Cost of living comparison
compared to
Palo Alto vs. Durham Cost of Living Summary
Palo Alto is 68.0% more expensive than Durham.
Palo Alto vs. Durham Cost Breakdown
If you lived in Palo Alto instead of Durham, you would:
pay 39.7% more for restaurants
|
Durham
|
Palo Alto
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant |
$15.00
|
$30.00
|
|
|
Fast food combo meal
McDonalds, or similar
|
$10.00
|
$12.00
|
|
| Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz) |
$2.79
|
$3.30
|
|
| Bottle of water (11 fl. oz) |
$2.02
|
$2.44
|
|
Durham vs. Palo Alto - Cost of restaurants
pay 6.7% more for groceries
|
Durham
|
Palo Alto
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Bread
1 loaf
|
$4.55
|
$5.06
|
|
| Local cheese (8 oz) |
$9.88
|
$11.39
|
|
| Milk (1 gallon) |
$4.35
|
$5.85
|
|
|
Eggs
1 dozen
|
$5.42
|
$6.26
|
|
| Boneless chicken breast (1 lb) |
$8.75
|
$6.63
|
|
| Apples (1 lb) |
$3.31
|
$3.22
|
|
| Bananas (1 lb) |
$1.17
|
$1.18
|
|
| Oranges (1 lb) |
$1.47
|
$2.37
|
|
| Tomatoes (1 lb) |
$3.01
|
$3.01
|
|
| Potatoes (1 lb) |
$3.62
|
$1.94
|
|
| Onions (1 lb) |
$2.01
|
$2.19
|
|
Durham vs. Palo Alto - Cost of groceries
pay 2.1 times more for transportation
|
Durham
|
Palo Alto
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Gasoline (1 gallon) |
$3.05
|
$4.84
|
|
| Monthly public transit pass |
$25.00
|
$90.00
|
|
| New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition) |
$35,000.00
|
$36,753.89
|
|
| Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles) | ?? |
$19.06
|
|
Durham vs. Palo Alto - Cost of transportation
pay 58.5% more for housing
|
Durham
|
Palo Alto
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Internet connection
50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl
|
$59.17
|
$68.78
|
|
| 1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area |
$1,850.00
|
$3,600.00
|
|
| 1-Bedroom apartment outside city center |
$1,433.33
|
$3,148.75
|
|
|
Utilities for two
(700 sq ft apartment)
including electric, gas, water, heating
|
$173.52
|
$179.63
|
|
Durham vs. Palo Alto - Cost of housing
pay 2.1 times more for childcare
|
Durham
|
Palo Alto
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Private preschool for 1 child, monthly |
$1,318.67
|
$2,823.00
|
|
| Middle school for 1 child, two semesters | ?? |
$42,000.00
|
|
Durham vs. Palo Alto - Cost of childcare
pay 97.3% more for entertainment and sports
|
Durham
|
Palo Alto
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Domestic/local beer (1 pint) |
$6.00
|
$8.00
|
|
| Cappuccino in mid-range area |
$4.83
|
$5.83
|
|
|
Pack of cigarettes
Marlboro or similar
|
$9.00
|
$11.50
|
|
| Monthly membership at local gym |
$43.75
|
$206.33
|
|
| Movie ticket to theater/cinema |
$12.00
|
$16.00
|
|
Durham vs. Palo Alto - Cost of entertainment and sports
pay 51.5% more for clothing
|
Durham
|
Palo Alto
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Regular jeans
Levi's brand
|
$36.66
|
$67.50
|
|
|
Regular dress
from H&M or similar store
|
$22.33
|
$46.00
|
|
|
Running shoes
Nike or Adidas
|
$95.50
|
$88.89
|
|
| Men's business shoes (leather) |
$101.67
|
$125.00
|
|
Durham vs. Palo Alto - 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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