Cost of living comparison

compared to

Tacoma vs. Tucson Cost of Living Summary

Tacoma is 24.4% more expensive than Tucson.

Restaurants
pay 0.8% less in Tacoma
Groceries
pay 18.1% more in Tacoma
Transportation
pay 15.4% more in Tacoma
Housing
pay 20.7% more in Tacoma
Childcare
pay 97.2% more in Tacoma
Entertainment and Sports
pay 9.7% more in Tacoma
Clothing
pay 10.5% more in Tacoma

The cost of childcare, housing, groceries, transportation, clothing, and entertainment and sports in Tacoma are more expensive than in Tucson. Notably, childcare is significantly more expensive in Tacoma.

Tacoma vs. Tucson Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Tacoma instead of Tucson, you would:

pay 0.8% less for restaurants

 
Tucson
Tacoma
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant $19.00
 
$19.00
 
Fast food combo meal
McDonalds, or similar
$12.00
 
$11.00
 
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz) $2.83
 
$3.02
 

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pay 18.1% more for groceries

 
Tucson
Tacoma
Bread
1 loaf
$3.29
 
$3.83
 
Local cheese (8 oz) $5.82
 
$6.30
 
Milk (1 gallon) $3.23
 
$4.40
 

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pay 15.4% more for transportation

 
Tucson
Tacoma
Gasoline (1 gallon) $3.40
 
$4.34
 
Monthly public transit pass ?? $62.00
 
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition) $36,113.30
 
$36,656.56
 

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pay 20.7% more for housing

 
Tucson
Tacoma
Internet connection
50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl
$83.95
 
$82.50
 
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area $1,258.25
 
$1,879.17
 
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center $1,134.62
 
$1,660.00
 

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pay 97.2% more for childcare

 
Tucson
Tacoma
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly $1,091.67
 
$2,086.81
 
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters $15,605.00
 
$31,687.50
 

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pay 9.7% more for entertainment and sports

 
Tucson
Tacoma
Domestic/local beer (1 pint) $6.00
 
$8.00
 
Cappuccino in mid-range area $5.38
 
$5.38
 
Pack of cigarettes
Marlboro or similar
$9.22
 
$10.00
 

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pay 10.5% more for clothing

 
Tucson
Tacoma
Regular jeans
Levi's brand
$47.22
 
$59.00
 
Regular dress
from H&M or similar store
$41.00
 
$44.50
 
Running shoes
Nike or Adidas
$87.50
 
$82.80
 

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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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