Cost of living comparison

Russia

compared to

United States

Santa Monica vs. Moscow Cost of Living Summary

Santa Monica is 97.2% more expensive than Moscow.

Restaurants: pay 2.2 times more in Santa Monica
Groceries: pay 2.2 times more in Santa Monica
Transportation: pay 42.8% more in Santa Monica
Housing: pay 2.6 times more in Santa Monica
Childcare: pay 58.8% more in Santa Monica
Entertainment and Sports: pay 90.2% more in Santa Monica
Clothing: pay 23.4% less in Santa Monica

The cost of housing, restaurants, groceries, entertainment and sports, childcare, and transportation in Santa Monica are more expensive than in Moscow. Notably, housing, restaurants, and groceries are significantly more expensive in Santa Monica.

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Santa Monica vs. Moscow Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Santa Monica instead of Moscow, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 2.2 times more for restaurants

	Moscow	Santa Monica
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$11.70 RUB966.60	$26.50	+126.5%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$7.02 RUB579.96	$15.00	+113.7%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.62 RUB133.67	$3.23	+99.7%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.84 RUB69.07	$2.38	+184.1%
Average			+124.2%

Moscow vs. Santa Monica - Cost of restaurants

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pay 2.2 times more for groceries

	Moscow	Santa Monica
Bread 1 loaf	$1.02 RUB84.09	$4.68	+360.3%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$7.14 RUB589.78	$7.99	+11.9%
Milk (1 gallon)	$4.61 RUB381.19	$5.24	+13.6%
Eggs 1 dozen	$1.86 RUB154.04	$5.84	+213.2%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.98 RUB246.54	$6.33	+112.3%
Apples (1 lb)	$0.93 RUB77.02	$2.15	+130.1%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.81 RUB67.24	$1.03	+26.3%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.90 RUB74.52	$1.83	+102.5%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.79 RUB147.60	$2.57	+44.0%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.41 RUB33.58	$1.46	+259.3%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.32 RUB26.73	$1.30	+300.6%
Average			+115.9%

Moscow vs. Santa Monica - Cost of groceries

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pay 42.8% more for transportation

	Moscow	Santa Monica
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$3.31 RUB273.63	$5.65	+70.6%
Monthly public transit pass	$40.65 RUB3,358.95	$67.50	+66.1%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$38,895.19 RUB3M	$36,998.00	-4.9%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$10.06 RUB831.28	$17.91	+78.1%
Average			+42.8%

Moscow vs. Santa Monica - Cost of transportation

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pay 2.6 times more for housing

	Moscow	Santa Monica
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$9.88 RUB816.43	$65.20	+559.9%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$1,454.91 RUB120K	$3,375.00	+132.0%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$804.40 RUB66,468.30	$2,833.33	+252.2%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$142.85 RUB11,803.57	$166.32	+16.4%
Average			+160.5%

Moscow vs. Santa Monica - Cost of housing

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pay 58.8% more for childcare

	Moscow	Santa Monica
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$809.00 RUB66,848.36	$1,676.09	+107.2%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$26,421.03 RUB2M	$32,155.00	+21.7%
Average			+58.8%

Moscow vs. Santa Monica - Cost of childcare

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pay 90.2% more for entertainment and sports

	Moscow	Santa Monica
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$4.68 RUB386.64	$8.00	+71.0%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.70 RUB305.66	$5.86	+58.5%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$3.45 RUB285.15	$11.71	+239.3%
Monthly membership at local gym	$42.01 RUB3,471.49	$72.00	+71.4%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$9.36 RUB773.28	$19.75	+111.0%
Average			+90.2%

Moscow vs. Santa Monica - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 23.4% less for clothing

	Moscow	Santa Monica
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$108.46 RUB8,962.59	$88.25	-18.6%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$62.47 RUB5,161.67	$55.00	-12.0%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$145.30 RUB12,006.61	$104.75	-27.9%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$180.19 RUB14,889.43	$120.00	-33.4%
Average			-23.4%

Moscow vs. Santa Monica - Cost of clothing

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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 October 2026). How we calculate this

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