Boulder vs. Dayton Cost of Living Summary

Boulder is 74.8% more expensive than Dayton.

Restaurants
pay 42.1% more in Boulder
Groceries
pay 3.9% more in Boulder
Transportation
pay 29.7% more in Boulder
Housing
pay 46.0% more in Boulder
Childcare
pay 4.5 times more in Boulder
Entertainment and Sports
pay 51.1% more in Boulder
Clothing
pay 3.5% more in Boulder

The cost of childcare, entertainment and sports, housing, restaurants, transportation, and groceries in Boulder are more expensive than in Dayton. Notably, childcare is significantly more expensive in Boulder.

Boulder vs. Dayton Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Boulder instead of Dayton, you would:

pay 42.1% more for restaurants

 
Dayton
Boulder
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant $15.00
 
$25.00
 
Fast food combo meal
McDonalds, or similar
$10.00
 
$11.00
 
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz) $2.35
 
$3.75
 

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pay 3.9% more for groceries

 
Dayton
Boulder
Bread
1 loaf
$2.60
 
$3.61
 
Local cheese (8 oz) $5.69
 
$6.61
 
Milk (1 gallon) $2.81
 
$3.82
 

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pay 29.7% more for transportation

 
Dayton
Boulder
Gasoline (1 gallon) $3.08
 
$3.08
 
Monthly public transit pass $60.00
 
$150.00
 
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition) $36,111.63
 
$36,029.12
 

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pay 46.0% more for housing

 
Dayton
Boulder
Internet connection
50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl
$58.60
 
$71.67
 
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area $1,225.00
 
$2,100.00
 
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center $935.00
 
$1,833.33
 

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pay 4.5 times more for childcare

 
Dayton
Boulder
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly $550.00
 
$1,546.67
 
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters $5,000.00
 
$30,700.00
 

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pay 51.1% more for entertainment and sports

 
Dayton
Boulder
Domestic/local beer (1 pint) $4.25
 
$6.25
 
Cappuccino in mid-range area $4.13
 
$5.62
 
Pack of cigarettes
Marlboro or similar
$9.29
 
$10.00
 

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pay 3.5% more for clothing

 
Dayton
Boulder
Regular jeans
Levi's brand
$47.25
 
$58.08
 
Regular dress
from H&M or similar store
$52.00
 
$37.50
 
Running shoes
Nike or Adidas
$75.00
 
$91.67
 

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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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