Cost of living comparison
compared to
Bethlehem vs. Rochester Cost of Living Summary
Bethlehem is 14.5% more expensive than Rochester.
Bethlehem vs. Rochester Cost Breakdown
If you lived in Bethlehem instead of Rochester, you would:
pay 6.5% more for restaurants
|
Rochester
|
Bethlehem
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant |
$16.50
|
$18.00
|
|
|
Fast food combo meal
McDonalds, or similar
|
$12.00
|
$13.00
|
|
| Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz) |
$2.80
|
$3.00
|
|
| Bottle of water (11 fl. oz) |
$2.17
|
$1.94
|
|
Rochester vs. Bethlehem - Cost of restaurants
pay 18.1% more for groceries
|
Rochester
|
Bethlehem
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Bread
1 loaf
|
$2.95
|
$3.99
|
|
| Local cheese (8 oz) |
$5.51
|
$6.06
|
|
| Milk (1 gallon) |
$3.06
|
$4.37
|
|
|
Eggs
1 dozen
|
$2.79
|
$4.17
|
|
| Boneless chicken breast (1 lb) |
$7.83
|
$7.40
|
|
| Apples (1 lb) |
$1.54
|
$2.83
|
|
| Bananas (1 lb) |
$0.69
|
$0.59
|
|
| Oranges (1 lb) |
$2.00
|
$1.86
|
|
| Tomatoes (1 lb) |
$1.62
|
$1.90
|
|
| Potatoes (1 lb) |
$1.00
|
$0.99
|
|
| Onions (1 lb) |
$1.00
|
$1.22
|
|
Rochester vs. Bethlehem - Cost of groceries
pay 16.1% less for transportation
|
Rochester
|
Bethlehem
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Gasoline (1 gallon) |
$3.59
|
$3.63
|
|
| Monthly public transit pass | ?? | ?? | |
| New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition) |
$34,000.00
|
$23,000.00
|
|
| Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles) |
$34.85
|
$29.00
|
|
Rochester vs. Bethlehem - Cost of transportation
pay 26.8% more for housing
|
Rochester
|
Bethlehem
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Internet connection
50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl
|
$52.50
|
$77.80
|
|
| 1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area |
$1,200.00
|
$1,547.50
|
|
| 1-Bedroom apartment outside city center |
$1,183.33
|
$1,346.00
|
|
|
Utilities for two
(700 sq ft apartment)
including electric, gas, water, heating
|
$102.66
|
$158.04
|
|
Rochester vs. Bethlehem - Cost of housing
pay 2.2 times more for childcare
|
Rochester
|
Bethlehem
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Private preschool for 1 child, monthly |
$648.50
|
$1,000.00
|
|
| Middle school for 1 child, two semesters |
$20,000.00
|
$65,000.00
|
|
Rochester vs. Bethlehem - Cost of childcare
pay 24.3% more for entertainment and sports
|
Rochester
|
Bethlehem
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Domestic/local beer (1 pint) |
$5.00
|
$5.25
|
|
| Cappuccino in mid-range area |
$5.40
|
$5.00
|
|
|
Pack of cigarettes
Marlboro or similar
|
$9.52
|
$9.50
|
|
| Monthly membership at local gym |
$22.50
|
$36.67
|
|
| Movie ticket to theater/cinema |
$10.00
|
$15.00
|
|
Rochester vs. Bethlehem - Cost of entertainment and sports
pay 23.7% less for clothing
|
Rochester
|
Bethlehem
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Regular jeans
Levi's brand
|
$55.00
|
$53.00
|
|
|
Regular dress
from H&M or similar store
|
$49.75
|
$30.00
|
|
|
Running shoes
Nike or Adidas
|
$82.00
|
$66.67
|
|
| Men's business shoes (leather) |
$118.50
|
$85.00
|
|
Rochester vs. Bethlehem - Cost of clothing
We average the price of thousands of data points entered by users across the world. Sources: MyLifeElsewhere's cost-of-living dataset (prices updated October 2026). How we calculate this
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