Chapel Hill vs. Sarasota Cost of Living Summary

Chapel Hill is 2.0% cheaper than Sarasota.

Restaurants
pay 21.0% less in Chapel Hill
Groceries
pay 35.2% more in Chapel Hill
Transportation
pay 2.9% less in Chapel Hill
Housing
pay 9.4% less in Chapel Hill
Childcare
pay 1.6% less in Chapel Hill
Entertainment and Sports
pay 3.7% more in Chapel Hill
Clothing
pay 25.4% less in Chapel Hill

The cost of groceries and entertainment and sports in Chapel Hill are more expensive than in Sarasota. Expenses including clothing, restaurants, housing, transportation, and childcare are lower in Chapel Hill.

Chapel Hill vs. Sarasota Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Chapel Hill instead of Sarasota, you would:

pay 21.0% less for restaurants

 
Sarasota
Chapel Hill
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant $27.50
 
$18.00
 
Fast food combo meal
McDonalds, or similar
$11.00
 
$10.00
 
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz) $3.25
 
$2.90
 

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pay 35.2% more for groceries

 
Sarasota
Chapel Hill
Bread
1 loaf
$4.02
 
$4.68
 
Local cheese (8 oz) $4.82
 
$9.04
 
Milk (1 gallon) $4.02
 
$4.36
 

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pay 2.9% less for transportation

 
Sarasota
Chapel Hill
Gasoline (1 gallon) $3.76
 
$3.68
 
Monthly public transit pass ?? ??
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition) $36,928.80
 
$35,535.00
 

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pay 9.4% less for housing

 
Sarasota
Chapel Hill
Internet connection
50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl
$81.00
 
$70.83
 
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area $2,175.00
 
$1,766.67
 
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center $1,608.00
 
$1,300.00
 

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pay 1.6% less for childcare

 
Sarasota
Chapel Hill
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly $861.50
 
$1,400.00
 
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters $16,792.50
 
$10,000.00
 

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pay 3.7% more for entertainment and sports

 
Sarasota
Chapel Hill
Domestic/local beer (1 pint) $5.50
 
$6.00
 
Cappuccino in mid-range area $4.62
 
$4.75
 
Pack of cigarettes
Marlboro or similar
$9.07
 
$7.95
 

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pay 25.4% less for clothing

 
Sarasota
Chapel Hill
Regular jeans
Levi's brand
$63.75
 
$39.00
 
Regular dress
from H&M or similar store
$49.75
 
$31.25
 
Running shoes
Nike or Adidas
$113.75
 
$103.33
 

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We average the price of thousands of data points entered by users across the world. Sources: MyLifeElsewhere's cost-of-living dataset (prices updated November 2026). How we calculate this

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