Cost of living comparison
compared to
San Mateo vs. Kalamazoo Cost of Living Summary
San Mateo is 78.4% more expensive than Kalamazoo.
San Mateo vs. Kalamazoo Cost Breakdown
If you lived in San Mateo instead of Kalamazoo, you would:
pay 3.5% more for restaurants
|
Kalamazoo
|
San Mateo
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant |
$25.00
|
$20.00
|
|
|
Fast food combo meal
McDonalds, or similar
|
$10.00
|
$13.00
|
|
| Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz) |
$2.51
|
$3.02
|
|
| Bottle of water (11 fl. oz) |
$2.14
|
$2.75
|
|
Kalamazoo vs. San Mateo - Cost of restaurants
pay 44.6% more for groceries
|
Kalamazoo
|
San Mateo
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Bread
1 loaf
|
$2.94
|
$5.88
|
|
| Local cheese (8 oz) |
$4.72
|
$6.80
|
|
| Milk (1 gallon) |
$2.82
|
$6.12
|
|
|
Eggs
1 dozen
|
$2.79
|
$7.39
|
|
| Boneless chicken breast (1 lb) |
$4.33
|
$8.50
|
|
| Apples (1 lb) |
$2.45
|
$2.73
|
|
| Bananas (1 lb) |
$0.60
|
$1.00
|
|
| Oranges (1 lb) |
$4.25
|
$1.83
|
|
| Tomatoes (1 lb) |
$2.55
|
$3.99
|
|
| Potatoes (1 lb) |
$1.30
|
$1.98
|
|
| Onions (1 lb) |
$1.50
|
$1.42
|
|
Kalamazoo vs. San Mateo - Cost of groceries
pay 33.8% more for transportation
|
Kalamazoo
|
San Mateo
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Gasoline (1 gallon) |
$3.60
|
$5.75
|
|
| Monthly public transit pass |
$60.00
|
$96.00
|
|
| New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition) |
$35,866.37
|
$36,753.89
|
|
| Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles) |
$19.91
|
$20.31
|
|
Kalamazoo vs. San Mateo - Cost of transportation
pay 2.7 times more for housing
|
Kalamazoo
|
San Mateo
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Internet connection
50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl
|
$94.65
|
$61.24
|
|
| 1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area |
$1,310.00
|
$3,458.33
|
|
| 1-Bedroom apartment outside city center |
$768.43
|
$2,743.00
|
|
|
Utilities for two
(700 sq ft apartment)
including electric, gas, water, heating
|
$90.12
|
$204.90
|
|
Kalamazoo vs. San Mateo - Cost of housing
pay 2.2 times more for childcare
|
Kalamazoo
|
San Mateo
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Private preschool for 1 child, monthly |
$1,638.33
|
$3,000.00
|
|
| Middle school for 1 child, two semesters |
$11,136.00
|
$29,000.00
|
|
Kalamazoo vs. San Mateo - Cost of childcare
pay 75.0% more for entertainment and sports
|
Kalamazoo
|
San Mateo
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Domestic/local beer (1 pint) |
$5.00
|
$8.25
|
|
| Cappuccino in mid-range area |
$5.04
|
$5.66
|
|
|
Pack of cigarettes
Marlboro or similar
|
$8.69
|
$11.71
|
|
| Monthly membership at local gym |
$41.00
|
$110.00
|
|
| Movie ticket to theater/cinema |
$9.50
|
$18.00
|
|
Kalamazoo vs. San Mateo - Cost of entertainment and sports
pay 41.8% more for clothing
|
Kalamazoo
|
San Mateo
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Regular jeans
Levi's brand
|
$53.33
|
$63.17
|
|
|
Regular dress
from H&M or similar store
|
$21.50
|
$46.63
|
|
|
Running shoes
Nike or Adidas
|
$108.33
|
$118.50
|
|
| Men's business shoes (leather) |
$95.00
|
$136.50
|
|
Kalamazoo vs. San Mateo - Cost of clothing
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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