Auckland vs San Diego - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: October 14, 2025

	Auckland	San Diego
🚶 Cost of living one person	$1961	$3469
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$4489	$7890
🏠 One person rent	$1107	$2370
🏘️ Family rent	$1860	$4148
🍽️ Food expenses	$509	$726
🚐 Transport expenses	$221	$179
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$3143	$5254
😷 Air quality	Excellent	Excellent
✈️ Airport proximity	15 km	3 km
🎓 Higher education	32	86
😀 Quality of life	91	93
🏙️ Population	1.47M	1.39M

The cost of living in Auckland is 43% less expensive than in San Diego. Cities ranked 2124th and 43rd ($1961 vs $3469) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 2nd and 33rd in New Zealand and the United States, respectively. Check New Zealand vs the United States comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 1.6 months in Auckland compared to 1.5 months in San Diego. Auckland ranked 1st best city to live in New Zealand vs San Diego ranked 26th in the United States, while ranked 170th and 97th among best cities to live in the world.

Salary adjustment calculator
the estimated difference in money purchasing power

Cost of living in Auckland vs San Diego infographic

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Prices in Auckland vs San Diego

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

	Auckland	San Diego
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$12.6	$21.5
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$67.5	$85.1
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$9.08	$15.1
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$6.89	$8.63
☕ Cappuccino	$3.4	$6.32
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$2.21	$3.03
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1141	$2499
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$931	$2053
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$2059	$4569
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1583	$3654
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$87	$156
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$135	$240
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$47.4	$71
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	6.26%	6.43%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$7253	$9580
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$5974	$7151
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$2.77	$2.49
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$122	$71
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$15.9	$19.6
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.55	$1.25
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.64	$1.26
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$1.8	$3.92
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.59	$3.92
🥚 Eggs, x12	$6.56	$6.16
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$8.74	$15.2
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$9.86	$13.1
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$13.5	$20.3
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.68	$4.5
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.04	$1.74
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.02	$4.03
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.48	$4.81
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.71	$2.56
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.42	$2.37
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.78	$1.58
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$2.56	$3.26
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$11.3	$16.6
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.79	$2.91
🚬 Cigarette pack	$24.2	$12.3
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$11.6	$14.9
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$3.93	$9.97
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$1.47	$5.53
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$2.32	$2.47
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$36.3	$63.1
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$13.2	$17.9
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$39.3	$131
💇 Haircut, simple	$18.5	$30.4
👖 Brand Jeans	$72.4	$60.2
👟 Brand Sneakers	$101	$108
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$864	$1745
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$13612	$28967

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

Cost of Living in the nearest cities

Cities near Auckland

Distance	City	Cost of living
13 km or 8.4 mi	Waitakere	$1716
17 km or 11 mi	Manukau	$1678
28 km or 18 mi	Hibiscus Coast	$1675
40 km or 25 mi	Pukekohe	$1499
113 km or 70 mi	Hamilton	$1383
132 km or 82 mi	Whangarei	$1250
154 km or 96 mi	Tauranga	$1678
193 km or 120 mi	Rotorua	$1312
234 km or 146 mi	Taupo	$1423
253 km or 157 mi	New Plymouth	$1237
344 km or 214 mi	Whanganui	$1425
347 km or 216 mi	Napier	$1493
348 km or 217 mi	Gisborne	$1612
359 km or 223 mi	Hastings	$1480
396 km or 246 mi	Palmerston North	$1379
453 km or 281 mi	Paraparaumu	$1612
464 km or 288 mi	Masterton	$1252
476 km or 296 mi	Porirua	$1743
477 km or 296 mi	Upper Hutt	$1709
486 km or 302 mi	Lower Hutt	$1838
494 km or 307 mi	Wellington	$1869
512 km or 318 mi	Nelson	$1396
524 km or 326 mi	Blenheim	$1254
765 km or 475 mi	Christchurch	$1638
891 km or 553 mi	Timaru	$1847
995 km or 618 mi	Wanaka	$1536
1044 km or 649 mi	Queenstown	$2086
1064 km or 661 mi	Dunedin	$1461
1190 km or 740 mi	Invercargill	$1238
1809 km or 1124 mi	Noumea	$1878
1821 km or 1131 mi	Dumbea	$1811
1826 km or 1135 mi	Paita	$1807
1997 km or 1241 mi	Mua	$1022
1997 km or 1241 mi	Nukualofa	$1024
2097 km or 1303 mi	Port Macquarie	$1633
2112 km or 1312 mi	Suva	$836
2120 km or 1317 mi	Nasinu	$818
2129 km or 1323 mi	Coffs Harbour	$1988
2134 km or 1326 mi	Nadi	$997
2140 km or 1330 mi	Newcastle	$1839

Cities near San Diego

Distance	City	Cost of living
4.2 km or 2.6 mi	Coronado	$3195
7.2 km or 4.5 mi	National	$3013
13 km or 7.8 mi	Lemon Grove	$2932
14 km or 9 mi	Chula Vista	$2972
14 km or 9 mi	La Mesa	$2943
16 km or 9.8 mi	Imperial Beach	$2909
18 km or 11 mi	La Jolla	$2996
21 km or 13 mi	El Cajon	$2988
24 km or 15 mi	Tijuana	$1210
25 km or 15 mi	Santee	$2887
30 km or 19 mi	Poway	$2922
38 km or 24 mi	Encinitas	$3066
40 km or 25 mi	Las Delicias	$1063
43 km or 26 mi	Rosarito Beach	$1055
46 km or 29 mi	Escondido	$3215
47 km or 30 mi	San Marcos	$2931
52 km or 33 mi	Carlsbad	$3252
54 km or 33 mi	Vista	$2930
57 km or 36 mi	Oceanside	$3274
73 km or 46 mi	Fallbrook	$2873
88 km or 55 mi	Temecula	$2681
91 km or 57 mi	San Clemente	$2967
95 km or 59 mi	Murrieta	$3049
97 km or 61 mi	Dana Point	$2994
98 km or 61 mi	French Valley	$2715
99 km or 61 mi	San Juan Capistrano	$3057
99 km or 61 mi	Wildomar	$2776
104 km or 65 mi	Laguna Niguel	$3490
107 km or 66 mi	Laguna Beach	$3075
107 km or 67 mi	Menifee	$2626
109 km or 68 mi	Ensenada	$903
109 km or 68 mi	Lake Elsinore	$2671
110 km or 68 mi	Mission Viejo	$3585
110 km or 69 mi	Laguna Hills	$3037
111 km or 69 mi	Rancho Santa Margarita	$3014
114 km or 71 mi	Aliso Viejo	$3450
114 km or 71 mi	Lake Forest	$2539
115 km or 72 mi	Hemet	$2742
119 km or 74 mi	Perris	$2691
119 km or 74 mi	Temescal Valley	$2782