Amherst vs. McKinney Cost of Living Summary

Amherst is 1.5% more expensive than McKinney.

Restaurants
pay 3.6% less in Amherst
Groceries
pay 22.8% more in Amherst
Transportation
pay 39.7% less in Amherst
Housing
pay 3.1% more in Amherst
Childcare
pay 12.0% more in Amherst
Entertainment and Sports
pay 34.8% more in Amherst
Clothing
pay 20.4% more in Amherst

The cost of entertainment and sports, groceries, clothing, childcare, and housing in Amherst are more expensive than in McKinney. Expenses including transportation and restaurants are lower in Amherst.

Amherst vs. McKinney Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Amherst instead of McKinney, you would:

pay 3.6% less for restaurants

 
McKinney
Amherst
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant $19.00
 
$20.00
 
Fast food combo meal
McDonalds, or similar
$11.00
 
$9.00
 
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz) $2.60
 
$2.65
 

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pay 22.8% more for groceries

 
McKinney
Amherst
Bread
1 loaf
$2.75
 
$3.27
 
Local cheese (8 oz) $5.14
 
$8.27
 
Milk (1 gallon) $3.75
 
$3.94
 

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pay 39.7% less for transportation

 
McKinney
Amherst
Gasoline (1 gallon) $3.39
 
$3.64
 
Monthly public transit pass $192.00
 
$28.00
 
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition) $36,232.00
 
$36,344.34
 

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pay 3.1% more for housing

 
McKinney
Amherst
Internet connection
50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl
$68.00
 
$89.37
 
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area $1,692.50
 
$1,825.00
 
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center $1,400.00
 
$1,333.33
 

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pay 12.0% more for childcare

 
McKinney
Amherst
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly $1,333.33
 
$1,493.75
 
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters ?? $17,000.00
 

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pay 34.8% more for entertainment and sports

 
McKinney
Amherst
Domestic/local beer (1 pint) $6.00
 
$6.00
 
Cappuccino in mid-range area $5.00
 
$4.75
 
Pack of cigarettes
Marlboro or similar
$11.00
 
$10.50
 

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pay 20.4% more for clothing

 
McKinney
Amherst
Regular jeans
Levi's brand
$56.00
 
$45.00
 
Regular dress
from H&M or similar store
$28.50
 
$39.77
 
Running shoes
Nike or Adidas
$86.25
 
$90.00
 

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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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