2025 Compare Cities Cost of Living:
Petaluma, CA vs Highlands, NC

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Highlights
Is it cheaper to live in Highlands or is it cheaper to live in Petaluma?
- Highlands is 40.6% less expensive than Petaluma.

Which city has more affordable housing, Highlands or Petaluma?
- Highlands housing costs are 26.9% less expensive than Petaluma housing costs.

Is Health Care more affordable in Petaluma or is Health Care more affordable in Highlands.
- Health related expenses are 10.5% more in Highlands.
 Petaluma, CAHighlands, NCUnited States
 Overall  Unlock90.2100
 Food & Groceries110.8  Unlock100
 Health  Unlock121.9100
 Housing281.7  Unlock100
 Median Home Cost  Unlock$794,000$338,100
 Utilities99  Unlock100
 Transportation  Unlock69.0100
 Miscellaneous153.9  Unlock100
100 = National Average (Below 100 means cheaper than the US average. Above 100 means more expensive.)
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Reviews for Petaluma    16 Reviews

I agree with the low star reviews. Been here for 25 years, raised a family and seen everything turn to the left and worse. Weather is glorious, love the old Victorians  More

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We’ve lived here for 3 years and we love it. It has taken some time to grow on us. We moved from SF where we had lived over 15 years, we were not used to one year leases  More

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I’ve lived here a couple of years (after living in others parts of the Bay Area for 15+ years) and I love it! Great neighborhoods, friendly folks, good schools with  More

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Reviews for Highlands    4 Reviews

Love BestPlaces, but most of their statistics are incorrect for the actual town of Highlands which is extremely expensive. I assume they are using information from Macon  More

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Over 4 years ago

This used to be a quaint, quiet, sweet little town, but it has ballooned into a rich man's Mecca. Fist of all, it's a tiny town... so parking is at a premium and it gets  More

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Over 14 years ago

I have run two businesses in Highlands. It is a very seasonal business trend. The rents are high and so is the cost of doing business, including labor cost, cost of  More

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