Cost of living comparison

compared to

United States vs. Palo Alto Cost of Living Summary

United States is 26.8% cheaper than Palo Alto.

Restaurants: pay 20.7% less in United States
Groceries: pay 29.4% less in United States
Transportation: pay 19.0% less in United States
Housing: pay 31.2% less in United States
Childcare: pay 47.8% less in United States
Entertainment and Sports: pay 28.5% less in United States
Clothing: pay 11.3% less in United States

Expenses including childcare, housing, groceries, entertainment and sports, restaurants, and transportation are lower in United States.

United States vs. Palo Alto Cost Breakdown

If you lived in United States instead of Palo Alto, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 20.7% less for restaurants

	Palo Alto	United States
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$30.00	$19.45	-35.2%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$12.00	$11.12	-7.3%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$3.30	$2.56	-22.5%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$2.44	$2.00	-17.8%
Average			-20.7%

Palo Alto vs. United States - Cost of restaurants

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pay 29.4% less for groceries

	Palo Alto	United States
Bread 1 loaf	$5.06	$3.56	-29.7%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$11.39	$6.50	-42.9%
Milk (1 gallon)	$5.85	$3.97	-32.1%
Eggs 1 dozen	$6.26	$4.27	-31.8%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$6.63	$5.41	-18.5%
Apples (1 lb)	$3.22	$2.37	-26.5%
Bananas (1 lb)	$1.18	$0.78	-33.4%
Oranges (1 lb)	$2.37	$2.04	-14.0%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$3.01	$2.21	-26.5%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$1.94	$1.34	-30.6%
Onions (1 lb)	$2.19	$1.38	-36.9%
Average			-29.4%

Palo Alto vs. United States - Cost of groceries

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pay 19.0% less for transportation

	Palo Alto	United States
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$4.84	$3.41	-29.5%
Monthly public transit pass	$90.00	$65.85	-26.8%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$36,753.89	$32,336.38	-12.0%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$19.06	$17.61	-7.6%
Average			-19.0%

Palo Alto vs. United States - Cost of transportation

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pay 31.2% less for housing

	Palo Alto	United States
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$68.78	$68.97	+0.3%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$3,600.00	$1,664.59	-53.8%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$3,148.75	$1,416.15	-55.0%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$179.63	$150.19	-16.4%
Average			-31.2%

Palo Alto vs. United States - Cost of housing

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pay 47.8% less for childcare

	Palo Alto	United States
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$2,823.00	$1,387.27	-50.9%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$42,000.00	$23,196.46	-44.8%
Average			-47.8%

Palo Alto vs. United States - Cost of childcare

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pay 28.5% less for entertainment and sports

	Palo Alto	United States
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$8.00	$5.84	-27.1%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$5.83	$5.15	-11.6%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$11.50	$9.90	-13.9%
Monthly membership at local gym	$206.33	$51.45	-75.1%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$16.00	$13.64	-14.8%
Average			-28.5%

Palo Alto vs. United States - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 11.3% less for clothing

	Palo Alto	United States
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$67.50	$51.08	-24.3%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$46.00	$41.81	-9.1%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$88.89	$87.56	-1.5%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$125.00	$112.04	-10.4%
Average			-11.3%

Palo Alto vs. United States - Cost of clothing

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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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