Amsterdam vs San Diego - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: June 21, 2026

	Amsterdam	San Diego
🚶 Cost of living one person	$3165	$3486
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$7127	$7909
🏠 One person rent	$2073	$2368
🏘️ Family rent	$3318	$4139
🍽️ Food expenses	$659	$735
🚐 Transport expenses	$265	$181
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$4747	$5217
😷 Air quality	Excellent	Excellent
✈️ Airport proximity	12 km	3 km
🎓 Higher education	95	86
😀 Quality of life	95	91
🏙️ Population	921K	1.39M

The cost of living in Amsterdam is 9% less expensive than in San Diego. Cities ranked 138th and 52nd ($3165 vs $3486) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 1st and 39th 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 1.5 months in Amsterdam compared to 1.5 months in San Diego. Amsterdam ranked 3rd best city to live in the Netherlands vs San Diego ranked 38th in the United States, while ranked 24th and 155th among best cities to live in the world.

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the estimated difference in money purchasing power

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

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	$22	$22.2
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$93	$84.5
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$15.6	$15
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$7.81	$8.97
☕ Cappuccino	$4.82	$6.34
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$4.06	$3.17
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$2259	$2489
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1723	$2046
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$3695	$4508
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$2790	$3643
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$191	$162
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$296	$251
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$51.3	$71.3
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	3.65%	6.31%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$11141	$8050
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$7428	$6577
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$3.92	$2.5
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$118	$71.5
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$32.8	$19.7
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$2.47	$1.37
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.59	$1.38
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$2.55	$4.32
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.84	$3.81
🥚 Eggs, x12	$5.44	$7.04
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$17.4	$16
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$14.4	$13.1
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$23.2	$20.7
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.13	$4.24
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.94	$1.77
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.61	$4.14
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.82	$4.77
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.13	$2.64
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.61	$2.63
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.16	$1.5
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$3.84	$3.26
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$7.7	$16.6
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.76	$3
🚬 Cigarette pack	$14.6	$12.2
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$6.06	$15.2
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$4.94	$9.97
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$2.19	$5.48
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$3.14	$2.47
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$62.6	$72.2
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$16.8	$19.1
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$44.1	$131
💇 Haircut, simple	$37.3	$30.2
👖 Brand Jeans	$98	$66.2
👟 Brand Sneakers	$113	$112
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$2748	$1937
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$20104	$22295

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	$2185
18 km or 11 mi	Haarlem	$2755
21 km or 13 mi	IJmuiden	$2354
22 km or 14 mi	Almere	$2399
25 km or 16 mi	Zandvoort	$1865
26 km or 16 mi	Hilversum	$2564
26 km or 16 mi	Huizen	$2296
35 km or 22 mi	Langedijk	$2283
36 km or 22 mi	Utrecht	$2608
38 km or 23 mi	Leiden	$2389
38 km or 24 mi	Oegstgeest	$2307
40 km or 25 mi	Zeist	$2407
42 km or 26 mi	Lelystad	$1477
48 km or 30 mi	Leidschendam	$2365
49 km or 30 mi	Harderwijk	$2148
52 km or 32 mi	The Hague	$2491
53 km or 33 mi	Scheveningen	$2310
55 km or 34 mi	Delft	$2424
57 km or 36 mi	Dronten	$2026
59 km or 36 mi	Rotterdam	$2659
60 km or 37 mi	Veenendaal	$1805
61 km or 38 mi	Ridderkerk	$2336
64 km or 40 mi	Sliedrecht	$2234
64 km or 40 mi	Ede	$2053
65 km or 40 mi	Elburg	$2104
66 km or 41 mi	Tiel	$2662
67 km or 42 mi	Zaltbommel	$2304
70 km or 43 mi	Wageningen	$2341
72 km or 45 mi	Kampen	$2077
75 km or 47 mi	Apeldoorn	$2159
76 km or 47 mi	Texel	$2220
81 km or 50 mi	's-Hertogenbosch	$2272
82 km or 51 mi	Arnhem	$2253
83 km or 51 mi	Zwolle	$1942
83 km or 52 mi	Zwartewaterland	$2040
86 km or 54 mi	Deventer	$2082
89 km or 55 mi	Nijmegen	$2152
89 km or 55 mi	Sneek	$2166
89 km or 55 mi	Breda	$2112
91 km or 57 mi	Tilburg	$2247

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