Cost of living comparison
compared to
London vs. San Mateo Cost of Living Summary
London is 6.8% cheaper than San Mateo.
London vs. San Mateo Cost Breakdown
If you lived in London instead of San Mateo, you would:
pay 2.7% more for restaurants
|
San Mateo
|
London
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant |
$20.00
|
$26.43
£19.83
|
|
|
Fast food combo meal
McDonalds, or similar
|
$13.00
|
$10.57
£7.93
|
|
| Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz) |
$3.02
|
$2.95
£2.22
|
|
| Bottle of water (11 fl. oz) |
$2.75
|
$2.16
£1.62
|
|
San Mateo vs. London - Cost of restaurants
pay 41.4% less for groceries
|
San Mateo
|
London
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Bread
1 loaf
|
$5.88
|
$2.04
£1.53
|
|
| Local cheese (8 oz) |
$6.80
|
$6.36
£4.77
|
|
| Milk (1 gallon) |
$6.12
|
$6.98
£5.24
|
|
|
Eggs
1 dozen
|
$7.39
|
$5.01
£3.76
|
|
| Boneless chicken breast (1 lb) |
$8.50
|
$4.81
£3.61
|
|
| Apples (1 lb) |
$2.73
|
$1.40
£1.05
|
|
| Bananas (1 lb) |
$1.00
|
$0.63
£0.47
|
|
| Oranges (1 lb) |
$1.83
|
$1.38
£1.03
|
|
| Tomatoes (1 lb) |
$3.99
|
$1.52
£1.14
|
|
| Potatoes (1 lb) |
$1.98
|
$0.74
£0.55
|
|
| Onions (1 lb) |
$1.42
|
$0.80
£0.60
|
|
San Mateo vs. London - Cost of groceries
pay 49.8% more for transportation
|
San Mateo
|
London
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Gasoline (1 gallon) |
$5.75
|
$7.95
£5.96
|
|
| Monthly public transit pass |
$96.00
|
$245.79
£184.41
|
|
| New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition) |
$36,753.89
|
$38,182.92
£28,648.64
|
|
| Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles) |
$20.31
|
$31.77
£23.84
|
|
San Mateo vs. London - Cost of transportation
pay 11.6% less for housing
|
San Mateo
|
London
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Internet connection
50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl
|
$61.24
|
$40.48
£30.38
|
|
| 1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area |
$3,458.33
|
$2,841.09
£2,131.67
|
|
| 1-Bedroom apartment outside city center |
$2,743.00
|
$2,287.10
£1,716.01
|
|
|
Utilities for two
(700 sq ft apartment)
including electric, gas, water, heating
|
$204.90
|
$284.00
£213.09
|
|
San Mateo vs. London - Cost of housing
pay 8.4% more for childcare
|
San Mateo
|
London
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Private preschool for 1 child, monthly |
$3,000.00
|
$2,857.20
£2,143.76
|
|
| Middle school for 1 child, two semesters |
$29,000.00
|
$35,755.44
£26,827.31
|
|
San Mateo vs. London - Cost of childcare
pay 5.9% less for entertainment and sports
|
San Mateo
|
London
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Domestic/local beer (1 pint) |
$8.25
|
$9.25
£6.94
|
|
| Cappuccino in mid-range area |
$5.66
|
$5.62
£4.22
|
|
|
Pack of cigarettes
Marlboro or similar
|
$11.71
|
$23.46
£17.60
|
|
| Monthly membership at local gym |
$110.00
|
$60.55
£45.43
|
|
| Movie ticket to theater/cinema |
$18.00
|
$17.84
£13.38
|
|
San Mateo vs. London - Cost of entertainment and sports
pay 27.4% more for clothing
|
San Mateo
|
London
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Regular jeans
Levi's brand
|
$63.17
|
$113.97
£85.51
|
|
|
Regular dress
from H&M or similar store
|
$46.63
|
$53.96
£40.49
|
|
|
Running shoes
Nike or Adidas
|
$118.50
|
$125.54
£94.19
|
|
| Men's business shoes (leather) |
$136.50
|
$162.46
£121.89
|
|
San Mateo vs. London - 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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