Cost of living comparison

compared to

Palo Alto vs. Paris Cost of Living Summary

Palo Alto is 55.5% more expensive than Paris.

Restaurants: pay 2.4% more in Palo Alto
Groceries: pay 43.9% more in Palo Alto
Transportation: pay 20.5% less in Palo Alto
Housing: pay 88.8% more in Palo Alto
Childcare: pay 3.2 times more in Palo Alto
Entertainment and Sports: pay 73.6% more in Palo Alto
Clothing: pay 23.4% less in Palo Alto

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

Palo Alto vs. Paris Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 2.4% more for restaurants

	Paris	Palo Alto
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$17.52 €15.11	$30.00	+71.2%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$14.02 €12.09	$12.00	-14.4%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$4.24 €3.66	$3.30	-22.3%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$3.24 €2.80	$2.44	-24.8%
Average			+2.4%

Paris vs. Palo Alto - Cost of restaurants

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pay 43.9% more for groceries

	Paris	Palo Alto
Bread 1 loaf	$2.10 €1.81	$5.06	+141.4%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$12.76 €11.00	$11.39	-10.7%
Milk (1 gallon)	$5.95 €5.13	$5.85	-1.6%
Eggs 1 dozen	$5.22 €4.51	$6.26	+19.9%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$6.68 €5.76	$6.63	-0.8%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.64 €1.42	$3.22	+96.0%
Bananas (1 lb)	$1.15 €0.99	$1.18	+2.3%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.47 €1.27	$2.37	+61.1%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.81 €1.56	$3.01	+65.8%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$1.21 €1.04	$1.94	+60.1%
Onions (1 lb)	$1.47 €1.26	$2.19	+49.5%
Average			+43.9%

Paris vs. Palo Alto - Cost of groceries

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pay 20.5% less for transportation

	Paris	Palo Alto
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$8.06 €6.95	$4.84	-39.9%
Monthly public transit pass	$103.72 €89.44	$90.00	-13.2%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$35,904.00 €30,960.99	$36,753.89	+2.4%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$27.70 €23.89	$19.06	-31.2%
Average			-20.5%

Paris vs. Palo Alto - Cost of transportation

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pay 88.8% more for housing

	Paris	Palo Alto
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$37.58 €32.41	$68.78	+83.0%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$1,637.45 €1,412.01	$3,600.00	+119.9%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$1,198.19 €1,033.23	$3,148.75	+162.8%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$200.70 €173.07	$179.63	-10.5%
Average			+88.8%

Paris vs. Palo Alto - Cost of housing

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pay 3.2 times more for childcare

	Paris	Palo Alto
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$798.13 €688.25	$2,823.00	+253.7%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$14,327.34 €12,354.85	$42,000.00	+193.1%
Average			+223.4%

Paris vs. Palo Alto - Cost of childcare

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pay 73.6% more for entertainment and sports

	Paris	Palo Alto
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$8.18 €7.05	$8.00	-2.2%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$4.93 €4.25	$5.83	+18.3%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$15.18 €13.09	$11.50	-24.3%
Monthly membership at local gym	$43.12 €37.18	$206.33	+378.6%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$16.35 €14.10	$16.00	-2.2%
Average			+73.6%

Paris vs. Palo Alto - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 23.4% less for clothing

	Paris	Palo Alto
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$118.15 €101.89	$67.50	-42.9%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$48.25 €41.60	$46.00	-4.7%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$123.09 €106.14	$88.89	-27.8%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$152.69 €131.67	$125.00	-18.1%
Average			-23.4%

Paris vs. Palo Alto - 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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