2025 Compare Cities Cost of Living:
Santa Cruz, CA vs Yelm, WA

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Highlights
Is it cheaper to live in Yelm or is it cheaper to live in Santa Cruz?
- Yelm is 39.7% less expensive than Santa Cruz.

Which city has more affordable housing, Yelm or Santa Cruz?
- Yelm housing costs are 66.8% less expensive than Santa Cruz housing costs.

Is Health Care more affordable in Santa Cruz or is Health Care more affordable in Yelm.
- Health related expenses are 20.2% less in Yelm.
 Santa Cruz, CAYelm, WAUnited States
 Overall  Unlock112.1100
 Food & Groceries111.5  Unlock100
 Health  Unlock87.1100
 Housing420.7  Unlock100
 Median Home Cost  Unlock$443,200$338,100
 Utilities94  Unlock100
 Transportation  Unlock112.4100
 Miscellaneous155.7  Unlock100
100 = National Average (Below 100 means cheaper than the US average. Above 100 means more expensive.)
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Reviews for Santa Cruz    44 Reviews

I lived in the Santa Cruz area for 20 years. UCSC alum. Our kids were born there. There are wonderful things about Santa Cruz, but also many serious problems that we  More

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Over 5 years ago

I have been here for four generations! My kids are the fifth. I guess that should tell you how wonderful it is here, at least for us. It's so cool to have world class  More

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I was born over the hill in San Jose area, and as a kid I loved coming over to the boardwalk. Santa Cruz has always been and always will be a town of diversity,  More

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Reviews for Yelm    2 Reviews

Over 16 years ago

Yelm is a very nice city to live in. Small enough to have that small town flavor but big enough not to be cramped. Has access to pretty much everywhere you want to go.  More

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I've lived in Yelm 2 years now and LOVE IT! We moved here to get away of the crazyness and extreamly crampedness of the "suburbia"of Puyallup which is just outside of  More

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