Sarasota vs. Rochester Cost of Living Summary

Sarasota is 27.0% more expensive than Rochester.

Restaurants
pay 22.9% more in Sarasota
Groceries
pay 17.7% more in Sarasota
Transportation
pay 6.5% more in Sarasota
Housing
pay 46.3% more in Sarasota
Childcare
pay 5.6% more in Sarasota
Entertainment and Sports
pay 40.8% more in Sarasota
Clothing
pay 20.4% more in Sarasota

The cost of housing, entertainment and sports, restaurants, clothing, groceries, and transportation in Sarasota are more expensive than in Rochester.

Sarasota vs. Rochester Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Sarasota instead of Rochester, you would:

pay 22.9% more for restaurants

 
Rochester
Sarasota
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant $16.50
 
$27.50
 
Fast food combo meal
McDonalds, or similar
$12.00
 
$11.00
 
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz) $2.80
 
$3.25
 

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pay 17.7% more for groceries

 
Rochester
Sarasota
Bread
1 loaf
$2.95
 
$4.02
 
Local cheese (8 oz) $5.51
 
$4.82
 
Milk (1 gallon) $3.06
 
$4.02
 

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pay 6.5% more for transportation

 
Rochester
Sarasota
Gasoline (1 gallon) $3.59
 
$3.76
 
Monthly public transit pass ?? ??
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition) $34,000.00
 
$36,928.80
 

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pay 46.3% more for housing

 
Rochester
Sarasota
Internet connection
50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl
$52.50
 
$81.00
 
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area $1,200.00
 
$2,175.00
 
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center $1,183.33
 
$1,608.00
 

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pay 5.6% more for childcare

 
Rochester
Sarasota
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly $648.50
 
$861.50
 
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters $20,000.00
 
$16,792.50
 

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pay 40.8% more for entertainment and sports

 
Rochester
Sarasota
Domestic/local beer (1 pint) $5.00
 
$5.50
 
Cappuccino in mid-range area $5.40
 
$4.62
 
Pack of cigarettes
Marlboro or similar
$9.52
 
$9.07
 

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pay 20.4% more for clothing

 
Rochester
Sarasota
Regular jeans
Levi's brand
$55.00
 
$63.75
 
Regular dress
from H&M or similar store
$49.75
 
$49.75
 
Running shoes
Nike or Adidas
$82.00
 
$113.75
 

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We average the price of thousands of data points entered by users across the world. Sources: MyLifeElsewhere's cost-of-living dataset (prices updated November 2026). How we calculate this

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