Cost of living comparison
compared to
San Diego vs. Papua New Guinea Cost of Living Summary
San Diego is 2.3 times more expensive than Papua New Guinea overall.
- Restaurants
-
pay 2.8 times more in San Diego
- Groceries
-
pay 30.6% more in San Diego
- Transportation
-
pay 59.4% more in San Diego
- Housing
-
pay 88.9% more in San Diego
- Childcare
-
pay 5.0 times more in San Diego
- Entertainment and Sports
-
pay 88.3% more in San Diego
- Clothing
-
pay 55.6% more in San Diego
The cost of childcare, restaurants, housing, entertainment and sports, transportation, and clothing in San Diego are more expensive than in Papua New Guinea. Notably, childcare, restaurants, and housing are significantly more expensive in San Diego.
San Diego vs. Papua New Guinea Cost Breakdown
If you lived in San Diego instead of Papua New Guinea, you would:
pay 2.8 times more for restaurants
|
Papua New Guinea
|
San Diego
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant |
$17.87
PGK76.12
|
$21.00
|
|
|
Fast food combo meal
McDonalds, or similar
|
$5.92
PGK25.23
|
$15.00
|
|
| Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz) |
$0.80
PGK3.42
|
$3.03
|
|
| Bottle of water (11 fl. oz) |
$0.70
PGK3.00
|
$2.50
|
|
Papua New Guinea vs. San Diego - Cost of restaurants
pay 30.6% more for groceries
|
Papua New Guinea
|
San Diego
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Bread
1 loaf
|
$1.55
PGK6.62
|
$4.57
|
|
| Local cheese (8 oz) |
$3.60
PGK15.35
|
$7.36
|
|
| Milk (1 gallon) |
$7.76
PGK33.06
|
$4.78
|
|
|
Eggs
1 dozen
|
$4.00
PGK17.05
|
$5.84
|
|
| Boneless chicken breast (1 lb) |
$3.63
PGK15.46
|
$6.07
|
|
| Apples (1 lb) |
$1.99
PGK8.47
|
$2.22
|
|
| Bananas (1 lb) |
$1.32
PGK5.63
|
$0.78
|
|
| Oranges (1 lb) |
$2.73
PGK11.64
|
$1.91
|
|
| Tomatoes (1 lb) |
$1.62
PGK6.92
|
$2.26
|
|
| Potatoes (1 lb) |
$1.58
PGK6.73
|
$1.42
|
|
| Onions (1 lb) |
$1.18
PGK5.03
|
$1.12
|
|
Papua New Guinea vs. San Diego - Cost of groceries
pay 59.4% more for transportation
|
Papua New Guinea
|
San Diego
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Gasoline (1 gallon) |
$4.22
PGK17.96
|
$4.76
|
|
| Monthly public transit pass |
$23.69
PGK100.90
|
$72.00
|
|
| New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition) |
$22,387.96
PGK95,354.79
|
$31,965.00
|
|
| Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles) |
$24.88
PGK105.95
|
$19.40
|
|
Papua New Guinea vs. San Diego - Cost of transportation
pay 88.9% more for housing
|
Papua New Guinea
|
San Diego
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Internet connection
50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl
|
$165.84
PGK706.33
|
$82.19
|
|
| 1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area |
$2,652.44
PGK11,297.25
|
$3,033.00
|
|
| 1-Bedroom apartment outside city center |
$758.54
PGK3,230.79
|
$2,538.64
|
|
|
Utilities for two
(700 sq ft apartment)
including electric, gas, water, heating
|
$80.08
PGK341.06
|
$205.84
|
|
Papua New Guinea vs. San Diego - Cost of housing
pay 5.0 times more for childcare
|
Papua New Guinea
|
San Diego
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Private preschool for 1 child, monthly |
$631.76
PGK2,690.79
|
$1,750.00
|
|
| Middle school for 1 child, two semesters |
$3,968.24
PGK16,901.51
|
$28,750.00
|
|
Papua New Guinea vs. San Diego - Cost of childcare
pay 88.3% more for entertainment and sports
|
Papua New Guinea
|
San Diego
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Domestic/local beer (1 pint) |
$2.98
PGK12.67
|
$8.00
|
|
| Cappuccino in mid-range area |
$2.56
PGK10.89
|
$5.90
|
|
|
Pack of cigarettes
Marlboro or similar
|
$6.96
PGK29.63
|
$12.00
|
|
| Monthly membership at local gym |
$73.52
PGK313.14
|
$73.21
|
|
| Movie ticket to theater/cinema |
$10.30
PGK43.87
|
$17.50
|
|
Papua New Guinea vs. San Diego - Cost of entertainment and sports
pay 55.6% more for clothing
|
Papua New Guinea
|
San Diego
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Regular jeans
Levi's brand
|
$31.15
PGK132.69
|
$60.72
|
|
|
Regular dress
from H&M or similar store
|
$36.48
PGK155.39
|
$58.44
|
|
|
Running shoes
Nike or Adidas
|
$76.40
PGK325.42
|
$105.68
|
|
| Men's business shoes (leather) |
$97.73
PGK416.23
|
$126.25
|
|
Papua New Guinea 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: December 2025
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