Cost of living comparison
compared to
United States vs. Santa Clara Cost of Living Summary
United States is 15.8% cheaper than Santa Clara.
- Restaurants
-
pay 22.0% less in United States
- Groceries
-
pay 8.1% less in United States
- Transportation
-
pay 11.5% less in United States
- Housing
-
pay 21.5% less in United States
- Childcare
-
pay 44.0% less in United States
- Entertainment and Sports
-
pay 15.9% less in United States
- Clothing
-
pay 12.1% more in United States
Expenses including childcare, restaurants, housing, entertainment and sports, transportation, and groceries are lower in United States.
United States vs. Santa Clara Cost Breakdown
If you lived in United States instead of Santa Clara, you would:
pay 22.0% less for restaurants
|
Santa Clara
|
United States
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant |
$30.00
|
$19.45
|
|
|
Fast food combo meal
McDonalds, or similar
|
$14.00
|
$11.12
|
|
| Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz) |
$3.12
|
$2.56
|
|
| Bottle of water (11 fl. oz) |
$2.34
|
$2.00
|
|
Santa Clara vs. United States - Cost of restaurants
pay 8.1% less for groceries
|
Santa Clara
|
United States
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Bread
1 loaf
|
$4.68
|
$3.56
|
|
| Local cheese (8 oz) |
$5.51
|
$6.50
|
|
| Milk (1 gallon) |
$4.90
|
$3.97
|
|
|
Eggs
1 dozen
|
$5.38
|
$4.27
|
|
| Boneless chicken breast (1 lb) |
$5.00
|
$5.41
|
|
| Apples (1 lb) |
$2.10
|
$2.37
|
|
| Bananas (1 lb) |
$1.74
|
$0.78
|
|
| Oranges (1 lb) |
$2.00
|
$2.04
|
|
| Tomatoes (1 lb) |
$2.25
|
$2.21
|
|
| Potatoes (1 lb) |
$1.33
|
$1.34
|
|
| Onions (1 lb) |
$1.55
|
$1.38
|
|
Santa Clara vs. United States - Cost of groceries
pay 11.5% less for transportation
|
Santa Clara
|
United States
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Gasoline (1 gallon) |
$4.59
|
$3.41
|
|
| Monthly public transit pass |
$70.00
|
$65.85
|
|
| New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition) |
$30,000.00
|
$32,336.38
|
|
| Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles) |
$22.70
|
$17.61
|
|
Santa Clara vs. United States - Cost of transportation
pay 21.5% less for housing
|
Santa Clara
|
United States
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Internet connection
50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl
|
$63.00
|
$68.97
|
|
| 1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area |
$3,000.00
|
$1,664.59
|
|
| 1-Bedroom apartment outside city center |
$2,400.00
|
$1,416.15
|
|
|
Utilities for two
(700 sq ft apartment)
including electric, gas, water, heating
|
$166.82
|
$150.19
|
|
Santa Clara vs. United States - Cost of housing
pay 44.0% less for childcare
|
Santa Clara
|
United States
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Private preschool for 1 child, monthly |
$2,738.89
|
$1,387.27
|
|
| Middle school for 1 child, two semesters |
$37,770.00
|
$23,196.46
|
|
Santa Clara vs. United States - Cost of childcare
pay 15.9% less for entertainment and sports
|
Santa Clara
|
United States
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Domestic/local beer (1 pint) |
$8.00
|
$5.84
|
|
| Cappuccino in mid-range area |
$5.79
|
$5.15
|
|
|
Pack of cigarettes
Marlboro or similar
|
$8.75
|
$9.90
|
|
| Monthly membership at local gym |
$100.00
|
$51.45
|
|
| Movie ticket to theater/cinema |
$14.50
|
$13.64
|
|
Santa Clara vs. United States - Cost of entertainment and sports
pay 12.1% more for clothing
|
Santa Clara
|
United States
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Regular jeans
Levi's brand
|
$56.25
|
$51.08
|
|
|
Regular dress
from H&M or similar store
|
$40.00
|
$41.81
|
|
|
Running shoes
Nike or Adidas
|
$77.50
|
$87.56
|
|
| Men's business shoes (leather) |
$80.00
|
$112.04
|
|
Santa Clara vs. United States - 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: December 2025
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