San Rafael vs. Fayetteville Cost of Living Summary

San Rafael is 65.3% more expensive than Fayetteville.

Restaurants
pay 25.6% more in San Rafael
Groceries
pay 70.0% more in San Rafael
Transportation
pay 24.8% more in San Rafael
Housing
pay 2.2 times more in San Rafael
Childcare
pay 64.3% more in San Rafael
Entertainment and Sports
pay 42.9% more in San Rafael
Clothing
pay 18.8% more in San Rafael

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

San Rafael vs. Fayetteville Cost Breakdown

If you lived in San Rafael instead of Fayetteville, you would:

pay 25.6% more for restaurants

 
Fayetteville
San Rafael
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant $18.25
 
$25.00
 
Fast food combo meal
McDonalds, or similar
$12.00
 
$11.89
 
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz) $2.27
 
$3.00
 

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pay 70.0% more for groceries

 
Fayetteville
San Rafael
Bread
1 loaf
$3.71
 
$4.57
 
Local cheese (8 oz) $5.06
 
$11.51
 
Milk (1 gallon) $3.19
 
$5.52
 

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pay 24.8% more for transportation

 
Fayetteville
San Rafael
Gasoline (1 gallon) $3.70
 
$5.36
 
Monthly public transit pass ?? $65.00
 
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition) $35,535.00
 
$32,500.00
 

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pay 2.2 times more for housing

 
Fayetteville
San Rafael
Internet connection
50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl
$63.16
 
$61.25
 
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area $1,215.00
 
$3,100.00
 
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center $1,280.00
 
$3,166.67
 

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pay 64.3% more for childcare

 
Fayetteville
San Rafael
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly $771.67
 
$2,117.50
 
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters $25,000.00
 
$24,600.00
 

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pay 42.9% more for entertainment and sports

 
Fayetteville
San Rafael
Domestic/local beer (1 pint) $5.00
 
$5.50
 
Cappuccino in mid-range area $4.90
 
$4.75
 
Pack of cigarettes
Marlboro or similar
$8.99
 
$11.00
 

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pay 18.8% more for clothing

 
Fayetteville
San Rafael
Regular jeans
Levi's brand
$51.50
 
$60.00
 
Regular dress
from H&M or similar store
$37.25
 
$42.33
 
Running shoes
Nike or Adidas
$70.00
 
$95.25
 

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We average the price of thousands of data points entered by users across the world. Sources: MyLifeElsewhere's cost-of-living dataset (prices updated November 2026). How we calculate this

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