Cost of living comparison
compared to
Washington vs. Palo Alto Cost of Living Summary
Washington is 7.6% cheaper than Palo Alto.
- Restaurants
-
pay 1.8% less in Washington
- Groceries
-
pay 15.9% less in Washington
- Transportation
-
pay 14.0% less in Washington
- Housing
-
pay 20.0% less in Washington
- Childcare
-
pay 5.2% less in Washington
- Entertainment and Sports
-
pay 7.0% less in Washington
- Clothing
-
pay 10.4% more in Washington
Expenses including housing, groceries, transportation, entertainment and sports, childcare, and restaurants are lower in Washington.
Washington vs. Palo Alto Cost Breakdown
If you lived in Washington instead of Palo Alto, you would:
pay 1.8% less for restaurants
|
Palo Alto
|
Washington
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant |
$30.00
|
$25.00
|
|
|
Fast food combo meal
McDonalds, or similar
|
$12.00
|
$12.00
|
|
| Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz) |
$3.30
|
$3.20
|
|
| Bottle of water (11 fl. oz) |
$2.44
|
$2.79
|
|
Palo Alto vs. Washington - Cost of restaurants
pay 15.9% less for groceries
|
Palo Alto
|
Washington
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Bread
1 loaf
|
$5.06
|
$4.43
|
|
| Local cheese (8 oz) |
$11.39
|
$8.04
|
|
| Milk (1 gallon) |
$5.85
|
$4.19
|
|
|
Eggs
1 dozen
|
$6.26
|
$4.55
|
|
| Boneless chicken breast (1 lb) |
$6.63
|
$7.74
|
|
| Apples (1 lb) |
$3.22
|
$2.95
|
|
| Bananas (1 lb) |
$1.18
|
$0.92
|
|
| Oranges (1 lb) |
$2.37
|
$2.20
|
|
| Tomatoes (1 lb) |
$3.01
|
$3.00
|
|
| Potatoes (1 lb) |
$1.94
|
$1.35
|
|
| Onions (1 lb) |
$2.19
|
$1.64
|
|
Palo Alto vs. Washington - Cost of groceries
pay 14.0% less for transportation
|
Palo Alto
|
Washington
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Gasoline (1 gallon) |
$4.84
|
$3.53
|
|
| Monthly public transit pass |
$90.00
|
$77.50
|
|
| New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition) |
$36,753.89
|
$35,699.74
|
|
| Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles) |
$19.06
|
$16.73
|
|
Palo Alto vs. Washington - Cost of transportation
pay 20.0% less for housing
|
Palo Alto
|
Washington
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Internet connection
50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl
|
$68.78
|
$69.41
|
|
| 1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area |
$3,600.00
|
$2,568.48
|
|
| 1-Bedroom apartment outside city center |
$3,148.75
|
$2,088.16
|
|
|
Utilities for two
(700 sq ft apartment)
including electric, gas, water, heating
|
$179.63
|
$146.54
|
|
Palo Alto vs. Washington - Cost of housing
pay 5.2% less for childcare
|
Palo Alto
|
Washington
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Private preschool for 1 child, monthly |
$2,823.00
|
$2,650.00
|
|
| Middle school for 1 child, two semesters |
$42,000.00
|
$40,166.67
|
|
Palo Alto vs. Washington - Cost of childcare
pay 7.0% less for entertainment and sports
|
Palo Alto
|
Washington
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Domestic/local beer (1 pint) |
$8.00
|
$8.00
|
|
| Cappuccino in mid-range area |
$5.83
|
$6.07
|
|
|
Pack of cigarettes
Marlboro or similar
|
$11.50
|
$13.00
|
|
| Monthly membership at local gym |
$206.33
|
$103.76
|
|
| Movie ticket to theater/cinema |
$16.00
|
$16.75
|
|
Palo Alto vs. Washington - Cost of entertainment and sports
pay 10.4% more for clothing
|
Palo Alto
|
Washington
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Regular jeans
Levi's brand
|
$67.50
|
$76.00
|
|
|
Regular dress
from H&M or similar store
|
$46.00
|
$48.40
|
|
|
Running shoes
Nike or Adidas
|
$88.89
|
$104.31
|
|
| Men's business shoes (leather) |
$125.00
|
$133.22
|
|
Palo Alto vs. Washington - 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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