Cost of living comparison
compared to
Washington vs. East Lansing Cost of Living Summary
Washington is 88.1% more expensive than East Lansing.
Washington vs. East Lansing Cost Breakdown
If you lived in Washington instead of East Lansing, you would:
pay 39.2% more for restaurants
|
East Lansing
|
Washington
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant |
$16.50
|
$28.00
|
|
|
Fast food combo meal
McDonalds, or similar
|
$12.00
|
$12.00
|
|
| Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz) |
$2.51
|
$3.17
|
|
| Bottle of water (11 fl. oz) |
$2.17
|
$2.64
|
|
East Lansing vs. Washington - Cost of restaurants
pay 26.7% more for groceries
|
East Lansing
|
Washington
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Bread
1 loaf
|
$2.95
|
$4.11
|
|
| Local cheese (8 oz) |
$5.51
|
$8.53
|
|
| Milk (1 gallon) |
$3.06
|
$4.95
|
|
|
Eggs
1 dozen
|
$2.79
|
$5.64
|
|
| Boneless chicken breast (1 lb) |
$7.75
|
$7.63
|
|
| Apples (1 lb) |
$2.45
|
$3.17
|
|
| Bananas (1 lb) |
$0.70
|
$1.06
|
|
| Oranges (1 lb) |
$3.00
|
$2.27
|
|
| Tomatoes (1 lb) |
$1.62
|
$2.64
|
|
| Potatoes (1 lb) |
$2.60
|
$1.29
|
|
| Onions (1 lb) |
$2.54
|
$1.73
|
|
East Lansing vs. Washington - Cost of groceries
pay 26.8% more for transportation
|
East Lansing
|
Washington
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Gasoline (1 gallon) |
$3.74
|
$4.19
|
|
| Monthly public transit pass |
$50.00
|
$120.00
|
|
| New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition) |
$34,000.00
|
$36,375.00
|
|
| Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles) |
$34.85
|
$16.73
|
|
East Lansing vs. Washington - Cost of transportation
pay 70.2% more for housing
|
East Lansing
|
Washington
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Internet connection
50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl
|
$63.33
|
$77.77
|
|
| 1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area |
$1,207.50
|
$2,717.33
|
|
| 1-Bedroom apartment outside city center |
$1,045.75
|
$2,228.89
|
|
|
Utilities for two
(700 sq ft apartment)
including electric, gas, water, heating
|
$134.29
|
$161.22
|
|
East Lansing vs. Washington - Cost of housing
pay 4.3 times more for childcare
|
East Lansing
|
Washington
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Private preschool for 1 child, monthly |
$648.50
|
$3,221.33
|
|
| Middle school for 1 child, two semesters |
$11,136.00
|
$41,506.00
|
|
East Lansing vs. Washington - Cost of childcare
pay 83.2% more for entertainment and sports
|
East Lansing
|
Washington
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Domestic/local beer (1 pint) |
$5.00
|
$9.00
|
|
| Cappuccino in mid-range area |
$5.40
|
$6.15
|
|
|
Pack of cigarettes
Marlboro or similar
|
$9.52
|
$13.94
|
|
| Monthly membership at local gym |
$36.67
|
$114.30
|
|
| Movie ticket to theater/cinema |
$11.00
|
$18.00
|
|
East Lansing vs. Washington - Cost of entertainment and sports
pay 36.0% more for clothing
|
East Lansing
|
Washington
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Regular jeans
Levi's brand
|
$55.00
|
$71.42
|
|
|
Regular dress
from H&M or similar store
|
$37.50
|
$44.11
|
|
|
Running shoes
Nike or Adidas
|
$70.00
|
$104.50
|
|
| Men's business shoes (leather) |
$85.00
|
$125.16
|
|
East Lansing vs. Washington - 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: October 2026
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