Cost of living comparison
compared to
Tacoma vs. Salem Cost of Living Summary
Tacoma is 23.7% more expensive than Salem.
Tacoma vs. Salem Cost Breakdown
If you lived in Tacoma instead of Salem, you would:
pay 11.0% more for restaurants
|
Salem
|
Tacoma
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant |
$18.00
|
$19.00
|
|
|
Fast food combo meal
McDonalds, or similar
|
$11.00
|
$11.00
|
|
| Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz) |
$2.66
|
$3.02
|
|
| Bottle of water (11 fl. oz) |
$2.08
|
$2.37
|
|
Salem vs. Tacoma - Cost of restaurants
pay 7.7% more for groceries
|
Salem
|
Tacoma
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Bread
1 loaf
|
$3.90
|
$3.83
|
|
| Local cheese (8 oz) |
$7.87
|
$6.30
|
|
| Milk (1 gallon) |
$4.13
|
$4.40
|
|
|
Eggs
1 dozen
|
$5.00
|
$4.65
|
|
| Boneless chicken breast (1 lb) |
$6.08
|
$8.00
|
|
| Apples (1 lb) |
$2.00
|
$2.33
|
|
| Bananas (1 lb) |
$0.77
|
$0.90
|
|
| Oranges (1 lb) |
$1.75
|
$2.18
|
|
| Tomatoes (1 lb) |
$1.78
|
$2.26
|
|
| Potatoes (1 lb) |
$1.30
|
$1.31
|
|
| Onions (1 lb) |
$1.50
|
$1.34
|
|
Salem vs. Tacoma - Cost of groceries
pay 10.0% more for transportation
|
Salem
|
Tacoma
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Gasoline (1 gallon) |
$3.82
|
$4.34
|
|
| Monthly public transit pass |
$45.00
|
$62.00
|
|
| New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition) |
$32,740.34
|
$36,656.56
|
|
| Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles) |
$20.90
|
$16.02
|
|
Salem vs. Tacoma - Cost of transportation
pay 15.5% more for housing
|
Salem
|
Tacoma
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Internet connection
50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl
|
$82.50
|
$82.50
|
|
| 1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area |
$1,592.86
|
$1,879.17
|
|
| 1-Bedroom apartment outside city center |
$1,441.67
|
$1,660.00
|
|
|
Utilities for two
(700 sq ft apartment)
including electric, gas, water, heating
|
$154.85
|
$175.73
|
|
Salem vs. Tacoma - Cost of housing
pay 93.0% more for childcare
|
Salem
|
Tacoma
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Private preschool for 1 child, monthly |
$1,075.00
|
$2,086.81
|
|
| Middle school for 1 child, two semesters |
$16,500.00
|
$31,687.50
|
|
Salem vs. Tacoma - Cost of childcare
pay 10.3% more for entertainment and sports
|
Salem
|
Tacoma
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Domestic/local beer (1 pint) |
$5.00
|
$8.00
|
|
| Cappuccino in mid-range area |
$4.67
|
$5.38
|
|
|
Pack of cigarettes
Marlboro or similar
|
$12.00
|
$10.00
|
|
| Monthly membership at local gym |
$46.00
|
$35.00
|
|
| Movie ticket to theater/cinema |
$13.25
|
$15.50
|
|
Salem vs. Tacoma - Cost of entertainment and sports
pay 18.6% more for clothing
|
Salem
|
Tacoma
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Regular jeans
Levi's brand
|
$47.80
|
$59.00
|
|
|
Regular dress
from H&M or similar store
|
$47.25
|
$44.50
|
|
|
Running shoes
Nike or Adidas
|
$84.75
|
$82.80
|
|
| Men's business shoes (leather) |
$80.00
|
$127.25
|
|
Salem vs. Tacoma - 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: October 2026
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