Cost of living comparison

compared to

Palo Alto vs. London Cost of Living Summary

Palo Alto is 17.1% more expensive than London.

Restaurants: pay 13.3% more in Palo Alto
Groceries: pay 85.6% more in Palo Alto
Transportation: pay 34.4% less in Palo Alto
Housing: pay 20.6% more in Palo Alto
Childcare: pay 30.5% more in Palo Alto
Entertainment and Sports: pay 30.4% more in Palo Alto
Clothing: pay 26.3% less in Palo Alto

The cost of groceries, childcare, entertainment and sports, housing, and restaurants in Palo Alto are more expensive than in London. Expenses including transportation and clothing are lower in Palo Alto. Notably, groceries is significantly more expensive in Palo Alto.

Palo Alto vs. London Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Palo Alto instead of London, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 13.3% more for restaurants

	London	Palo Alto
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$26.73 £20.18	$30.00	+12.2%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$11.02 £8.33	$12.00	+8.8%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$3.12 £2.36	$3.30	+5.7%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$1.93 £1.45	$2.44	+26.5%
Average			+13.3%

London vs. Palo Alto - Cost of restaurants

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pay 85.6% more for groceries

	London	Palo Alto
Bread 1 loaf	$2.16 £1.63	$5.06	+134.6%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$5.54 £4.18	$11.39	+105.7%
Milk (1 gallon)	$6.58 £4.97	$5.85	-11.0%
Eggs 1 dozen	$5.02 £3.79	$6.26	+24.8%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$3.95 £2.98	$6.63	+67.8%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.53 £1.15	$3.22	+111.3%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.83 £0.63	$1.18	+40.9%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.44 £1.09	$2.37	+64.6%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.64 £1.24	$3.01	+83.3%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.76 £0.57	$1.94	+155.8%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.83 £0.63	$2.19	+163.5%
Average			+85.6%

London vs. Palo Alto - Cost of groceries

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pay 34.4% less for transportation

	London	Palo Alto
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$7.12 £5.38	$4.84	-32.0%
Monthly public transit pass	$240.54 £181.65	$90.00	-62.6%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$37,798.76 £28,544.87	$36,753.89	-2.8%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$31.75 £23.98	$19.06	-40.0%
Average			-34.4%

London vs. Palo Alto - Cost of transportation

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pay 20.6% more for housing

	London	Palo Alto
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$42.83 £32.34	$68.78	+60.6%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$3,083.09 £2,328.29	$3,600.00	+16.8%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$2,340.14 £1,767.22	$3,148.75	+34.6%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$255.85 £193.21	$179.63	-29.8%
Average			+20.6%

London vs. Palo Alto - Cost of housing

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pay 30.5% more for childcare

	London	Palo Alto
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$2,480.84 £1,873.48	$2,823.00	+13.8%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$28,512.27 £21,531.90	$42,000.00	+47.3%
Average			+30.5%

London vs. Palo Alto - Cost of childcare

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pay 30.4% more for entertainment and sports

	London	Palo Alto
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$8.69 £6.56	$8.00	-7.9%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$5.21 £3.93	$5.83	+11.9%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$22.72 £17.16	$11.50	-49.4%
Monthly membership at local gym	$64.95 £49.05	$206.33	+217.7%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$20.05 £15.14	$16.00	-20.2%
Average			+30.4%

London vs. Palo Alto - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 26.3% less for clothing

	London	Palo Alto
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$116.11 £87.68	$67.50	-41.9%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$52.02 £39.29	$46.00	-11.6%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$125.96 £95.13	$88.89	-29.4%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$160.88 £121.49	$125.00	-22.3%
Average			-26.3%

London vs. Palo Alto - Cost of clothing

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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: December 2025

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