Cost of living comparison
compared to
Madrid vs. Palo Alto Cost of Living Summary
Madrid is 30.5% cheaper than Palo Alto.
- Restaurants
-
pay 14.4% less in Madrid
- Groceries
-
pay 45.3% less in Madrid
- Transportation
-
pay 3.2% less in Madrid
- Housing
-
pay 46.5% less in Madrid
- Childcare
-
pay 72.5% less in Madrid
- Entertainment and Sports
-
pay 46.0% less in Madrid
- Clothing
-
pay 14.3% more in Madrid
Expenses including childcare, housing, entertainment and sports, groceries, restaurants, and transportation are lower in Madrid.
Madrid vs. Palo Alto Cost Breakdown
If you lived in Madrid instead of Palo Alto, you would:
pay 14.4% less for restaurants
|
Palo Alto
|
Madrid
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant |
$30.00
|
$18.10
€15.61
|
|
|
Fast food combo meal
McDonalds, or similar
|
$12.00
|
$11.68
€10.07
|
|
| Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz) |
$3.30
|
$3.13
€2.70
|
|
| Bottle of water (11 fl. oz) |
$2.44
|
$2.19
€1.89
|
|
Palo Alto vs. Madrid - Cost of restaurants
pay 45.3% less for groceries
|
Palo Alto
|
Madrid
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Bread
1 loaf
|
$5.06
|
$1.71
€1.48
|
|
| Local cheese (8 oz) |
$11.39
|
$7.25
€6.25
|
|
| Milk (1 gallon) |
$5.85
|
$4.61
€3.97
|
|
|
Eggs
1 dozen
|
$6.26
|
$3.36
€2.89
|
|
| Boneless chicken breast (1 lb) |
$6.63
|
$4.05
€3.50
|
|
| Apples (1 lb) |
$3.22
|
$1.18
€1.02
|
|
| Bananas (1 lb) |
$1.18
|
$1.02
€0.88
|
|
| Oranges (1 lb) |
$2.37
|
$1.19
€1.03
|
|
| Tomatoes (1 lb) |
$3.01
|
$1.26
€1.09
|
|
| Potatoes (1 lb) |
$1.94
|
$0.94
€0.81
|
|
| Onions (1 lb) |
$2.19
|
$1.01
€0.87
|
|
Palo Alto vs. Madrid - Cost of groceries
pay 3.2% less for transportation
|
Palo Alto
|
Madrid
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Gasoline (1 gallon) |
$4.84
|
$7.08
€6.10
|
|
| Monthly public transit pass |
$90.00
|
$45.84
€39.53
|
|
| New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition) |
$36,753.89
|
$38,541.72
€33,235.57
|
|
| Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles) |
$19.06
|
$16.23
€14.00
|
|
Palo Alto vs. Madrid - Cost of transportation
pay 46.5% less for housing
|
Palo Alto
|
Madrid
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Internet connection
50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl
|
$68.78
|
$34.54
€29.78
|
|
| 1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area |
$3,600.00
|
$1,540.98
€1,328.83
|
|
| 1-Bedroom apartment outside city center |
$3,148.75
|
$1,118.82
€964.79
|
|
|
Utilities for two
(700 sq ft apartment)
including electric, gas, water, heating
|
$179.63
|
$153.78
€132.61
|
|
Palo Alto vs. Madrid - Cost of housing
pay 72.5% less for childcare
|
Palo Alto
|
Madrid
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Private preschool for 1 child, monthly |
$2,823.00
|
$673.20
€580.51
|
|
| Middle school for 1 child, two semesters |
$42,000.00
|
$13,119.76
€11,313.52
|
|
Palo Alto vs. Madrid - Cost of childcare
pay 46.0% less for entertainment and sports
|
Palo Alto
|
Madrid
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Domestic/local beer (1 pint) |
$8.00
|
$4.50
€3.88
|
|
| Cappuccino in mid-range area |
$5.83
|
$3.20
€2.76
|
|
|
Pack of cigarettes
Marlboro or similar
|
$11.50
|
$7.01
€6.04
|
|
| Monthly membership at local gym |
$206.33
|
$51.05
€44.03
|
|
| Movie ticket to theater/cinema |
$16.00
|
$11.68
€10.07
|
|
Palo Alto vs. Madrid - Cost of entertainment and sports
pay 14.3% more for clothing
|
Palo Alto
|
Madrid
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Regular jeans
Levi's brand
|
$67.50
|
$98.88
€85.27
|
|
|
Regular dress
from H&M or similar store
|
$46.00
|
$41.27
€35.59
|
|
|
Running shoes
Nike or Adidas
|
$88.89
|
$107.49
€92.69
|
|
| Men's business shoes (leather) |
$125.00
|
$125.44
€108.17
|
|
Palo Alto vs. Madrid - 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: December 2025
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