Palo Alto, California Cost Of Living

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Overall 203%

Goods & Services 19%

Housing 617%

The cost of living index is based on a national average of 100. For example, if the cost of living is 90, then it is 10% lower than average. If the cost of living is 110, then it is 10% higher than average. The breakdown for each index is as follows: goods & services (33%), groceries (13%), health care (5%), housing (30%), transportation (9%) and utilities (10%). If the cost of living data was unavailable for this city, estimates based upon nearby cities were used.
Index	Palo Alto	California	National
Cost of living	303	140	100
Goods & Services	119	109	100
Groceries	128	112	100
Health care	122	109	100
Housing	717	196	100
Transportation	140	132	100
Utilities	131	127	100

Key findings

The cost of living in Palo Alto is 117% higher than the California average
The cost of living in Palo Alto is 203% higher than the national average
Palo Alto housing is 617% higher than the national average
California general sales tax is 42% higher than the national average
California state income tax is 59% lower than the national average

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Price difference in compared to

Cost of living index
Goods & Services index
Groceries index
Health care index
Housing index
Transportation index
Utilities index

Median Income & Debt-To-Income Ratio

Median Income	Per Year	Per Month	Max Budget (28% DTI)	Max Budget (36% DTI)
Owners	$179,628	$14,969	$4,191	$5,389
Renters	$93,786	$7,816	$2,188	$2,814

The percent of monthly income spent on housing can be a good indicator of the affordability of housing in Palo Alto, CA, as well as the overall cost of living. As a general rule of thumb, the debt-to-income ratio (DTI) for homeowners or renters should be not more than 28 percent of gross income to be spent on housing related costs and not more than 36 percent of income on all expenses, including debts. The median income for Palo Alto homeowners, is $179,628. This would allow for a maximum of $4,191 per month to be spent on housing costs. For renters, the median monthly income is $93,786 which would result in a maximum of $2,188 to be spent on rental costs.

California Sales Tax

State	General Sales Tax	With Max Surtax
California	7.25%	10.5%

California Income Tax

State	Income Tax (Low)	Income Tax (High)
California	1%	13.3%

Goods & Services

Item	Palo Alto	National avg.	Difference
Haircut	$21.17	$20.27	4.4%
Beauty Salon	$71.31	$40.39	76.5%
Toothpaste	$3.06	$2.36	29.7%
Shampoo	$1.36	$1.08	26.0%
Movie	$14.19	$10.99	29.2%
Bowling	$20.50	$15.49	32.3%

Groceries

Item	Palo Alto	National avg.	Difference
Ground Beef	$4.24	$4.30	1.3%
Fried Chicken	$1.82	$1.40	30.3%
Milk	$2.78	$2.20	26.2%
Potatoes	$2.98	$3.22	7.5%
Pizza	$12.93	$10.74	20.4%
Beer	$10.32	$9.60	7.5%

Health Care

Item	Palo Alto	National avg.	Difference
Optometrist	$132.96	$109.73	21.2%
Doctor	$139.84	$118.34	18.2%
Dentist	$138.42	$100.94	37.1%
Ibuprofen	$12.22	$9.93	23.0%
Lipitor	$473.62	$469.53	0.9%

Housing

Item	Palo Alto	National avg.	Difference
Home Price	$1,702,100.00	$184,700.00	821.5%
Avg. Mortgage Payment	$2,714.78	$1,229.62	120.8%
Apartment Rent	$2,283.00	$949.00	140.6%

Transportation

Item	Palo Alto	National avg.	Difference
Gasoline	$3.95	$2.71	45.7%
Tire Balancing	$68.02	$51.86	31.2%

Utilities

Item	Palo Alto	National avg.	Difference
All Electricity	$266.98	$170.84	56.3%
Phone	$185.39	$187.18	1.0%

Although the cost of living data is updated regularly, this cost of living information is to be used as estimates only as prices can change on an ongoing basis.

Nearby cities with low cost of living

City	Population	Cost of Living Index	National Avg.
Loma Mar, CA	150	128	28.5%
Mountain View CDP, CA	2,585	136	36.3%
East Palo Alto, CA	29,353	161	60.9%
Newark, CA	44,677	167	66.8%
Union City, CA	73,500	168	68.4%
Palo Alto, CA	66,649	303	203.1%

Cities with similar population

City	Population	Cost of Living Index	National Avg.
Portland, ME	66,649	111	11.3%
Camarillo, CA	66,630	153	53.1%
Woodbury, MN	66,699	119	19.2%
South San Francisco, CA	66,587	178	78.4%
Oshkosh, WI	66,713	92	7.6%
Palo Alto, CA	66,649	303	203.1%

Source: This data reflects 2021 and was released from C2ER in January, 2022; this is the most current data available.