Cost of living comparison
compared to
United States vs. Santa Cruz Cost of Living Summary
United States is 21.0% cheaper than Santa Cruz.
- Restaurants
-
pay 21.4% less in United States
- Groceries
-
pay 27.1% less in United States
- Transportation
-
pay 3.6% less in United States
- Housing
-
pay 34.6% less in United States
- Childcare
-
pay 44.0% less in United States
- Entertainment and Sports
-
pay 10.0% less in United States
- Clothing
-
pay 6.4% less in United States
Expenses including childcare, housing, groceries, restaurants, entertainment and sports, and clothing are lower in United States.
United States vs. Santa Cruz Cost Breakdown
If you lived in United States instead of Santa Cruz, you would:
pay 21.4% less for restaurants
|
Santa Cruz
|
United States
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant |
$25.00
|
$19.45
|
|
|
Fast food combo meal
McDonalds, or similar
|
$15.00
|
$11.12
|
|
| Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz) |
$2.93
|
$2.56
|
|
| Bottle of water (11 fl. oz) |
$2.67
|
$2.00
|
|
Santa Cruz vs. United States - Cost of restaurants
pay 27.1% less for groceries
|
Santa Cruz
|
United States
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Bread
1 loaf
|
$5.27
|
$3.56
|
|
| Local cheese (8 oz) |
$10.35
|
$6.50
|
|
| Milk (1 gallon) |
$5.25
|
$3.97
|
|
|
Eggs
1 dozen
|
$6.50
|
$4.27
|
|
| Boneless chicken breast (1 lb) |
$6.75
|
$5.41
|
|
| Apples (1 lb) |
$3.53
|
$2.37
|
|
| Bananas (1 lb) |
$1.00
|
$0.78
|
|
| Oranges (1 lb) |
$2.90
|
$2.04
|
|
| Tomatoes (1 lb) |
$2.80
|
$2.21
|
|
| Potatoes (1 lb) |
$2.04
|
$1.34
|
|
| Onions (1 lb) |
$1.55
|
$1.38
|
|
Santa Cruz vs. United States - Cost of groceries
pay 3.6% less for transportation
|
Santa Cruz
|
United States
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Gasoline (1 gallon) |
$4.79
|
$3.41
|
|
| Monthly public transit pass |
$65.00
|
$65.85
|
|
| New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition) |
$23,894.01
|
$32,336.38
|
|
| Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles) |
$22.70
|
$17.61
|
|
Santa Cruz vs. United States - Cost of transportation
pay 34.6% less for housing
|
Santa Cruz
|
United States
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Internet connection
50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl
|
$76.17
|
$68.97
|
|
| 1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area |
$2,989.17
|
$1,664.59
|
|
| 1-Bedroom apartment outside city center |
$2,639.80
|
$1,416.15
|
|
|
Utilities for two
(700 sq ft apartment)
including electric, gas, water, heating
|
$244.30
|
$150.19
|
|
Santa Cruz vs. United States - Cost of housing
pay 44.0% less for childcare
|
Santa Cruz
|
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 Cruz vs. United States - Cost of childcare
pay 10.0% less for entertainment and sports
|
Santa Cruz
|
United States
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Domestic/local beer (1 pint) |
$7.00
|
$5.84
|
|
| Cappuccino in mid-range area |
$5.33
|
$5.15
|
|
|
Pack of cigarettes
Marlboro or similar
|
$11.00
|
$9.90
|
|
| Monthly membership at local gym |
$60.00
|
$51.45
|
|
| Movie ticket to theater/cinema |
$14.50
|
$13.64
|
|
Santa Cruz vs. United States - Cost of entertainment and sports
pay 6.4% less for clothing
|
Santa Cruz
|
United States
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Regular jeans
Levi's brand
|
$55.00
|
$51.08
|
|
|
Regular dress
from H&M or similar store
|
$56.00
|
$41.81
|
|
|
Running shoes
Nike or Adidas
|
$80.00
|
$87.56
|
|
| Men's business shoes (leather) |
$115.00
|
$112.04
|
|
Santa Cruz 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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