Cost of living comparison
compared to
San Mateo vs. Ithaca Cost of Living Summary
San Mateo is 45.4% more expensive than Ithaca.
San Mateo vs. Ithaca Cost Breakdown
If you lived in San Mateo instead of Ithaca, you would:
pay 14.7% more for restaurants
|
Ithaca
|
San Mateo
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant |
$20.00
|
$22.00
|
|
|
Fast food combo meal
McDonalds, or similar
|
$11.00
|
$13.00
|
|
| Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz) |
$2.71
|
$3.12
|
|
| Bottle of water (11 fl. oz) |
$2.02
|
$2.34
|
|
Ithaca vs. San Mateo - Cost of restaurants
pay 57.1% more for groceries
|
Ithaca
|
San Mateo
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Bread
1 loaf
|
$3.93
|
$5.11
|
|
| Local cheese (8 oz) |
$7.27
|
$7.44
|
|
| Milk (1 gallon) |
$3.81
|
$6.00
|
|
|
Eggs
1 dozen
|
$4.04
|
$8.00
|
|
| Boneless chicken breast (1 lb) |
$2.99
|
$9.67
|
|
| Apples (1 lb) |
$2.27
|
$3.00
|
|
| Bananas (1 lb) |
$0.73
|
$0.90
|
|
| Oranges (1 lb) |
$2.63
|
$1.75
|
|
| Tomatoes (1 lb) |
$2.17
|
$3.33
|
|
| Potatoes (1 lb) |
$1.22
|
$2.70
|
|
| Onions (1 lb) |
$1.64
|
$2.00
|
|
Ithaca vs. San Mateo - Cost of groceries
pay 29.9% more for transportation
|
Ithaca
|
San Mateo
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Gasoline (1 gallon) |
$3.30
|
$4.76
|
|
| Monthly public transit pass |
$45.00
|
$65.60
|
|
| New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition) |
$36,787.68
|
$36,753.89
|
|
| Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles) |
$16.15
|
?? | |
Ithaca vs. San Mateo - Cost of transportation
pay 70.3% more for housing
|
Ithaca
|
San Mateo
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Internet connection
50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl
|
$64.97
|
$63.00
|
|
| 1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area |
$1,783.33
|
$2,743.33
|
|
| 1-Bedroom apartment outside city center |
$1,166.67
|
$2,855.00
|
|
|
Utilities for two
(700 sq ft apartment)
including electric, gas, water, heating
|
$104.95
|
$194.97
|
|
Ithaca vs. San Mateo - Cost of housing
pay 2.1 times more for childcare
|
Ithaca
|
San Mateo
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Private preschool for 1 child, monthly |
$1,712.50
|
$2,823.00
|
|
| Middle school for 1 child, two semesters |
$17,000.00
|
$42,750.00
|
|
Ithaca vs. San Mateo - Cost of childcare
pay 41.5% more for entertainment and sports
|
Ithaca
|
San Mateo
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Domestic/local beer (1 pint) |
$5.00
|
$7.00
|
|
| Cappuccino in mid-range area |
$5.00
|
$5.20
|
|
|
Pack of cigarettes
Marlboro or similar
|
$8.99
|
$8.50
|
|
| Monthly membership at local gym |
$42.50
|
$95.00
|
|
| Movie ticket to theater/cinema |
$11.00
|
$15.99
|
|
Ithaca vs. San Mateo - Cost of entertainment and sports
pay 4.1% less for clothing
|
Ithaca
|
San Mateo
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Regular jeans
Levi's brand
|
$43.50
|
$60.00
|
|
|
Regular dress
from H&M or similar store
|
$39.77
|
$25.00
|
|
|
Running shoes
Nike or Adidas
|
$80.00
|
$101.67
|
|
| Men's business shoes (leather) |
$107.83
|
$60.00
|
|
Ithaca vs. San Mateo - 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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