38
|
|
| Milk (1 gallon) |
$4.80
|
$3.58
|
|
|
Eggs
1 dozen
|
$4.88
|
$4.33
|
|
| Boneless chicken breast (1 lb) |
$6.15
|
$4.87
|
|
| Apples (1 lb) |
$2.70
|
$2.08
|
|
| Bananas (1 lb) |
$1.00
|
$0.63
|
|
| Oranges (1 lb) |
$2.83
|
$1.86
|
|
| Tomatoes (1 lb) |
$2.90
|
$1.90
|
|
| Potatoes (1 lb) |
$1.15
|
$0.99
|
|
| Onions (1 lb) |
$1.50
|
$1.22
|
|
Cambridge vs. Bethesda - Cost of groceries
pay 8.4% less for transportation
|
Cambridge
|
Bethesda
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Gasoline (1 gallon) |
$3.18
|
$3.16
|
|
| Monthly public transit pass |
$90.00
|
$100.00
|
|
| New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition) |
$34,000.00
|
$23,000.00
|
|
| Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles) |
$16.52
|
$14.58
|
|
Cambridge vs. Bethesda - Cost of transportation
pay 27.8% less for housing
|
Cambridge
|
Bethesda
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Internet connection
50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl
|
$67.50
|
$62.50
|
|
| 1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area |
$2,837.50
|
$2,250.00
|
|
| 1-Bedroom apartment outside city center |
$2,866.67
|
$1,866.67
|
|
|
Utilities for two
(700 sq ft apartment)
including electric, gas, water, heating
|
$152.48
|
$79.25
|
|
Cambridge vs. Bethesda - Cost of housing
pay 75.0% more for childcare
|
Cambridge
|
Bethesda
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Private preschool for 1 child, monthly |
$2,793.33
|
$3,175.00
|
|
| Middle school for 1 child, two semesters |
$27,500.00
|
$65,000.00
|
|
Cambridge vs. Bethesda - Cost of childcare
pay 4.5% more for entertainment and sports
|
Cambridge
|
Bethesda
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Domestic/local beer (1 pint) |
$8.00
|
$5.00
|
|
| Cappuccino in mid-range area |
$5.45
|
$5.60
|
|
|
Pack of cigarettes
Marlboro or similar
|
$12.75
|
$14.00
|
|
| Monthly membership at local gym |
$100.00
|
$141.00
|
|
| Movie ticket to theater/cinema |
$15.00
|
$16.00
|
|
Cambridge vs. Bethesda - Cost of entertainment and sports
pay 8.9% more for clothing
|
Cambridge
|
Bethesda
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Regular jeans
Levi's brand
|
$69.87
|
$70.00
|
|
|
Regular dress
from H&M or similar store
|
$43.75
|
$56.67
|
|
|
Running shoes
Nike or Adidas
|
$101.67
|
$115.00
|
|
| Men's business shoes (leather) |
$140.00
|
$130.00
|
|
Cambridge vs. Bethesda - 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: July 2026
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