Fort Lauderdale vs. Dallas Cost of Living Summary

Fort Lauderdale is 4.1% more expensive than Dallas.

Restaurants
pay 5.7% more in Fort Lauderdale
Groceries
pay 14.7% more in Fort Lauderdale
Transportation
pay 9.2% less in Fort Lauderdale
Housing
pay 12.2% more in Fort Lauderdale
Childcare
pay 11.6% more in Fort Lauderdale
Entertainment and Sports
pay 7.8% more in Fort Lauderdale
Clothing
pay 14.0% less in Fort Lauderdale

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

Fort Lauderdale vs. Dallas Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Fort Lauderdale instead of Dallas, you would:

pay 5.7% more for restaurants

 
Dallas
Fort Lauderdale
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant $20.00
 
$25.00
 
Fast food combo meal
McDonalds, or similar
$12.00
 
$11.98
 
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz) $2.75
 
$2.96
 

Improve prices ·

pay 14.7% more for groceries

 
Dallas
Fort Lauderdale
Bread
1 loaf
$3.71
 
$4.48
 
Local cheese (8 oz) $6.58
 
$8.26
 
Milk (1 gallon) $3.63
 
$3.68
 

Improve prices ·

pay 9.2% less for transportation

 
Dallas
Fort Lauderdale
Gasoline (1 gallon) $3.05
 
$3.26
 
Monthly public transit pass $94.00
 
$72.50
 
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition) $36,755.39
 
$29,003.00
 

Improve prices ·

pay 12.2% more for housing

 
Dallas
Fort Lauderdale
Internet connection
50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl
$71.96
 
$70.00
 
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area $1,669.75
 
$2,380.22
 
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center $1,536.04
 
$1,983.11
 

Improve prices ·

pay 11.6% more for childcare

 
Dallas
Fort Lauderdale
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly $1,151.88
 
$816.67
 
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters $24,380.00
 
$37,150.00
 

Improve prices ·

pay 7.8% more for entertainment and sports

 
Dallas
Fort Lauderdale
Domestic/local beer (1 pint) $7.00
 
$5.00
 
Cappuccino in mid-range area $5.63
 
$5.14
 
Pack of cigarettes
Marlboro or similar
$10.00
 
$10.50
 

Improve prices ·

pay 14.0% less for clothing

 
Dallas
Fort Lauderdale
Regular jeans
Levi's brand
$55.69
 
$47.50
 
Regular dress
from H&M or similar store
$48.92
 
$43.75
 
Running shoes
Nike or Adidas
$110.63
 
$93.33
 

Improve prices ·
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
Share this

Help us improve these prices

MyLifeElsewhere is a collaborative project. Please enter price information for your location to help assist us in making these comparisons more accurate. Learn more

ASK THE ELSEWHERE COMMUNITY

Join the Elsewhere community and ask a question about Fort Lauderdale or Dallas. It's a free, question-and-answer based forum to discuss what life is like in countries and cities around the world.