Cost of living comparison
compared to
Palo Alto vs. Silver Spring Cost of Living Summary
Palo Alto is 35.8% more expensive than Silver Spring.
Palo Alto vs. Silver Spring Cost Breakdown
If you lived in Palo Alto instead of Silver Spring, you would:
pay 13.3% more for restaurants
|
Silver Spring
|
Palo Alto
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant |
$20.00
|
$30.00
|
|
|
Fast food combo meal
McDonalds, or similar
|
$13.00
|
$12.00
|
|
| Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz) |
$2.91
|
$3.30
|
|
| Bottle of water (11 fl. oz) |
$2.50
|
$2.44
|
|
Silver Spring vs. Palo Alto - Cost of restaurants
pay 15.0% more for groceries
|
Silver Spring
|
Palo Alto
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Bread
1 loaf
|
$3.78
|
$5.06
|
|
| Local cheese (8 oz) |
$9.18
|
$11.39
|
|
| Milk (1 gallon) |
$3.58
|
$5.85
|
|
|
Eggs
1 dozen
|
$5.99
|
$6.26
|
|
| Boneless chicken breast (1 lb) |
$6.49
|
$6.63
|
|
| Apples (1 lb) |
$3.45
|
$3.22
|
|
| Bananas (1 lb) |
$0.79
|
$1.18
|
|
| Oranges (1 lb) |
$3.67
|
$2.37
|
|
| Tomatoes (1 lb) |
$3.67
|
$3.01
|
|
| Potatoes (1 lb) |
$1.50
|
$1.94
|
|
| Onions (1 lb) |
$1.83
|
$2.19
|
|
Silver Spring vs. Palo Alto - Cost of groceries
pay 10.6% more for transportation
|
Silver Spring
|
Palo Alto
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Gasoline (1 gallon) |
$3.16
|
$4.84
|
|
| Monthly public transit pass |
$176.00
|
$90.00
|
|
| New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition) |
$34,231.99
|
$36,753.89
|
|
| Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles) |
$14.58
|
$19.06
|
|
Silver Spring vs. Palo Alto - Cost of transportation
pay 81.7% more for housing
|
Silver Spring
|
Palo Alto
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Internet connection
50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl
|
$65.00
|
$68.78
|
|
| 1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area |
$1,945.00
|
$3,600.00
|
|
| 1-Bedroom apartment outside city center |
$1,150.00
|
$3,148.75
|
|
|
Utilities for two
(700 sq ft apartment)
including electric, gas, water, heating
|
$110.88
|
$179.63
|
|
Silver Spring vs. Palo Alto - Cost of housing
pay 1.8% less for childcare
|
Silver Spring
|
Palo Alto
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Private preschool for 1 child, monthly |
$2,233.33
|
$2,823.00
|
|
| Middle school for 1 child, two semesters |
$60,000.00
|
$42,000.00
|
|
Silver Spring vs. Palo Alto - Cost of childcare
pay 2.1 times more for entertainment and sports
|
Silver Spring
|
Palo Alto
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Domestic/local beer (1 pint) |
$6.00
|
$8.00
|
|
| Cappuccino in mid-range area |
$5.29
|
$5.83
|
|
|
Pack of cigarettes
Marlboro or similar
|
$10.00
|
$11.50
|
|
| Monthly membership at local gym |
$33.33
|
$206.33
|
|
| Movie ticket to theater/cinema |
$17.00
|
$16.00
|
|
Silver Spring vs. Palo Alto - Cost of entertainment and sports
pay 17.2% more for clothing
|
Silver Spring
|
Palo Alto
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Regular jeans
Levi's brand
|
$46.75
|
$67.50
|
|
|
Regular dress
from H&M or similar store
|
$36.33
|
$46.00
|
|
|
Running shoes
Nike or Adidas
|
$95.00
|
$88.89
|
|
| Men's business shoes (leather) |
$120.00
|
$125.00
|
|
Silver Spring vs. Palo Alto - 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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