Cost of living comparison
compared to
San Francisco vs. San Diego Cost of Living Summary
San Francisco is 19.8% more expensive than San Diego.
- Restaurants
-
pay 13.0% more in San Francisco
- Groceries
-
pay 33.4% more in San Francisco
- Transportation
-
pay 11.8% more in San Francisco
- Housing
-
pay 1.9% less in San Francisco
- Childcare
-
pay 65.5% more in San Francisco
- Entertainment and Sports
-
pay 16.2% more in San Francisco
- Clothing
-
pay 0.3% more in San Francisco
The cost of childcare, groceries, entertainment and sports, restaurants, transportation, and clothing in San Francisco are more expensive than in San Diego.
San Francisco vs. San Diego Cost Breakdown
If you lived in San Francisco instead of San Diego, you would:
pay 13.0% more for restaurants
|
San Diego
|
San Francisco
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant |
$21.00
|
$30.00
|
|
|
Fast food combo meal
McDonalds, or similar
|
$15.00
|
$14.50
|
|
| Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz) |
$3.03
|
$3.30
|
|
| Bottle of water (11 fl. oz) |
$2.50
|
$2.59
|
|
San Diego vs. San Francisco - Cost of restaurants
pay 33.4% more for groceries
|
San Diego
|
San Francisco
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Bread
1 loaf
|
$4.57
|
$5.06
|
|
| Local cheese (8 oz) |
$7.36
|
$11.69
|
|
| Milk (1 gallon) |
$4.78
|
$5.85
|
|
|
Eggs
1 dozen
|
$5.84
|
$6.26
|
|
| Boneless chicken breast (1 lb) |
$6.07
|
$6.63
|
|
| Apples (1 lb) |
$2.22
|
$3.22
|
|
| Bananas (1 lb) |
$0.78
|
$1.31
|
|
| Oranges (1 lb) |
$1.91
|
$2.37
|
|
| Tomatoes (1 lb) |
$2.26
|
$3.23
|
|
| Potatoes (1 lb) |
$1.42
|
$1.67
|
|
| Onions (1 lb) |
$1.12
|
$1.81
|
|
San Diego vs. San Francisco - Cost of groceries
pay 11.8% more for transportation
|
San Diego
|
San Francisco
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Gasoline (1 gallon) |
$4.76
|
$4.89
|
|
| Monthly public transit pass |
$72.00
|
$90.00
|
|
| New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition) |
$31,965.00
|
$36,753.89
|
|
| Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles) |
$19.40
|
$20.31
|
|
San Diego vs. San Francisco - Cost of transportation
pay 1.9% less for housing
|
San Diego
|
San Francisco
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Internet connection
50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl
|
$82.19
|
$68.78
|
|
| 1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area |
$3,033.00
|
$3,446.66
|
|
| 1-Bedroom apartment outside city center |
$2,538.64
|
$2,736.00
|
|
|
Utilities for two
(700 sq ft apartment)
including electric, gas, water, heating
|
$205.84
|
$179.63
|
|
San Diego vs. San Francisco - Cost of housing
pay 65.5% more for childcare
|
San Diego
|
San Francisco
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Private preschool for 1 child, monthly |
$1,750.00
|
$3,236.11
|
|
| Middle school for 1 child, two semesters |
$28,750.00
|
$42,000.00
|
|
San Diego vs. San Francisco - Cost of childcare
pay 16.2% more for entertainment and sports
|
San Diego
|
San Francisco
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Domestic/local beer (1 pint) |
$8.00
|
$8.00
|
|
| Cappuccino in mid-range area |
$5.90
|
$5.98
|
|
|
Pack of cigarettes
Marlboro or similar
|
$12.00
|
$14.00
|
|
| Monthly membership at local gym |
$73.21
|
$109.64
|
|
| Movie ticket to theater/cinema |
$17.50
|
$17.00
|
|
San Diego vs. San Francisco - Cost of entertainment and sports
pay 0.3% more for clothing
|
San Diego
|
San Francisco
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Regular jeans
Levi's brand
|
$60.72
|
$70.00
|
|
|
Regular dress
from H&M or similar store
|
$58.44
|
$48.82
|
|
|
Running shoes
Nike or Adidas
|
$105.68
|
$102.00
|
|
| Men's business shoes (leather) |
$126.25
|
$133.67
|
|
San Diego vs. San Francisco - 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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