Cost of living comparison
compared to
Bethesda vs. Rochester Cost of Living Summary
Bethesda is 22.1% more expensive than Rochester.
Bethesda vs. Rochester Cost Breakdown
If you lived in Bethesda instead of Rochester, you would:
pay 5.9% more for restaurants
|
Rochester
|
Bethesda
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant |
$20.00
|
$22.50
|
|
|
Fast food combo meal
McDonalds, or similar
|
$11.00
|
$11.00
|
|
| Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz) |
$2.83
|
$3.00
|
|
| Bottle of water (11 fl. oz) |
$2.50
|
$2.46
|
|
Rochester vs. Bethesda - Cost of restaurants
pay 13.3% more for groceries
|
Rochester
|
Bethesda
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Bread
1 loaf
|
$2.95
|
$4.23
|
|
| Local cheese (8 oz) |
$4.77
|
$8.43
|
|
| Milk (1 gallon) |
$3.38
|
$4.47
|
|
|
Eggs
1 dozen
|
$3.74
|
$4.62
|
|
| Boneless chicken breast (1 lb) |
$5.51
|
$7.14
|
|
| Apples (1 lb) |
$2.42
|
$2.55
|
|
| Bananas (1 lb) |
$0.68
|
$0.63
|
|
| Oranges (1 lb) |
$2.00
|
$1.86
|
|
| Tomatoes (1 lb) |
$1.70
|
$1.90
|
|
| Potatoes (1 lb) |
$1.00
|
$0.99
|
|
| Onions (1 lb) |
$1.67
|
$1.22
|
|
Rochester vs. Bethesda - Cost of groceries
pay 12.8% more for transportation
|
Rochester
|
Bethesda
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Gasoline (1 gallon) |
$3.41
|
$3.63
|
|
| Monthly public transit pass |
$42.00
|
$100.00
|
|
| New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition) |
$35,908.50
|
$23,000.00
|
|
| Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles) |
$11.94
|
$13.94
|
|
Rochester vs. Bethesda - Cost of transportation
pay 28.0% more for housing
|
Rochester
|
Bethesda
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Internet connection
50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl
|
$44.00
|
$62.00
|
|
| 1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area |
$1,643.75
|
$2,300.00
|
|
| 1-Bedroom apartment outside city center |
$1,300.00
|
$1,666.67
|
|
|
Utilities for two
(700 sq ft apartment)
including electric, gas, water, heating
|
$128.01
|
$124.91
|
|
Rochester vs. Bethesda - Cost of housing
pay 88.8% more for childcare
|
Rochester
|
Bethesda
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Private preschool for 1 child, monthly |
$1,369.17
|
$1,597.92
|
|
| Middle school for 1 child, two semesters |
$11,812.00
|
$36,066.67
|
|
Rochester vs. Bethesda - Cost of childcare
pay 30.7% more for entertainment and sports
|
Rochester
|
Bethesda
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Domestic/local beer (1 pint) |
$5.00
|
$7.00
|
|
| Cappuccino in mid-range area |
$6.00
|
$5.50
|
|
|
Pack of cigarettes
Marlboro or similar
|
$8.89
|
$10.55
|
|
| Monthly membership at local gym |
$53.33
|
$104.00
|
|
| Movie ticket to theater/cinema |
$14.00
|
$16.00
|
|
Rochester vs. Bethesda - Cost of entertainment and sports
pay 18.1% more for clothing
|
Rochester
|
Bethesda
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Regular jeans
Levi's brand
|
$63.33
|
$55.33
|
|
|
Regular dress
from H&M or similar store
|
$62.50
|
$56.67
|
|
|
Running shoes
Nike or Adidas
|
$73.33
|
$102.08
|
|
| Men's business shoes (leather) |
$85.00
|
$150.00
|
|
Rochester vs. Bethesda - 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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