Cost of living comparison
compared to
Bethesda vs. Charlottesville Cost of Living Summary
Bethesda is 11.9% more expensive than Charlottesville.
Bethesda vs. Charlottesville Cost Breakdown
If you lived in Bethesda instead of Charlottesville, you would:
pay 10.4% less for restaurants
|
Charlottesville
|
Bethesda
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant |
$20.00
|
$16.50
|
|
|
Fast food combo meal
McDonalds, or similar
|
$13.00
|
$8.00
|
|
| Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz) |
$2.80
|
$2.50
|
|
| Bottle of water (11 fl. oz) |
$1.92
|
$2.40
|
|
Charlottesville vs. Bethesda - Cost of restaurants
pay 38.1% less for groceries
|
Charlottesville
|
Bethesda
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Bread
1 loaf
|
$3.56
|
$3.97
|
|
| Local cheese (8 oz) |
$9.55
|
$4.38
|
|
| Milk (1 gallon) |
$4.38
|
$3.58
|
|
|
Eggs
1 dozen
|
$6.00
|
$4.33
|
|
| Boneless chicken breast (1 lb) |
$9.00
|
$4.87
|
|
| Apples (1 lb) |
$3.45
|
$2.08
|
|
| Bananas (1 lb) |
$1.32
|
$0.63
|
|
| Oranges (1 lb) |
$3.67
|
$1.86
|
|
| Tomatoes (1 lb) |
$5.00
|
$1.90
|
|
| Potatoes (1 lb) |
$2.17
|
$0.99
|
|
| Onions (1 lb) |
$1.67
|
$1.22
|
|
Charlottesville vs. Bethesda - Cost of groceries
pay 31.1% less for transportation
|
Charlottesville
|
Bethesda
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Gasoline (1 gallon) |
$3.16
|
$3.16
|
|
| Monthly public transit pass |
$150.00
|
$100.00
|
|
| New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition) |
$34,000.00
|
$23,000.00
|
|
| Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles) |
$20.16
|
$14.58
|
|
Charlottesville vs. Bethesda - Cost of transportation
pay 15.6% less for housing
|
Charlottesville
|
Bethesda
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Internet connection
50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl
|
$109.60
|
$62.50
|
|
| 1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area |
$1,800.00
|
$2,250.00
|
|
| 1-Bedroom apartment outside city center |
$1,560.00
|
$1,866.67
|
|
|
Utilities for two
(700 sq ft apartment)
including electric, gas, water, heating
|
$220.49
|
$79.25
|
|
Charlottesville vs. Bethesda - Cost of housing
pay 2.2 times more for childcare
|
Charlottesville
|
Bethesda
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Private preschool for 1 child, monthly |
$1,433.33
|
$3,175.00
|
|
| Middle school for 1 child, two semesters | ?? |
$65,000.00
|
|
Charlottesville vs. Bethesda - Cost of childcare
pay 33.6% more for entertainment and sports
|
Charlottesville
|
Bethesda
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Domestic/local beer (1 pint) |
$6.00
|
$5.00
|
|
| Cappuccino in mid-range area |
$5.29
|
$5.60
|
|
|
Pack of cigarettes
Marlboro or similar
|
$8.00
|
$14.00
|
|
| Monthly membership at local gym |
$70.80
|
$141.00
|
|
| Movie ticket to theater/cinema |
$15.25
|
$16.00
|
|
Charlottesville vs. Bethesda - Cost of entertainment and sports
pay 23.5% more for clothing
|
Charlottesville
|
Bethesda
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Regular jeans
Levi's brand
|
$47.50
|
$70.00
|
|
|
Regular dress
from H&M or similar store
|
$48.33
|
$56.67
|
|
|
Running shoes
Nike or Adidas
|
$95.00
|
$115.00
|
|
| Men's business shoes (leather) |
$120.00
|
$130.00
|
|
Charlottesville 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: June 2026
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