Cost of living comparison
compared to
San Mateo vs. Santa Cruz Cost of Living Summary
San Mateo is 1.3% more expensive than Santa Cruz.
San Mateo vs. Santa Cruz Cost Breakdown
If you lived in San Mateo instead of Santa Cruz, you would:
pay 7.8% less for restaurants
|
Santa Cruz
|
San Mateo
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant |
$25.00
|
$22.00
|
|
|
Fast food combo meal
McDonalds, or similar
|
$15.00
|
$13.00
|
|
| Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz) |
$2.93
|
$3.12
|
|
| Bottle of water (11 fl. oz) |
$2.67
|
$2.34
|
|
Santa Cruz vs. San Mateo - Cost of restaurants
pay 5.9% more for groceries
|
Santa Cruz
|
San Mateo
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Bread
1 loaf
|
$5.27
|
$5.11
|
|
| Local cheese (8 oz) |
$10.35
|
$7.44
|
|
| Milk (1 gallon) |
$5.25
|
$6.00
|
|
|
Eggs
1 dozen
|
$6.50
|
$8.00
|
|
| Boneless chicken breast (1 lb) |
$6.75
|
$9.67
|
|
| Apples (1 lb) |
$3.53
|
$3.00
|
|
| Bananas (1 lb) |
$1.00
|
$0.90
|
|
| Oranges (1 lb) |
$2.90
|
$1.75
|
|
| Tomatoes (1 lb) |
$2.80
|
$3.33
|
|
| Potatoes (1 lb) |
$2.04
|
$2.70
|
|
| Onions (1 lb) |
$1.55
|
$2.00
|
|
Santa Cruz vs. San Mateo - Cost of groceries
pay 18.0% more for transportation
|
Santa Cruz
|
San Mateo
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Gasoline (1 gallon) |
$4.79
|
$4.76
|
|
| Monthly public transit pass |
$65.00
|
$65.60
|
|
| New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition) |
$23,894.01
|
$36,753.89
|
|
| Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles) |
$22.70
|
?? | |
Santa Cruz vs. San Mateo - Cost of transportation
pay 9.4% less for housing
|
Santa Cruz
|
San Mateo
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Internet connection
50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl
|
$76.17
|
$63.00
|
|
| 1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area |
$2,989.17
|
$2,743.33
|
|
| 1-Bedroom apartment outside city center |
$2,639.80
|
$2,855.00
|
|
|
Utilities for two
(700 sq ft apartment)
including electric, gas, water, heating
|
$244.30
|
$194.97
|
|
Santa Cruz vs. San Mateo - Cost of housing
pay 8.2% more for childcare
|
Santa Cruz
|
San Mateo
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Private preschool for 1 child, monthly |
$2,738.89
|
$2,823.00
|
|
| Middle school for 1 child, two semesters |
$37,770.00
|
$42,750.00
|
|
Santa Cruz vs. San Mateo - Cost of childcare
pay 10.9% more for entertainment and sports
|
Santa Cruz
|
San Mateo
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Domestic/local beer (1 pint) |
$7.00
|
$7.00
|
|
| Cappuccino in mid-range area |
$5.33
|
$5.20
|
|
|
Pack of cigarettes
Marlboro or similar
|
$11.00
|
$8.50
|
|
| Monthly membership at local gym |
$60.00
|
$95.00
|
|
| Movie ticket to theater/cinema |
$14.50
|
$15.99
|
|
Santa Cruz vs. San Mateo - Cost of entertainment and sports
pay 16.8% less for clothing
|
Santa Cruz
|
San Mateo
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Regular jeans
Levi's brand
|
$55.00
|
$60.00
|
|
|
Regular dress
from H&M or similar store
|
$56.00
|
$25.00
|
|
|
Running shoes
Nike or Adidas
|
$80.00
|
$101.67
|
|
| Men's business shoes (leather) |
$115.00
|
$60.00
|
|
Santa Cruz vs. San Mateo - 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: June 2026
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