Cost of living comparison

compared to

San Diego vs. London Cost of Living Summary

San Diego is 1.7% cheaper than London.

Restaurants: pay 10.5% more in San Diego
Groceries: pay 38.0% more in San Diego
Transportation: pay 39.4% less in San Diego
Housing: pay 19.8% more in San Diego
Childcare: pay 14.3% less in San Diego
Entertainment and Sports: pay 8.4% less in San Diego
Clothing: pay 18.2% less in San Diego

The cost of groceries, housing, and restaurants in San Diego are more expensive than in London. Expenses including transportation, clothing, childcare, and entertainment and sports are lower in San Diego.

San Diego vs. London Cost Breakdown

If you lived in San Diego instead of London, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 10.5% more for restaurants

	London	San Diego
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$26.73 £20.18	$21.00	-21.4%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$11.02 £8.33	$15.00	+36.1%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$3.12 £2.36	$3.03	-2.9%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$1.93 £1.45	$2.50	+30.0%
Average			+10.5%

London vs. San Diego - Cost of restaurants

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pay 38.0% more for groceries

	London	San Diego
Bread 1 loaf	$2.16 £1.63	$4.57	+111.5%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$5.54 £4.18	$7.36	+32.8%
Milk (1 gallon)	$6.58 £4.97	$4.78	-27.3%
Eggs 1 dozen	$5.02 £3.79	$5.84	+16.4%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$3.95 £2.98	$6.07	+53.5%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.53 £1.15	$2.22	+45.4%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.83 £0.63	$0.78	-6.5%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.44 £1.09	$1.91	+32.6%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.64 £1.24	$2.26	+37.8%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.76 £0.57	$1.42	+86.8%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.83 £0.63	$1.12	+35.2%
Average			+38.0%

London vs. San Diego - Cost of groceries

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pay 39.4% less for transportation

	London	San Diego
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$7.12 £5.38	$4.76	-33.2%
Monthly public transit pass	$240.54 £181.65	$72.00	-70.1%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$37,798.76 £28,544.87	$31,965.00	-15.4%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$31.75 £23.98	$19.40	-38.9%
Average			-39.4%

London vs. San Diego - Cost of transportation

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pay 19.8% more for housing

	London	San Diego
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$42.83 £32.34	$82.19	+91.9%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$3,083.09 £2,328.29	$3,033.00	-1.6%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$2,340.14 £1,767.22	$2,538.64	+8.5%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$255.85 £193.21	$205.84	-19.5%
Average			+19.8%

London vs. San Diego - Cost of housing

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pay 14.3% less for childcare

	London	San Diego
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$2,480.84 £1,873.48	$1,750.00	-29.5%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$28,512.27 £21,531.90	$28,750.00	+0.8%
Average			-14.3%

London vs. San Diego - Cost of childcare

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pay 8.4% less for entertainment and sports

	London	San Diego
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$8.69 £6.56	$8.00	-7.9%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$5.21 £3.93	$5.90	+13.3%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$22.72 £17.16	$12.00	-47.2%
Monthly membership at local gym	$64.95 £49.05	$73.21	+12.7%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$20.05 £15.14	$17.50	-12.7%
Average			-8.4%

London vs. San Diego - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 18.2% less for clothing

	London	San Diego
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$116.11 £87.68	$60.72	-47.7%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$52.02 £39.29	$58.44	+12.3%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$125.96 £95.13	$105.68	-16.1%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$160.88 £121.49	$126.25	-21.5%
Average			-18.2%

London vs. San Diego - Cost of clothing

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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: December 2025

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