Cost of living comparison
compared to
San Diego vs. California Cost of Living Summary
San Diego is 13.2% more expensive than California.
San Diego vs. California Cost Breakdown
If you lived in San Diego instead of California, you would:
pay 9.6% more for restaurants
|
California
|
San Diego
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant |
$22.31
|
$25.00
|
|
|
Fast food combo meal
McDonalds, or similar
|
$12.78
|
$13.50
|
|
| Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz) |
$2.96
|
$3.11
|
|
| Bottle of water (11 fl. oz) |
$2.26
|
$2.65
|
|
California vs. San Diego - Cost of restaurants
pay 1.8% more for groceries
|
California
|
San Diego
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Bread
1 loaf
|
$4.33
|
$5.64
|
|
| Local cheese (8 oz) |
$7.51
|
$8.60
|
|
| Milk (1 gallon) |
$4.92
|
$5.12
|
|
|
Eggs
1 dozen
|
$5.18
|
$6.96
|
|
| Boneless chicken breast (1 lb) |
$6.10
|
$6.42
|
|
| Apples (1 lb) |
$2.32
|
$2.12
|
|
| Bananas (1 lb) |
$0.94
|
$0.85
|
|
| Oranges (1 lb) |
$2.02
|
$1.99
|
|
| Tomatoes (1 lb) |
$2.60
|
$2.25
|
|
| Potatoes (1 lb) |
$1.61
|
$1.45
|
|
| Onions (1 lb) |
$1.39
|
$1.20
|
|
California vs. San Diego - Cost of groceries
pay 6.2% more for transportation
|
California
|
San Diego
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Gasoline (1 gallon) |
$5.53
|
$5.99
|
|
| Monthly public transit pass |
$64.45
|
$72.00
|
|
| New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition) |
$35,604.61
|
$36,998.00
|
|
| Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles) |
$20.97
|
$19.48
|
|
California vs. San Diego - Cost of transportation
pay 22.9% more for housing
|
California
|
San Diego
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Internet connection
50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl
|
$69.16
|
$85.53
|
|
| 1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area |
$2,414.89
|
$3,232.94
|
|
| 1-Bedroom apartment outside city center |
$2,061.17
|
$2,390.67
|
|
|
Utilities for two
(700 sq ft apartment)
including electric, gas, water, heating
|
$172.98
|
$197.48
|
|
California vs. San Diego - Cost of housing
pay 17.8% more for childcare
|
California
|
San Diego
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Private preschool for 1 child, monthly |
$1,659.26
|
$1,948.90
|
|
| Middle school for 1 child, two semesters |
$30,706.19
|
$36,280.62
|
|
California vs. San Diego - Cost of childcare
pay 13.9% more for entertainment and sports
|
California
|
San Diego
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Domestic/local beer (1 pint) |
$7.15
|
$8.00
|
|
| Cappuccino in mid-range area |
$5.63
|
$5.92
|
|
|
Pack of cigarettes
Marlboro or similar
|
$11.42
|
$11.71
|
|
| Monthly membership at local gym |
$65.06
|
$71.67
|
|
| Movie ticket to theater/cinema |
$15.07
|
$20.00
|
|
California vs. San Diego - Cost of entertainment and sports
pay 18.3% more for clothing
|
California
|
San Diego
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Regular jeans
Levi's brand
|
$58.89
|
$67.12
|
|
|
Regular dress
from H&M or similar store
|
$43.96
|
$55.50
|
|
|
Running shoes
Nike or Adidas
|
$91.63
|
$112.00
|
|
| Men's business shoes (leather) |
$130.37
|
$144.96
|
|
California vs. San Diego - Cost of clothing
We average the price of thousands of data points entered by users across the world. Sources: MyLifeElsewhere's cost-of-living dataset (prices updated October 2026). How we calculate this
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