Cost of living comparison
compared to
Palo Alto vs. Portland Cost of Living Summary
Palo Alto is 44.9% more expensive than Portland.
Palo Alto vs. Portland Cost Breakdown
If you lived in Palo Alto instead of Portland, you would:
pay 34.9% more for restaurants
|
Portland
|
Palo Alto
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant |
$20.00
|
$30.00
|
|
|
Fast food combo meal
McDonalds, or similar
|
$12.00
|
$12.00
|
|
| Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz) |
$2.55
|
$3.30
|
|
| Bottle of water (11 fl. oz) |
$1.95
|
$2.44
|
|
Portland vs. Palo Alto - Cost of restaurants
pay 41.5% more for groceries
|
Portland
|
Palo Alto
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Bread
1 loaf
|
$4.36
|
$5.06
|
|
| Local cheese (8 oz) |
$7.50
|
$11.39
|
|
| Milk (1 gallon) |
$4.08
|
$5.85
|
|
|
Eggs
1 dozen
|
$5.29
|
$6.26
|
|
| Boneless chicken breast (1 lb) |
$5.84
|
$6.63
|
|
| Apples (1 lb) |
$2.25
|
$3.22
|
|
| Bananas (1 lb) |
$0.86
|
$1.18
|
|
| Oranges (1 lb) |
$2.00
|
$2.37
|
|
| Tomatoes (1 lb) |
$2.29
|
$3.01
|
|
| Potatoes (1 lb) |
$1.35
|
$1.94
|
|
| Onions (1 lb) |
$0.91
|
$2.19
|
|
Portland vs. Palo Alto - Cost of groceries
pay 5.2% more for transportation
|
Portland
|
Palo Alto
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Gasoline (1 gallon) |
$3.86
|
$4.84
|
|
| Monthly public transit pass |
$100.00
|
$90.00
|
|
| New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition) |
$33,832.84
|
$36,753.89
|
|
| Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles) |
$19.71
|
$19.06
|
|
Portland vs. Palo Alto - Cost of transportation
pay 49.0% more for housing
|
Portland
|
Palo Alto
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Internet connection
50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl
|
$64.38
|
$68.78
|
|
| 1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area |
$1,943.77
|
$3,600.00
|
|
| 1-Bedroom apartment outside city center |
$1,565.00
|
$3,148.75
|
|
|
Utilities for two
(700 sq ft apartment)
including electric, gas, water, heating
|
$174.97
|
$179.63
|
|
Portland vs. Palo Alto - Cost of housing
pay 89.5% more for childcare
|
Portland
|
Palo Alto
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Private preschool for 1 child, monthly |
$1,778.89
|
$2,823.00
|
|
| Middle school for 1 child, two semesters |
$19,063.20
|
$42,000.00
|
|
Portland vs. Palo Alto - Cost of childcare
pay 94.0% more for entertainment and sports
|
Portland
|
Palo Alto
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Domestic/local beer (1 pint) |
$7.00
|
$8.00
|
|
| Cappuccino in mid-range area |
$4.92
|
$5.83
|
|
|
Pack of cigarettes
Marlboro or similar
|
$11.00
|
$11.50
|
|
| Monthly membership at local gym |
$40.46
|
$206.33
|
|
| Movie ticket to theater/cinema |
$13.00
|
$16.00
|
|
Portland vs. Palo Alto - Cost of entertainment and sports
pay 0.3% more for clothing
|
Portland
|
Palo Alto
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Regular jeans
Levi's brand
|
$63.50
|
$67.50
|
|
|
Regular dress
from H&M or similar store
|
$45.31
|
$46.00
|
|
|
Running shoes
Nike or Adidas
|
$104.18
|
$88.89
|
|
| Men's business shoes (leather) |
$115.56
|
$125.00
|
|
Portland vs. Palo Alto - 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: June 2026
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