Amsterdam vs San Diego - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 11, 2026

	Amsterdam	San Diego
🚶 Cost of living one person	$3203	$3507
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$7246	$7962
🏠 One person rent	$2108	$2395
🏘️ Family rent	$3473	$4150
🍽️ Food expenses	$661	$737
🚐 Transport expenses	$259	$179
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$5294	$5553
😷 Air quality	Excellent	Excellent
✈️ Airport proximity	12 km	3 km
🎓 Higher education	95	86
😀 Quality of life	96	91
🏙️ Population	921K	1.39M

The cost of living in Amsterdam is 9% less expensive than in San Diego. Cities ranked 126th and 50th ($3203 vs $3507) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 1st and 38th in the Netherlands and the United States, respectively. Check the Netherlands vs the United States comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 1.7 months in Amsterdam compared to 1.6 months in San Diego. Amsterdam ranked 2nd best city to live in the Netherlands vs San Diego ranked 26th in the United States, while ranked 13th and 137th among best cities to live in the world.

Salary adjustment calculator
the estimated difference in money purchasing power

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Prices in Amsterdam vs San Diego

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

	Amsterdam	San Diego
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$21.2	$22.1
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$95.4	$86.3
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$15.6	$15
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$7.09	$8.74
☕ Cappuccino	$4.91	$6.24
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$4.03	$3.1
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$2237	$2519
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1767	$2068
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$3877	$4514
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$2931	$3653
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$193	$165
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$298	$253
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$54.1	$71.6
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	3.62%	6.5%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$11192	$8566
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$7947	$6843
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$3.78	$2.51
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$109	$72
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$33.8	$19.6
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$2.38	$1.23
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.68	$1.28
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$2.59	$3.98
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.69	$3.95
🥚 Eggs, x12	$5.54	$6.16
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$15.4	$16
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$14.7	$13.6
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$23	$20.9
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.33	$4.33
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.91	$1.8
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.38	$4.22
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.16	$4.8
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.15	$2.67
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.66	$2.5
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.08	$1.61
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$3.68	$3.26
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$7.48	$16.7
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.9	$2.8
🚬 Cigarette pack	$15	$12.2
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$6.94	$14.9
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$5.81	$9.99
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$2.55	$5.5
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$2.99	$2.48
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$57.9	$62.9
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$17.8	$18.2
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$43.8	$131
💇 Haircut, simple	$38.4	$30.3
👖 Brand Jeans	$102	$63
👟 Brand Sneakers	$121	$109
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$2472	$1998
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$21156	$26517

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

Cost of Living in the nearest cities

Cities near Amsterdam

Distance	City	Cost of living
14 km or 8.8 mi	Purmerend	$2223
18 km or 11 mi	Haarlem	$2822
21 km or 13 mi	IJmuiden	$2383
22 km or 14 mi	Almere	$2440
25 km or 16 mi	Zandvoort	$1907
26 km or 16 mi	Hilversum	$2636
26 km or 16 mi	Huizen	$2383
35 km or 22 mi	Langedijk	$2338
36 km or 22 mi	Utrecht	$2669
38 km or 23 mi	Leiden	$2348
38 km or 24 mi	Oegstgeest	$2258
40 km or 25 mi	Zeist	$2457
42 km or 26 mi	Lelystad	$1512
48 km or 30 mi	Leidschendam	$2481
49 km or 30 mi	Harderwijk	$2172
52 km or 32 mi	The Hague	$2701
53 km or 33 mi	Scheveningen	$2471
55 km or 34 mi	Delft	$2389
57 km or 36 mi	Dronten	$2058
59 km or 36 mi	Rotterdam	$2637
60 km or 37 mi	Veenendaal	$1822
61 km or 38 mi	Ridderkerk	$2403
64 km or 40 mi	Sliedrecht	$2332
64 km or 40 mi	Ede	$1848
65 km or 40 mi	Elburg	$2136
66 km or 41 mi	Tiel	$2721
67 km or 42 mi	Zaltbommel	$2369
70 km or 43 mi	Wageningen	$2360
72 km or 45 mi	Kampen	$2106
75 km or 47 mi	Apeldoorn	$2119
76 km or 47 mi	Texel	$2260
81 km or 50 mi	's-Hertogenbosch	$2337
82 km or 51 mi	Arnhem	$2189
83 km or 51 mi	Zwolle	$2002
83 km or 52 mi	Zwartewaterland	$2094
86 km or 54 mi	Deventer	$2055
89 km or 55 mi	Nijmegen	$2200
89 km or 55 mi	Sneek	$2132
89 km or 55 mi	Breda	$2206
91 km or 57 mi	Tilburg	$2340

Cities near San Diego

Distance	City	Cost of living
4.2 km or 2.6 mi	Coronado	$3220
7.2 km or 4.5 mi	National	$3053
13 km or 7.8 mi	Lemon Grove	$2995
14 km or 9 mi	Chula Vista	$2995
14 km or 9 mi	La Mesa	$2963
16 km or 9.8 mi	Imperial Beach	$2933
18 km or 11 mi	La Jolla	$3033
21 km or 13 mi	El Cajon	$3040
24 km or 15 mi	Tijuana	$1295
25 km or 15 mi	Santee	$2948
30 km or 19 mi	Poway	$2995
38 km or 24 mi	Encinitas	$3243
40 km or 25 mi	Las Delicias	$1141
43 km or 26 mi	Rosarito Beach	$1138
46 km or 29 mi	Escondido	$3261
47 km or 30 mi	San Marcos	$2995
52 km or 33 mi	Carlsbad	$3245
54 km or 33 mi	Vista	$2976
57 km or 36 mi	Oceanside	$3251
73 km or 46 mi	Fallbrook	$2927
88 km or 55 mi	Temecula	$2676
91 km or 57 mi	San Clemente	$2963
95 km or 59 mi	Murrieta	$3070
97 km or 61 mi	Dana Point	$3030
98 km or 61 mi	French Valley	$2758
99 km or 61 mi	San Juan Capistrano	$3085
99 km or 61 mi	Wildomar	$2815
104 km or 65 mi	Laguna Niguel	$3513
107 km or 66 mi	Laguna Beach	$3122
107 km or 67 mi	Menifee	$2621
109 km or 68 mi	Ensenada	$968
109 km or 68 mi	Lake Elsinore	$2669
110 km or 68 mi	Mission Viejo	$3544
110 km or 69 mi	Laguna Hills	$3027
111 km or 69 mi	Rancho Santa Margarita	$2980
114 km or 71 mi	Aliso Viejo	$3449
114 km or 71 mi	Lake Forest	$2554
115 km or 72 mi	Hemet	$2767
119 km or 74 mi	Perris	$2697
119 km or 74 mi	Temescal Valley	$2804