Community Corner
Cost of Living in Palo Alto Destroys National Average
Being in the heart of Silicon Valley comes at a price.
It should come as no surprise that living in Palo Alto is abnormally expensive. Compared to national averages, nearly every local expense is well above what people are paying in other parts of the country.
But have you ever seen the numbers of exactly how it compares? Bestplaces.net has broken down local average costs compared to the national average. They rank every expense on a point scale, with 100 being the national average.
According to Bestplaces.net, Palo Alto is more than twice the national average for overall cost of living. See the breakdown of all the numbers below.
Find out what's happening in Palo Altowith free, real-time updates from Patch.
National Average Overall 241 100 Food 112
100 Utilities 140
100 Miscellaneous 103
100
Perhaps the most dramatic cost of living difference between here and the rest of the country is housing, however. The median home price in Palo Alto is $992,600, compared to the national average of $175,100. 43 percent of homeowners in Palo Alto have a home worth more than $1 million, compared to just under two percent of the rest of the country.
What do you make of these numbers? Is it worth it to you to pay three to four times the national average on rent and mortgage to stay here? Tell us in the comments!
Find out what's happening in Palo Altowith free, real-time updates from Patch.
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