Cost of living comparison
compared to
San Diego vs. Illinois Cost of Living Summary
San Diego is 49.8% more expensive than Illinois.
San Diego vs. Illinois Cost Breakdown
If you lived in San Diego instead of Illinois, you would:
pay 35.7% more for restaurants
|
Illinois
|
San Diego
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant |
$16.90
|
$25.00
|
|
|
Fast food combo meal
McDonalds, or similar
|
$10.89
|
$13.50
|
|
| Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz) |
$2.49
|
$3.11
|
|
| Bottle of water (11 fl. oz) |
$1.93
|
$2.65
|
|
Illinois vs. San Diego - Cost of restaurants
pay 24.7% more for groceries
|
Illinois
|
San Diego
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Bread
1 loaf
|
$3.10
|
$5.64
|
|
| Local cheese (8 oz) |
$6.14
|
$8.60
|
|
| Milk (1 gallon) |
$3.46
|
$5.12
|
|
|
Eggs
1 dozen
|
$3.85
|
$6.96
|
|
| Boneless chicken breast (1 lb) |
$5.41
|
$6.42
|
|
| Apples (1 lb) |
$2.35
|
$2.12
|
|
| Bananas (1 lb) |
$0.76
|
$0.85
|
|
| Oranges (1 lb) |
$2.10
|
$1.99
|
|
| Tomatoes (1 lb) |
$2.00
|
$2.25
|
|
| Potatoes (1 lb) |
$1.07
|
$1.45
|
|
| Onions (1 lb) |
$1.25
|
$1.20
|
|
Illinois vs. San Diego - Cost of groceries
pay 21.7% more for transportation
|
Illinois
|
San Diego
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Gasoline (1 gallon) |
$3.94
|
$5.99
|
|
| Monthly public transit pass |
$72.27
|
$72.00
|
|
| New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition) |
$33,124.22
|
$36,998.00
|
|
| Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles) |
$16.42
|
$19.48
|
|
Illinois vs. San Diego - Cost of transportation
pay 98.7% more for housing
|
Illinois
|
San Diego
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Internet connection
50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl
|
$71.42
|
$85.53
|
|
| 1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area |
$1,397.04
|
$3,232.94
|
|
| 1-Bedroom apartment outside city center |
$1,090.29
|
$2,390.67
|
|
|
Utilities for two
(700 sq ft apartment)
including electric, gas, water, heating
|
$164.01
|
$197.48
|
|
Illinois vs. San Diego - Cost of housing
pay 51.5% more for childcare
|
Illinois
|
San Diego
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Private preschool for 1 child, monthly |
$1,217.84
|
$1,948.90
|
|
| Middle school for 1 child, two semesters |
$25,292.64
|
$36,280.62
|
|
Illinois vs. San Diego - Cost of childcare
pay 33.9% more for entertainment and sports
|
Illinois
|
San Diego
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Domestic/local beer (1 pint) |
$5.30
|
$8.00
|
|
| Cappuccino in mid-range area |
$5.19
|
$5.92
|
|
|
Pack of cigarettes
Marlboro or similar
|
$11.30
|
$11.71
|
|
| Monthly membership at local gym |
$52.78
|
$71.67
|
|
| Movie ticket to theater/cinema |
$13.24
|
$20.00
|
|
Illinois vs. San Diego - Cost of entertainment and sports
pay 24.8% more for clothing
|
Illinois
|
San Diego
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Regular jeans
Levi's brand
|
$57.56
|
$67.12
|
|
|
Regular dress
from H&M or similar store
|
$41.90
|
$55.50
|
|
|
Running shoes
Nike or Adidas
|
$91.76
|
$112.00
|
|
| Men's business shoes (leather) |
$112.64
|
$144.96
|
|
Illinois 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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