Cost of living comparison

Poland

compared to

United States

Santa Monica vs. Warsaw Cost of Living Summary

Santa Monica is 89.6% more expensive than Warsaw.

Restaurants: pay 73.7% more in Santa Monica
Groceries: pay 2.2 times more in Santa Monica
Transportation: pay 28.9% more in Santa Monica
Housing: pay 2.4 times more in Santa Monica
Childcare: pay 2.5 times more in Santa Monica
Entertainment and Sports: pay 70.5% more in Santa Monica
Clothing: pay 4.7% more in Santa Monica

The cost of childcare, housing, groceries, restaurants, entertainment and sports, and transportation in Santa Monica are more expensive than in Warsaw. Notably, childcare, housing, and groceries are significantly more expensive in Santa Monica.

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Santa Monica vs. Warsaw Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Santa Monica instead of Warsaw, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 73.7% more for restaurants

	Warsaw	Santa Monica
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$11.51 PLN44.70	$26.50	+130.3%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$10.23 PLN39.73	$15.00	+46.7%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$2.24 PLN8.69	$3.23	+44.4%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$2.24 PLN8.71	$2.38	+5.9%
Average			+73.7%

Warsaw vs. Santa Monica - Cost of restaurants

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pay 2.2 times more for groceries

	Warsaw	Santa Monica
Bread 1 loaf	$1.49 PLN5.78	$4.68	+214.6%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$4.41 PLN17.13	$7.99	+81.1%
Milk (1 gallon)	$4.07 PLN15.80	$5.24	+28.9%
Eggs 1 dozen	$3.89 PLN15.11	$5.84	+50.1%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.95 PLN11.46	$6.33	+114.6%
Apples (1 lb)	$0.54 PLN2.11	$2.15	+294.2%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.77 PLN3.00	$1.03	+33.0%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.77 PLN3.00	$1.83	+136.3%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.83 PLN7.12	$2.57	+40.4%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.40 PLN1.56	$1.46	+262.4%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.41 PLN1.59	$1.30	+217.4%
Average			+115.8%

Warsaw vs. Santa Monica - Cost of groceries

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pay 28.9% more for transportation

	Warsaw	Santa Monica
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$6.61 PLN25.68	$5.65	-14.5%
Monthly public transit pass	$28.12 PLN109.26	$67.50	+140.0%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$30,654.89 PLN119K	$36,998.00	+20.7%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$12.78 PLN49.66	$17.91	+40.1%
Average			+28.9%

Warsaw vs. Santa Monica - Cost of transportation

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pay 2.4 times more for housing

	Warsaw	Santa Monica
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$16.12 PLN62.61	$65.20	+304.5%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$1,178.19 PLN4,576.94	$3,375.00	+186.5%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$950.41 PLN3,692.09	$2,833.33	+198.1%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$262.73 PLN1,020.62	$166.32	-36.7%
Average			+136.1%

Warsaw vs. Santa Monica - Cost of housing

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pay 2.5 times more for childcare

	Warsaw	Santa Monica
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$588.07 PLN2,284.47	$1,676.09	+185.0%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$14,458.55 PLN56,167.35	$32,155.00	+122.4%
Average			+151.8%

Warsaw vs. Santa Monica - Cost of childcare

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pay 70.5% more for entertainment and sports

	Warsaw	Santa Monica
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$4.60 PLN17.88	$8.00	+73.8%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$4.27 PLN16.58	$5.86	+37.3%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$6.39 PLN24.83	$11.71	+83.2%
Monthly membership at local gym	$46.71 PLN181.45	$72.00	+54.1%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$9.20 PLN35.76	$19.75	+114.6%
Average			+70.5%

Warsaw vs. Santa Monica - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 4.7% more for clothing

	Warsaw	Santa Monica
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$107.88 PLN419.08	$88.25	-18.2%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$39.61 PLN153.88	$55.00	+38.8%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$106.17 PLN412.46	$104.75	-1.3%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$111.84 PLN434.46	$120.00	+7.3%
Average			+4.7%

Warsaw vs. Santa Monica - Cost of clothing

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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 October 2026). How we calculate this

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