Cost of living comparison
compared to
Washington vs. Rapid City Cost of Living Summary
Washington is 76.1% more expensive than Rapid City.
- Restaurants
-
pay 34.4% more in Washington
- Groceries
-
pay 30.8% more in Washington
- Transportation
-
pay 50.4% more in Washington
- Housing
-
pay 66.5% more in Washington
- Childcare
-
pay 3.8 times more in Washington
- Entertainment and Sports
-
pay 61.4% more in Washington
- Clothing
-
pay 10.5% more in Washington
The cost of childcare, housing, entertainment and sports, transportation, restaurants, and groceries in Washington are more expensive than in Rapid City. Notably, childcare is significantly more expensive in Washington.
Washington vs. Rapid City Cost Breakdown
If you lived in Washington instead of Rapid City, you would:
pay 34.4% more for restaurants
|
Rapid City
|
Washington
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant |
$15.00
|
$25.00
|
|
|
Fast food combo meal
McDonalds, or similar
|
$10.43
|
$12.00
|
|
| Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz) |
$3.63
|
$3.20
|
|
| Bottle of water (11 fl. oz) |
$1.66
|
$2.79
|
|
Rapid City vs. Washington - Cost of restaurants
pay 30.8% more for groceries
|
Rapid City
|
Washington
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Bread
1 loaf
|
$2.97
|
$4.43
|
|
| Local cheese (8 oz) |
$6.61
|
$8.04
|
|
| Milk (1 gallon) |
$3.96
|
$4.19
|
|
|
Eggs
1 dozen
|
$4.38
|
$4.55
|
|
| Boneless chicken breast (1 lb) |
$4.31
|
$7.74
|
|
| Apples (1 lb) |
$2.22
|
$2.95
|
|
| Bananas (1 lb) |
$0.70
|
$0.92
|
|
| Oranges (1 lb) |
$1.76
|
$2.20
|
|
| Tomatoes (1 lb) |
$1.79
|
$3.00
|
|
| Potatoes (1 lb) |
$1.26
|
$1.35
|
|
| Onions (1 lb) |
$1.43
|
$1.64
|
|
Rapid City vs. Washington - Cost of groceries
pay 50.4% more for transportation
|
Rapid City
|
Washington
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Gasoline (1 gallon) |
$3.08
|
$3.53
|
|
| Monthly public transit pass |
$30.00
|
$77.50
|
|
| New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition) |
$35,500.00
|
$35,699.74
|
|
| Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles) |
$13.07
|
$16.73
|
|
Rapid City vs. Washington - Cost of transportation
pay 66.5% more for housing
|
Rapid City
|
Washington
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Internet connection
50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl
|
$57.00
|
$69.41
|
|
| 1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area |
$1,030.00
|
$2,568.48
|
|
| 1-Bedroom apartment outside city center |
$1,138.80
|
$2,088.16
|
|
|
Utilities for two
(700 sq ft apartment)
including electric, gas, water, heating
|
$131.52
|
$146.54
|
|
Rapid City vs. Washington - Cost of housing
pay 3.8 times more for childcare
|
Rapid City
|
Washington
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Private preschool for 1 child, monthly |
$700.00
|
$2,650.00
|
|
| Middle school for 1 child, two semesters | ?? |
$40,166.67
|
|
Rapid City vs. Washington - Cost of childcare
pay 61.4% more for entertainment and sports
|
Rapid City
|
Washington
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Domestic/local beer (1 pint) |
$3.75
|
$8.00
|
|
| Cappuccino in mid-range area |
$5.33
|
$6.07
|
|
|
Pack of cigarettes
Marlboro or similar
|
$9.50
|
$13.00
|
|
| Monthly membership at local gym |
$51.00
|
$103.76
|
|
| Movie ticket to theater/cinema |
$12.00
|
$16.75
|
|
Rapid City vs. Washington - Cost of entertainment and sports
pay 10.5% more for clothing
|
Rapid City
|
Washington
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Regular jeans
Levi's brand
|
$61.67
|
$76.00
|
|
|
Regular dress
from H&M or similar store
|
$75.00
|
$48.40
|
|
|
Running shoes
Nike or Adidas
|
$78.33
|
$104.31
|
|
| Men's business shoes (leather) |
$110.00
|
$133.22
|
|
Rapid City 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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