Cost of living comparison
compared to
San Jose vs. Long Beach Cost of Living Summary
San Jose is 25.7% more expensive than Long Beach.
San Jose vs. Long Beach Cost Breakdown
If you lived in San Jose instead of Long Beach, you would:
pay 0.1% more for restaurants
|
Long Beach
|
San Jose
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant |
$20.00
|
$22.00
|
|
|
Fast food combo meal
McDonalds, or similar
|
$13.50
|
$12.00
|
|
| Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz) |
$3.11
|
$3.13
|
|
| Bottle of water (11 fl. oz) |
$2.43
|
$2.40
|
|
Long Beach vs. San Jose - Cost of restaurants
pay 21.7% more for groceries
|
Long Beach
|
San Jose
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Bread
1 loaf
|
$4.05
|
$4.44
|
|
| Local cheese (8 oz) |
$6.48
|
$9.82
|
|
| Milk (1 gallon) |
$4.05
|
$6.38
|
|
|
Eggs
1 dozen
|
$4.69
|
$5.84
|
|
| Boneless chicken breast (1 lb) |
$6.42
|
$6.46
|
|
| Apples (1 lb) |
$2.12
|
$2.39
|
|
| Bananas (1 lb) |
$0.77
|
$0.90
|
|
| Oranges (1 lb) |
$1.99
|
$2.49
|
|
| Tomatoes (1 lb) |
$2.25
|
$2.50
|
|
| Potatoes (1 lb) |
$1.45
|
$1.61
|
|
| Onions (1 lb) |
$1.03
|
$1.34
|
|
Long Beach vs. San Jose - Cost of groceries
pay 11.2% more for transportation
|
Long Beach
|
San Jose
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Gasoline (1 gallon) |
$5.79
|
$5.87
|
|
| Monthly public transit pass |
$69.00
|
$90.00
|
|
| New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition) |
$36,998.00
|
$36,998.00
|
|
| Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles) |
$19.48
|
$27.50
|
|
Long Beach vs. San Jose - Cost of transportation
pay 48.6% more for housing
|
Long Beach
|
San Jose
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Internet connection
50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl
|
$59.29
|
$83.15
|
|
| 1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area |
$2,060.00
|
$3,085.56
|
|
| 1-Bedroom apartment outside city center |
$1,832.00
|
$2,630.00
|
|
|
Utilities for two
(700 sq ft apartment)
including electric, gas, water, heating
|
$128.61
|
$209.55
|
|
Long Beach vs. San Jose - Cost of housing
pay 2.6% more for childcare
|
Long Beach
|
San Jose
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Private preschool for 1 child, monthly |
$1,900.00
|
$1,822.00
|
|
| Middle school for 1 child, two semesters |
$36,280.62
|
$39,800.00
|
|
Long Beach vs. San Jose - Cost of childcare
pay 46.2% more for entertainment and sports
|
Long Beach
|
San Jose
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Domestic/local beer (1 pint) |
$7.50
|
$9.00
|
|
| Cappuccino in mid-range area |
$5.92
|
$5.80
|
|
|
Pack of cigarettes
Marlboro or similar
|
$11.71
|
$11.71
|
|
| Monthly membership at local gym |
$40.20
|
$143.17
|
|
| Movie ticket to theater/cinema |
$15.10
|
$17.00
|
|
Long Beach vs. San Jose - Cost of entertainment and sports
pay 4.6% more for clothing
|
Long Beach
|
San Jose
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Regular jeans
Levi's brand
|
$57.50
|
$59.81
|
|
|
Regular dress
from H&M or similar store
|
$40.00
|
$51.33
|
|
|
Running shoes
Nike or Adidas
|
$92.50
|
$100.40
|
|
| Men's business shoes (leather) |
$144.96
|
$119.91
|
|
Long Beach vs. San Jose - 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 October 2026). How we calculate this
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