Cost of living comparison
compared to
San Jose vs. New York City Cost of Living Summary
San Jose is 9.0% cheaper than New York City.
San Jose vs. New York City Cost Breakdown
If you lived in San Jose instead of New York City, you would:
pay 5.4% less for restaurants
|
New York City
|
San Jose
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant |
$25.00
|
$20.50
|
|
|
Fast food combo meal
McDonalds, or similar
|
$13.00
|
$12.00
|
|
| Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz) |
$3.09
|
$3.42
|
|
| Bottle of water (11 fl. oz) |
$2.61
|
$2.44
|
|
New York City vs. San Jose - Cost of restaurants
pay 4.9% more for groceries
|
New York City
|
San Jose
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Bread
1 loaf
|
$4.75
|
$5.00
|
|
| Local cheese (8 oz) |
$8.89
|
$11.39
|
|
| Milk (1 gallon) |
$6.05
|
$5.64
|
|
|
Eggs
1 dozen
|
$7.20
|
$5.40
|
|
| Boneless chicken breast (1 lb) |
$7.07
|
$6.98
|
|
| Apples (1 lb) |
$3.29
|
$2.95
|
|
| Bananas (1 lb) |
$1.08
|
$1.18
|
|
| Oranges (1 lb) |
$2.60
|
$2.62
|
|
| Tomatoes (1 lb) |
$2.68
|
$3.01
|
|
| Potatoes (1 lb) |
$1.63
|
$1.94
|
|
| Onions (1 lb) |
$1.78
|
$2.19
|
|
New York City vs. San Jose - Cost of groceries
pay 2.3% less for transportation
|
New York City
|
San Jose
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Gasoline (1 gallon) |
$3.47
|
$4.84
|
|
| Monthly public transit pass |
$132.00
|
$90.00
|
|
| New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition) |
$36,344.69
|
$36,753.89
|
|
| Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles) |
$22.39
|
$18.41
|
|
New York City vs. San Jose - Cost of transportation
pay 7.5% more for housing
|
New York City
|
San Jose
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Internet connection
50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl
|
$67.59
|
$70.13
|
|
| 1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area |
$4,037.06
|
$2,916.67
|
|
| 1-Bedroom apartment outside city center |
$2,496.67
|
$2,700.00
|
|
|
Utilities for two
(700 sq ft apartment)
including electric, gas, water, heating
|
$151.98
|
$221.60
|
|
New York City vs. San Jose - Cost of housing
pay 35.6% less for childcare
|
New York City
|
San Jose
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Private preschool for 1 child, monthly |
$3,154.10
|
$1,866.67
|
|
| Middle school for 1 child, two semesters |
$57,250.00
|
$39,800.00
|
|
New York City vs. San Jose - Cost of childcare
pay 13.8% less for entertainment and sports
|
New York City
|
San Jose
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Domestic/local beer (1 pint) |
$8.00
|
$9.00
|
|
| Cappuccino in mid-range area |
$5.71
|
$5.83
|
|
|
Pack of cigarettes
Marlboro or similar
|
$19.00
|
$11.50
|
|
| Monthly membership at local gym |
$150.04
|
$113.89
|
|
| Movie ticket to theater/cinema |
$20.00
|
$16.00
|
|
New York City vs. San Jose - Cost of entertainment and sports
pay 18.4% less for clothing
|
New York City
|
San Jose
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Regular jeans
Levi's brand
|
$67.80
|
$56.50
|
|
|
Regular dress
from H&M or similar store
|
$49.94
|
$46.00
|
|
|
Running shoes
Nike or Adidas
|
$115.58
|
$88.89
|
|
| Men's business shoes (leather) |
$168.76
|
$125.00
|
|
New York City vs. San Jose - Cost of clothing
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: April 2026
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