Bangkok vs San Diego - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 02, 2025

	Bangkok	San Diego
🚶 Cost of living one person	$941	$3428
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$2857	$7974
🏠 One person rent	$416	$2311
🏘️ Family rent	$1154	$4175
🍽️ Food expenses	$276	$743
🚐 Transport expenses	$148	$180
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$753	$5531
😷 Air quality	Moderate	Excellent
✈️ Airport proximity	21 km	3 km
🎓 Higher education	89	87
😀 Quality of life	74	91
🏙️ Population	5.68M	1.39M

The cost of living in Bangkok is 73% less expensive than in San Diego. Cities ranked 5822nd and 36th ($941 vs $3428) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 1st and 32nd in Thailand and the United States, respectively. Check Thailand vs the United States comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 0.8 months in Bangkok compared to 1.6 months in San Diego. Bangkok ranked 1st best city to live in Thailand vs San Diego ranked 13th in the United States, while ranked 1221st and 95th among best cities to live in the world.

Salary adjustment calculator
the estimated difference in money purchasing power

Cost of living in Bangkok vs San Diego infographic

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Prices in Bangkok vs San Diego

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

	Bangkok	San Diego
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$2.97	$22.1
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$29.9	$83.1
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$5.91	$15
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.69	$8.3
☕ Cappuccino	$2.5	$6.04
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$0.61	$2.96
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$576	$2424
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$291	$1978
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1879	$4583
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$853	$3654
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$52.9	$177
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$81	$269
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$14.7	$66.3
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	6.06%	6.42%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$5781	$9086
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$2619	$7072
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$1.18	$2.51
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$38.8	$72.1
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$10.5	$19.4
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.2	$1.33
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.93	$1.23
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$1.33	$3.95
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.42	$4.13
🥚 Eggs, x12	$2.19	$5.2
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$19.3	$15.6
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.8	$13.3
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$8.99	$18.4
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.35	$4.75
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.73	$1.71
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.26	$4.32
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.98	$4.97
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.56	$2.75
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.39	$2.44
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.33	$1.69
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.3	$3.7
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$18	$17.6
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.81	$2.85
🚬 Cigarette pack	$4.22	$12.1
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$2.46	$17.4
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$4.63	$13.1
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$1.93	$5.87
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$2.03	$2.99
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$49.7	$75
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$7.38	$17
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$40	$130
💇 Haircut, simple	$10.5	$31.9
👖 Brand Jeans	$53	$59.6
👟 Brand Sneakers	$102	$98.3
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$579	$1785
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$13301	$28706

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

$349

$907

$6.64K

Cost of Living in the nearest cities

Cities near Bangkok

Distance	City	Cost of living
13 km or 8.1 mi	Nonthaburi	$717
13 km or 8.4 mi	Lat Luang	$753
14 km or 8.4 mi	Pu Chao Saming Phrai	$748
18 km or 11 mi	Pak Kret	$715
28 km or 18 mi	Rangsit	$595
39 km or 25 mi	Tha Khlong	$641
50 km or 31 mi	Nakhon Pathom	$548
86 km or 53 mi	Laem Chabang	$743
87 km or 54 mi	Chaophraya Surasak	$739
98 km or 61 mi	Pattaya	$781
103 km or 64 mi	Nong Prue	$752
145 km or 90 mi	Hua Hin	$656
164 km or 102 mi	Klaeng	$685
217 km or 135 mi	Nakhon Ratchasima	$588
222 km or 138 mi	Nakhon Sawan	$654
254 km or 158 mi	Myeik	$576
267 km or 166 mi	Serei Saophoan	$639
270 km or 168 mi	Ko Chang	$677
299 km or 186 mi	Battambang	$573
342 km or 212 mi	Phitsanulok	$537
364 km or 226 mi	Siem Reap	$644
388 km or 241 mi	Khon Kaen	$568
416 km or 258 mi	Ko Tao	$777
434 km or 270 mi	Mawlamyine	$569
452 km or 281 mi	Ko Pha-ngan	$730
466 km or 290 mi	Hpa-an	$610
473 km or 294 mi	Udon Thani	$543
475 km or 295 mi	Sihanoukville	$755
475 km or 295 mi	Ko Samui	$705
496 km or 308 mi	Ubon Ratchathani	$545
519 km or 323 mi	Vientiane	$1163
529 km or 329 mi	Surat Thani	$563
529 km or 329 mi	Kampot	$596
536 km or 333 mi	Phnom Penh	$836
542 km or 337 mi	Phu Quoc	$519
569 km or 354 mi	Kampong Cham	$513
578 km or 359 mi	Yangon	$705
579 km or 360 mi	Prey Veng	$721
584 km or 363 mi	Chiang Mai	$691
587 km or 365 mi	Bago	$650

Cities near San Diego

Distance	City	Cost of living
4.2 km or 2.6 mi	Coronado	$3065
7.2 km or 4.5 mi	National	$2962
13 km or 7.8 mi	Lemon Grove	$2914
14 km or 9 mi	Chula Vista	$3017
14 km or 9 mi	La Mesa	$2916
16 km or 9.8 mi	Imperial Beach	$2911
18 km or 11 mi	La Jolla	$2964
21 km or 13 mi	El Cajon	$3043
24 km or 15 mi	Tijuana	$1047
25 km or 15 mi	Santee	$2898
30 km or 19 mi	Poway	$2930
38 km or 24 mi	Encinitas	$3124
40 km or 25 mi	Las Delicias	$912
43 km or 26 mi	Rosarito Beach	$910
46 km or 29 mi	Escondido	$3279
47 km or 30 mi	San Marcos	$2917
52 km or 33 mi	Carlsbad	$3273
54 km or 33 mi	Vista	$2834
57 km or 36 mi	Oceanside	$3199
73 km or 46 mi	Fallbrook	$2907
88 km or 55 mi	Temecula	$2637
91 km or 57 mi	San Clemente	$2945
95 km or 59 mi	Murrieta	$3109
97 km or 61 mi	Dana Point	$2936
98 km or 61 mi	French Valley	$2732
99 km or 61 mi	San Juan Capistrano	$2950
99 km or 61 mi	Wildomar	$2763
104 km or 65 mi	Laguna Niguel	$3188
107 km or 66 mi	Laguna Beach	$2996
107 km or 67 mi	Menifee	$2578
109 km or 68 mi	Ensenada	$880
109 km or 68 mi	Lake Elsinore	$2694
110 km or 68 mi	Mission Viejo	$3496
110 km or 69 mi	Laguna Hills	$3082
111 km or 69 mi	Rancho Santa Margarita	$2971
114 km or 71 mi	Aliso Viejo	$3326
114 km or 71 mi	Lake Forest	$3020
115 km or 72 mi	Hemet	$2764
119 km or 74 mi	Perris	$2682
119 km or 74 mi	Temescal Valley	$2759