Cost of living comparison
compared to
Washington vs. Reading Cost of Living Summary
Washington is 25.0% more expensive than Reading.
- Restaurants
-
pay 3.9% more in Washington
- Groceries
-
pay 82.1% more in Washington
- Transportation
-
pay 31.5% less in Washington
- Housing
-
pay 33.7% more in Washington
- Childcare
-
pay 52.2% more in Washington
- Entertainment and Sports
-
pay 26.4% more in Washington
- Clothing
-
pay 8.4% more in Washington
The cost of groceries, childcare, housing, entertainment and sports, clothing, and restaurants in Washington are more expensive than in Reading. Notably, groceries is significantly more expensive in Washington.
Washington vs. Reading Cost Breakdown
If you lived in Washington instead of Reading, you would:
pay 3.9% more for restaurants
|
Reading
|
Washington
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant |
$26.71
£20.02
|
$25.00
|
|
|
Fast food combo meal
McDonalds, or similar
|
$10.34
£7.75
|
$12.00
|
|
| Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz) |
$2.99
£2.24
|
$3.20
|
|
| Bottle of water (11 fl. oz) |
$2.82
£2.12
|
$2.79
|
|
Reading vs. Washington - Cost of restaurants
pay 82.1% more for groceries
|
Reading
|
Washington
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Bread
1 loaf
|
$1.67
£1.25
|
$4.43
|
|
| Local cheese (8 oz) |
$5.65
£4.23
|
$8.04
|
|
| Milk (1 gallon) |
$5.49
£4.11
|
$4.19
|
|
|
Eggs
1 dozen
|
$3.77
£2.83
|
$4.55
|
|
| Boneless chicken breast (1 lb) |
$3.82
£2.86
|
$7.74
|
|
| Apples (1 lb) |
$1.35
£1.01
|
$2.95
|
|
| Bananas (1 lb) |
$0.68
£0.51
|
$0.92
|
|
| Oranges (1 lb) |
$1.27
£0.95
|
$2.20
|
|
| Tomatoes (1 lb) |
$1.48
£1.11
|
$3.00
|
|
| Potatoes (1 lb) |
$0.65
£0.49
|
$1.35
|
|
| Onions (1 lb) |
$0.63
£0.47
|
$1.64
|
|
Reading vs. Washington - Cost of groceries
pay 31.5% less for transportation
|
Reading
|
Washington
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Gasoline (1 gallon) |
$7.08
£5.31
|
$3.53
|
|
| Monthly public transit pass |
$85.47
£64.07
|
$77.50
|
|
| New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition) |
$37,772.71
£28,315.37
|
$35,699.74
|
|
| Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles) |
$42.89
£32.15
|
$16.73
|
|
Reading vs. Washington - Cost of transportation
pay 33.7% more for housing
|
Reading
|
Washington
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Internet connection
50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl
|
$45.91
£34.41
|
$69.41
|
|
| 1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area |
$1,652.60
£1,238.83
|
$2,568.48
|
|
| 1-Bedroom apartment outside city center |
$1,335.43
£1,001.07
|
$2,088.16
|
|
|
Utilities for two
(700 sq ft apartment)
including electric, gas, water, heating
|
$203.74
£152.73
|
$146.54
|
|
Reading vs. Washington - Cost of housing
pay 52.2% more for childcare
|
Reading
|
Washington
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Private preschool for 1 child, monthly |
$1,780.58
£1,334.76
|
$2,650.00
|
|
| Middle school for 1 child, two semesters |
$25,818.36
£19,354.09
|
$40,166.67
|
|
Reading vs. Washington - Cost of childcare
pay 26.4% more for entertainment and sports
|
Reading
|
Washington
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Domestic/local beer (1 pint) |
$7.34
£5.51
|
$8.00
|
|
| Cappuccino in mid-range area |
$4.65
£3.49
|
$6.07
|
|
|
Pack of cigarettes
Marlboro or similar
|
$20.03
£15.02
|
$13.00
|
|
| Monthly membership at local gym |
$51.25
£38.42
|
$103.76
|
|
| Movie ticket to theater/cinema |
$13.35
£10.01
|
$16.75
|
|
Reading vs. Washington - Cost of entertainment and sports
pay 8.4% more for clothing
|
Reading
|
Washington
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Regular jeans
Levi's brand
|
$75.67
£56.73
|
$76.00
|
|
|
Regular dress
from H&M or similar store
|
$48.34
£36.24
|
$48.40
|
|
|
Running shoes
Nike or Adidas
|
$109.06
£81.75
|
$104.31
|
|
| Men's business shoes (leather) |
$96.82
£72.58
|
$133.22
|
|
Reading 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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