Cost of living comparison
compared to
San Diego vs. Chicago Cost of Living Summary
San Diego is 5.8% more expensive than Chicago.
- Restaurants
-
pay 9.4% more in San Diego
- Groceries
-
pay 5.0% more in San Diego
- Transportation
-
pay 11.2% more in San Diego
- Housing
-
pay 36.5% more in San Diego
- Childcare
-
pay 20.6% less in San Diego
- Entertainment and Sports
-
pay 1.8% less in San Diego
- Clothing
-
pay 1.2% more in San Diego
The cost of housing, transportation, restaurants, groceries, and clothing in San Diego are more expensive than in Chicago. Expenses including childcare and entertainment and sports are lower in San Diego.
San Diego vs. Chicago Cost Breakdown
If you lived in San Diego instead of Chicago, you would:
pay 9.4% more for restaurants
|
Chicago
|
San Diego
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant |
$20.50
|
$21.00
|
|
|
Fast food combo meal
McDonalds, or similar
|
$12.00
|
$15.00
|
|
| Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz) |
$2.96
|
$3.03
|
|
| Bottle of water (11 fl. oz) |
$2.33
|
$2.50
|
|
Chicago vs. San Diego - Cost of restaurants
pay 5.0% more for groceries
|
Chicago
|
San Diego
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Bread
1 loaf
|
$4.01
|
$4.57
|
|
| Local cheese (8 oz) |
$7.05
|
$7.36
|
|
| Milk (1 gallon) |
$4.30
|
$4.78
|
|
|
Eggs
1 dozen
|
$5.02
|
$5.84
|
|
| Boneless chicken breast (1 lb) |
$6.55
|
$6.07
|
|
| Apples (1 lb) |
$2.31
|
$2.22
|
|
| Bananas (1 lb) |
$0.79
|
$0.78
|
|
| Oranges (1 lb) |
$1.85
|
$1.91
|
|
| Tomatoes (1 lb) |
$2.09
|
$2.26
|
|
| Potatoes (1 lb) |
$1.16
|
$1.42
|
|
| Onions (1 lb) |
$1.26
|
$1.12
|
|
Chicago vs. San Diego - Cost of groceries
pay 11.2% more for transportation
|
Chicago
|
San Diego
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Gasoline (1 gallon) |
$3.81
|
$4.76
|
|
| Monthly public transit pass |
$75.00
|
$72.00
|
|
| New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition) |
$35,691.85
|
$31,965.00
|
|
| Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles) |
$14.43
|
$19.40
|
|
Chicago vs. San Diego - Cost of transportation
pay 36.5% more for housing
|
Chicago
|
San Diego
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Internet connection
50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl
|
$65.83
|
$82.19
|
|
| 1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area |
$2,418.00
|
$3,033.00
|
|
| 1-Bedroom apartment outside city center |
$1,692.50
|
$2,538.64
|
|
|
Utilities for two
(700 sq ft apartment)
including electric, gas, water, heating
|
$141.41
|
$205.84
|
|
Chicago vs. San Diego - Cost of housing
pay 20.6% less for childcare
|
Chicago
|
San Diego
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Private preschool for 1 child, monthly |
$2,050.00
|
$1,750.00
|
|
| Middle school for 1 child, two semesters |
$39,114.29
|
$28,750.00
|
|
Chicago vs. San Diego - Cost of childcare
pay 1.8% less for entertainment and sports
|
Chicago
|
San Diego
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Domestic/local beer (1 pint) |
$7.00
|
$8.00
|
|
| Cappuccino in mid-range area |
$5.53
|
$5.90
|
|
|
Pack of cigarettes
Marlboro or similar
|
$17.00
|
$12.00
|
|
| Monthly membership at local gym |
$71.80
|
$73.21
|
|
| Movie ticket to theater/cinema |
$18.00
|
$17.50
|
|
Chicago vs. San Diego - Cost of entertainment and sports
pay 1.2% more for clothing
|
Chicago
|
San Diego
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Regular jeans
Levi's brand
|
$64.24
|
$60.72
|
|
|
Regular dress
from H&M or similar store
|
$49.62
|
$58.44
|
|
|
Running shoes
Nike or Adidas
|
$99.48
|
$105.68
|
|
| Men's business shoes (leather) |
$146.50
|
$126.25
|
|
Chicago vs. San Diego - Cost of clothing
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: November 2025
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