Albuquerque vs San Diego - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: June 21, 2026

	Albuquerque	San Diego
🚶 Cost of living one person	$2029	$3486
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$5026	$7909
🏠 One person rent	$1176	$2368
🏘️ Family rent	$2060	$4139
🍽️ Food expenses	$600	$735
🚐 Transport expenses	$92.5	$181
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$3981	$5217
😷 Air quality	Excellent	Excellent
✈️ Airport proximity	9 km	3 km
🎓 Higher education	27	86
😀 Quality of life	83	91
🏙️ Population	565K	1.39M

The cost of living in Albuquerque is 42% less expensive than in San Diego. Cities ranked 1945th and 52nd ($2029 vs $3486) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 1522nd and 39th in the United States.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 2 months in Albuquerque compared to 1.5 months in San Diego. Ranked 168th vs 38th best cities to live in the United States, and 518th vs 155th among the best cities to live in the world.

Salary adjustment calculator
the estimated difference in money purchasing power

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<img src="https://livingcost.org/assets/photo/cost/albuquerque/san-diego.jpg" alt="Cost of living in Albuquerque vs San Diego infographic" style="max-width: 100%; height: auto;"><p>Source: <a href="https://livingcost.org/cost/albuquerque/san-diego" target="_blank">Albuquerque vs San Diego - Cost of Living Comparison</a></p>

Prices in Albuquerque vs San Diego

Prices for goods and services in Albuquerque and San Diego are partly crowdsourced by our visitors, just like yourself. Please consider telling us about your city.

	Albuquerque	San Diego
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$17	$22.2
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$66.6	$84.5
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$10.9	$15
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$5.95	$8.97
☕ Cappuccino	$5.32	$6.34
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$2.85	$3.17
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1147	$2489
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$973	$2046
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$2103	$4508
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1774	$3643
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$97	$162
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$149	$251
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$70.8	$71.3
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	6.15%	6.31%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$2503	$8050
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$2242	$6577
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$1.63	$2.5
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$26.2	$71.5
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$19.5	$19.7
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$0.88	$1.37
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.96	$1.38
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$3.24	$4.32
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.38	$3.81
🥚 Eggs, x12	$4.68	$7.04
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$11.9	$16
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$9.34	$13.1
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$20.3	$20.7
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$5.05	$4.24
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.45	$1.77
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.14	$4.14
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$5.23	$4.77
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.07	$2.64
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.29	$2.63
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.88	$1.5
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$2.69	$3.26
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$13.9	$16.6
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.44	$3
🚬 Cigarette pack	$10.5	$12.2
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$6.27	$15.2
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$5.18	$9.97
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$3.78	$5.48
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$1.9	$2.47
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$49.1	$72.2
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$13.1	$19.1
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$123	$131
💇 Haircut, simple	$15.3	$30.2
👖 Brand Jeans	$54.8	$66.2
👟 Brand Sneakers	$104	$112
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$1503	$1937
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$25284	$22295

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

Cost of Living in the nearest cities

Cities near Albuquerque

Distance	City	Cost of living
14 km or 8.5 mi	Rio Rancho	$2089
85 km or 53 mi	Santa Fe	$2212
110 km or 69 mi	Espanola	$2237
170 km or 106 mi	Taos	$2417
197 km or 123 mi	Gallup	$2212
230 km or 143 mi	Farmington	$2470
254 km or 158 mi	Alamogordo	$1747
272 km or 169 mi	Roswell	$1938
311 km or 193 mi	Las Cruces	$1665
321 km or 200 mi	Clovis	$1776
373 km or 232 mi	Carlsbad	$1844
374 km or 232 mi	El Paso	$1796
376 km or 233 mi	Ciudad Juarez	$1066
388 km or 241 mi	Socorro	$1850
393 km or 244 mi	Pueblo	$1961
418 km or 259 mi	Hobbs	$1920
433 km or 269 mi	Fountain	$2367
434 km or 270 mi	Amarillo	$1803
437 km or 272 mi	Security-Widefield	$2423
447 km or 278 mi	Colorado Springs	$2548
456 km or 283 mi	Flagstaff	$2573
460 km or 286 mi	Plainview	$1972
467 km or 290 mi	Lubbock	$1878
472 km or 293 mi	Grand Junction	$2293
491 km or 305 mi	Apache Junction	$2482
496 km or 308 mi	Florence	$2454
498 km or 310 mi	Castle Rock	$2521
498 km or 310 mi	Fountain Hills	$2373
502 km or 312 mi	Agua Prieta	$863
502 km or 312 mi	Oro Valley	$2060
505 km or 314 mi	Queen Creek	$2988
510 km or 317 mi	Casas Adobes	$2011
512 km or 318 mi	Tucson	$1933
513 km or 319 mi	Highlands Ranch	$2605
514 km or 320 mi	Gilbert	$2378
515 km or 320 mi	Mesa	$2293
516 km or 320 mi	Marana	$2089
516 km or 321 mi	Parker	$2534
520 km or 323 mi	Littleton	$2288
520 km or 323 mi	Scottsdale	$2509

Cities near San Diego

Distance	City	Cost of living
4.2 km or 2.6 mi	Coronado	$3269
7.2 km or 4.5 mi	National	$3094
13 km or 7.8 mi	Lemon Grove	$3023
14 km or 9 mi	Chula Vista	$3033
14 km or 9 mi	La Mesa	$2997
16 km or 9.8 mi	Imperial Beach	$2984
18 km or 11 mi	La Jolla	$3065
21 km or 13 mi	El Cajon	$3077
24 km or 15 mi	Tijuana	$1276
25 km or 15 mi	Santee	$2956
30 km or 19 mi	Poway	$3012
38 km or 24 mi	Encinitas	$3265
40 km or 25 mi	Las Delicias	$1126
43 km or 26 mi	Rosarito Beach	$1108
46 km or 29 mi	Escondido	$3274
47 km or 30 mi	San Marcos	$3008
52 km or 33 mi	Carlsbad	$3269
54 km or 33 mi	Vista	$3011
57 km or 36 mi	Oceanside	$3221
73 km or 46 mi	Fallbrook	$2984
88 km or 55 mi	Temecula	$2690
91 km or 57 mi	San Clemente	$2994
95 km or 59 mi	Murrieta	$3137
97 km or 61 mi	Dana Point	$3051
98 km or 61 mi	French Valley	$2799
99 km or 61 mi	San Juan Capistrano	$3075
99 km or 61 mi	Wildomar	$2850
104 km or 65 mi	Laguna Niguel	$3492
107 km or 66 mi	Laguna Beach	$3129
107 km or 67 mi	Menifee	$2646
109 km or 68 mi	Ensenada	$967
109 km or 68 mi	Lake Elsinore	$2663
110 km or 68 mi	Mission Viejo	$3520
110 km or 69 mi	Laguna Hills	$3064
111 km or 69 mi	Rancho Santa Margarita	$2984
114 km or 71 mi	Aliso Viejo	$3503
114 km or 71 mi	Lake Forest	$2598
115 km or 72 mi	Hemet	$2768
119 km or 74 mi	Perris	$2738
119 km or 74 mi	Temescal Valley	$2826