Beijing vs San Diego - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 02, 2025

	Beijing	San Diego
🚶 Cost of living one person	$1016	$3428
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$2879	$7974
🏠 One person rent	$575	$2311
🏘️ Family rent	$1275	$4175
🍽️ Food expenses	$245	$743
🚐 Transport expenses	$102	$180
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$1443	$5531
😷 Air quality	Moderate	Excellent
✈️ Airport proximity	13 km	3 km
🎓 Higher education	100	87
😀 Quality of life	75	91
🏙️ Population	21.9M	1.39M

The cost of living in Beijing is 70% less expensive than in San Diego. Cities ranked 5387th and 36th ($1016 vs $3428) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 7th and 32nd in China and the United States, respectively. Check China vs the United States comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 1.4 months in Beijing compared to 1.6 months in San Diego. Beijing ranked 5th best city to live in China vs San Diego ranked 13th in the United States, while ranked 989th and 95th among best cities to live in the world.

Salary adjustment calculator
the estimated difference in money purchasing power

Cost of living in Beijing vs San Diego infographic

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Prices in Beijing vs San Diego

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

	Beijing	San Diego
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$3.86	$22.1
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$29.5	$83.1
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$5.36	$15
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.22	$8.3
☕ Cappuccino	$3.58	$6.04
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$0.46	$2.96
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$819	$2424
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$456	$1978
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1965	$4583
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1021	$3654
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$33.6	$177
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$51.7	$269
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$13	$66.3
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	3.78%	6.42%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$14717	$9086
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$6695	$7072
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$0.69	$2.51
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$32.3	$72.1
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$4.77	$19.4
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.12	$1.33
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.76	$1.23
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$1.46	$3.95
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.21	$4.13
🥚 Eggs, x12	$1.84	$5.2
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$13.7	$15.6
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.23	$13.3
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$9.64	$18.4
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.1	$4.75
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.53	$1.71
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.79	$4.32
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.23	$4.97
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.84	$2.75
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.96	$2.44
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.35	$1.69
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.33	$3.7
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$9.26	$17.6
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$0.83	$2.85
🚬 Cigarette pack	$3.43	$12.1
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$4.49	$17.4
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$3.51	$13.1
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$1.33	$5.87
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$1.93	$2.99
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$53.9	$75
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$8.3	$17
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$33.2	$130
💇 Haircut, simple	$9.62	$31.9
👖 Brand Jeans	$60.8	$59.6
👟 Brand Sneakers	$76.9	$98.3
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$698	$1785
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$22456	$28706

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

Cost of Living in the nearest cities

Cities near Beijing

Distance	City	Cost of living
50 km or 31 mi	Langfang	$716
58 km or 36 mi	Zhuozhou	$729
58 km or 36 mi	Sanhe	$756
78 km or 49 mi	Gaobeidian	$644
87 km or 54 mi	Bazhou	$649
109 km or 68 mi	Tianjin	$687
135 km or 84 mi	Renqiu	$586
137 km or 85 mi	Zunhua	$680
139 km or 87 mi	Baoding	$472
151 km or 94 mi	Binhai	$665
155 km or 97 mi	Tangshan	$702
163 km or 101 mi	Zhangjiakou	$634
164 km or 102 mi	Hejian	$592
176 km or 110 mi	Chengde	$711
182 km or 113 mi	Cangzhou	$679
189 km or 117 mi	Huanghua	$655
189 km or 118 mi	Anguo	$550
196 km or 122 mi	Dingzhou	$584
197 km or 122 mi	Qian'an	$642
198 km or 123 mi	Luanzhou	$635
204 km or 127 mi	Botou	$618
224 km or 139 mi	Shenzhou	$581
228 km or 142 mi	Xinle	$533
229 km or 142 mi	Pingquan	$629
239 km or 148 mi	Jinzhou	$544
241 km or 150 mi	Xinji	$564
249 km or 155 mi	Gaocheng	$524
249 km or 155 mi	Hengshui	$642
252 km or 156 mi	Laoling	$638
263 km or 164 mi	Shijiazhuang	$481
265 km or 165 mi	Datong	$703
272 km or 169 mi	Jizhou	$590
273 km or 169 mi	Qinhuangdao	$664
273 km or 170 mi	Dezhou	$638
281 km or 175 mi	Fengzhen	$616
282 km or 175 mi	Huairen	$624
294 km or 183 mi	Lingyuan	$620
296 km or 184 mi	Nangong	$600
302 km or 187 mi	Ulanqab	$620
314 km or 195 mi	Binzhou	$815

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