Cost of living comparison

Phnom Penh, Cambodia

compared to

Palo Alto (CA), United States

Palo Alto vs. Phnom Penh Cost of Living Summary

Palo Alto is 3.5 times more expensive than Phnom Penh.

Restaurants: pay 3.0 times more in Palo Alto
Groceries: pay 2.3 times more in Palo Alto
Transportation: pay 3.1 times more in Palo Alto
Housing: pay 6.0 times more in Palo Alto
Childcare: pay 5.3 times more in Palo Alto
Entertainment and Sports: pay 3.6 times more in Palo Alto
Clothing: pay 53.8% more in Palo Alto

The cost of housing, childcare, entertainment and sports, transportation, restaurants, and groceries in Palo Alto are more expensive than in Phnom Penh. Notably, housing, childcare, and entertainment and sports are significantly more expensive in Palo Alto.

Palo Alto vs. Phnom Penh Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Palo Alto instead of Phnom Penh, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 3.0 times more for restaurants

	Phnom Penh	Palo Alto
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$5.00 KHR20,100.00	$27.50	+450.0%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$7.00 KHR28,140.00	$11.50	+64.3%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.12 KHR4,515.80	$3.00	+167.1%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$1.01 KHR4,064.54	$2.17	+114.1%
Average			+198.9%

Phnom Penh vs. Palo Alto - Cost of restaurants

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 2.3 times more for groceries

	Phnom Penh	Palo Alto
Bread 1 loaf	$1.85 KHR7,437.00	$5.22	+182.3%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$6.08 KHR24,455.00	$8.45	+38.9%
Milk (1 gallon)	$8.07 KHR32,433.26	$5.33	-33.9%
Eggs 1 dozen	$1.90 KHR7,630.69	$5.50	+189.5%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$1.87 KHR7,521.70	$7.75	+314.1%
Apples (1 lb)	$2.17 KHR8,737.33	$3.30	+51.8%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.87 KHR3,477.57	$0.90	+4.0%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.89 KHR7,585.52	$1.60	-15.2%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.67 KHR2,709.12	$3.00	+345.2%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.76 KHR3,069.46	$1.89	+147.1%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.65 KHR2,613.60	$1.66	+155.0%
Average			+125.3%

Phnom Penh vs. Palo Alto - Cost of groceries

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 3.1 times more for transportation

	Phnom Penh	Palo Alto
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$4.40 KHR17,670.12	$4.85	+10.3%
Monthly public transit pass	$10.60 KHR42,612.00	$90.00	+749.1%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$49,000.00 KHR196,980,000.00	$30,530.00	-37.7%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$9.00 KHR36,180.00	$18.41	+104.6%
Average			+206.6%

Phnom Penh vs. Palo Alto - Cost of transportation

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 6.0 times more for housing

	Phnom Penh	Palo Alto
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$22.30 KHR89,641.35	$60.00	+169.1%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$502.11 KHR2,018,463.16	$3,397.50	+576.7%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$277.36 KHR1,114,970.19	$3,198.33	+1053.2%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$72.12 KHR289,940.95	$213.87	+196.5%
Average			+498.9%

Phnom Penh vs. Palo Alto - Cost of housing

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 5.3 times more for childcare

	Phnom Penh	Palo Alto
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$340.00 KHR1,366,800.00	$2,705.00	+695.6%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$13,900.83 KHR55,881,350.00	$37,770.00	+171.7%
Average			+433.6%

Phnom Penh vs. Palo Alto - Cost of childcare

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 3.6 times more for entertainment and sports

	Phnom Penh	Palo Alto
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$1.50 KHR6,030.00	$8.00	+433.3%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.77 KHR11,150.71	$5.10	+83.9%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$2.00 KHR8,040.00	$11.00	+450.0%
Monthly membership at local gym	$48.33 KHR194,300.00	$120.00	+148.3%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$5.50 KHR22,110.00	$15.99	+190.7%
Average			+261.2%

Phnom Penh vs. Palo Alto - Cost of entertainment and sports

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 53.8% more for clothing

	Phnom Penh	Palo Alto
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$24.67 KHR99,160.00	$45.00	+82.4%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$20.80 KHR83,616.00	$36.12	+73.7%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$93.00 KHR373,860.00	$80.00	-14.0%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$67.67 KHR272,020.00	$117.22	+73.2%
Average			+53.8%

Phnom Penh vs. Palo Alto - Cost of clothing

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

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 2025

More cost comparisons

Phnom Penh vs.

Singapore

Phnom Penh vs.

Delhi

Phnom Penh vs.

Dublin

Phnom Penh vs.

Mexico City

Phnom Penh vs.

Madrid

Phnom Penh vs.

Dodoma

Phnom Penh vs.

Rome

Phnom Penh vs.

Vienna

Share this

Compare countries by overall cost of living

See the cost of living in Cambodia vs. United States. This provides a comparison of the average cost of living from cities within Cambodia and United States.

Help us improve these prices

MyLifeElsewhere is a collaborative project. Please enter price information for your location to help assist us in making these comparisons more accurate. Learn more

Add prices for Phnom Penh

Add prices for Palo Alto

ASK THE ELSEWHERE COMMUNITY

Join the Elsewhere community and ask a question about Palo Alto or Phnom Penh. It's a free, question-and-answer based forum to discuss what life is like in countries and cities around the world.