Cost of living comparison

United States

compared to

Netherlands

Amsterdam vs. Palo Alto Cost of Living Summary

Amsterdam is 2.6% more expensive than Palo Alto.

Restaurants: pay 15.4% more in Amsterdam
Groceries: pay 31.4% less in Amsterdam
Transportation: pay 50.9% more in Amsterdam
Housing: pay 14.0% less in Amsterdam
Childcare: pay 24.3% less in Amsterdam
Entertainment and Sports: pay 10.7% less in Amsterdam
Clothing: pay 32.5% more in Amsterdam

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

Planning a move to Netherlands? Get up to 5 free, no-obligation quotes from vetted international movers. Get free quotes →

Amsterdam vs. Palo Alto Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 15.4% more for restaurants

	Palo Alto	Amsterdam
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$30.00	$23.36 €20.42	-22.1%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$12.00	$16.35 €14.30	+36.3%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$3.30	$3.72 €3.26	+12.8%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$2.44	$3.28 €2.87	+34.7%
Average			+15.4%

Palo Alto vs. Amsterdam - Cost of restaurants

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 31.4% less for groceries

	Palo Alto	Amsterdam
Bread 1 loaf	$5.06	$2.71 €2.37	-46.5%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$11.39	$7.72 €6.75	-32.3%
Milk (1 gallon)	$5.85	$6.24 €5.46	+6.6%
Eggs 1 dozen	$6.26	$5.27 €4.61	-15.8%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$6.63	$6.35 €5.55	-4.2%
Apples (1 lb)	$3.22	$1.42 €1.24	-56.0%
Bananas (1 lb)	$1.18	$1.18 €1.03	+0.3%
Oranges (1 lb)	$2.37	$1.04 €0.91	-56.0%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$3.01	$2.09 €1.83	-30.5%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$1.94	$0.94 €0.82	-51.5%
Onions (1 lb)	$2.19	$0.88 €0.77	-59.9%
Average			-31.4%

Palo Alto vs. Amsterdam - Cost of groceries

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 50.9% more for transportation

	Palo Alto	Amsterdam
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$4.84	$8.77 €7.67	+81.3%
Monthly public transit pass	$90.00	$116.79 €102.12	+29.8%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$36,753.89	$44,381.38 €38,805.08	+20.8%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$19.06	$32.69 €28.58	+71.5%
Average			+50.9%

Palo Alto vs. Amsterdam - Cost of transportation

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 14.0% less for housing

	Palo Alto	Amsterdam
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$68.78	$52.20 €45.64	-24.1%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$3,600.00	$2,488.65 €2,175.96	-30.9%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$3,148.75	$2,040.62 €1,784.22	-35.2%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$179.63	$241.43 €211.09	+34.4%
Average			-14.0%

Palo Alto vs. Amsterdam - Cost of housing

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 24.3% less for childcare

	Palo Alto	Amsterdam
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$2,823.00	$2,924.24 €2,556.83	+3.6%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$42,000.00	$20,029.43 €17,512.83	-52.3%
Average			-24.3%

Palo Alto vs. Amsterdam - Cost of childcare

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 10.7% less for entertainment and sports

	Palo Alto	Amsterdam
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$8.00	$7.59 €6.64	-5.1%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$5.83	$5.05 €4.41	-13.4%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$11.50	$14.60 €12.76	+26.9%
Monthly membership at local gym	$206.33	$58.91 €51.51	-71.4%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$16.00	$17.52 €15.32	+9.5%
Average			-10.7%

Palo Alto vs. Amsterdam - Cost of entertainment and sports

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 32.5% more for clothing

	Palo Alto	Amsterdam
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$67.50	$98.80 €86.39	+46.4%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$46.00	$53.66 €46.91	+16.6%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$88.89	$127.18 €111.20	+43.1%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$125.00	$154.92 €135.46	+23.9%
Average			+32.5%

Palo Alto vs. Amsterdam - Cost of clothing

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

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: July 2026

Compare further: Palo Alto vs. Amsterdam

Salary Calculator · Free tool

What salary would you need in Amsterdam?

More cost comparisons

Palo Alto vs.

Wellington

Palo Alto vs.

Moscow

Palo Alto vs.

Berlin

Palo Alto vs.

Rome

Palo Alto vs.

Algiers

Palo Alto vs.

Papeete

Palo Alto vs.

Paris

Palo Alto vs.

Kiev

Share this

Compare countries by overall cost of living

See the cost of living in United States vs. Netherlands. This provides a comparison of the average cost of living from cities within United States and Netherlands.

Help us improve these prices

MyLifeElsewhere is a collaborative project. Please enter price information for your location to help assist us in making these comparisons more accurate. Learn more

Add prices for Palo Alto

Add prices for Amsterdam

Ask the Elsewhere Community

Join the Elsewhere community and ask a question about Amsterdam or Palo Alto. It's a free, question-and-answer based forum to discuss what life is like in countries and cities around the world.