Brisbane vs San Diego - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: October 14, 2025

	Brisbane	San Diego
🚶 Cost of living one person	$2065	$3469
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$4896	$7890
🏠 One person rent	$1253	$2370
🏘️ Family rent	$2149	$4148
🍽️ Food expenses	$525	$726
🚐 Transport expenses	$152	$179
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$3956	$5254
😷 Air quality	Excellent	Excellent
✈️ Airport proximity	13 km	3 km
🎓 Higher education	66	86
😀 Quality of life	98	93
🏙️ Population	2.71M	1.39M

The cost of living in Brisbane is 40% less expensive than in San Diego. Cities ranked 1813th and 43rd ($2065 vs $3469) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 11th and 33rd in Australia and the United States, respectively. Check Australia vs the United States comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 1.9 months in Brisbane compared to 1.5 months in San Diego. Brisbane ranked 3rd best city to live in Australia vs San Diego ranked 26th in the United States, while ranked 9th and 97th among best cities to live in the world.

Salary adjustment calculator
the estimated difference in money purchasing power

Cost of living in Brisbane vs San Diego infographic

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Prices in Brisbane vs San Diego

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

	Brisbane	San Diego
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$14.4	$21.5
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$62.7	$85.1
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$10.4	$15.1
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$7	$8.63
☕ Cappuccino	$3.66	$6.32
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$2.65	$3.03
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1514	$2499
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1022	$2053
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$2603	$4569
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1816	$3654
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$82.2	$156
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$125	$240
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$50.5	$71
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	6.15%	6.43%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$8291	$9580
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$6020	$7151
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$0.33	$2.49
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$32.8	$71
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$18.6	$19.6
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.25	$1.25
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.36	$1.26
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$2	$3.92
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.69	$3.92
🥚 Eggs, x12	$4.41	$6.16
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$9.11	$15.2
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$8.8	$13.1
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$13.8	$20.3
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.27	$4.5
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.86	$1.74
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.93	$4.03
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.42	$4.81
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.48	$2.56
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.41	$2.37
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.85	$1.58
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$2.48	$3.26
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$12.9	$16.6
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$4.28	$2.91
🚬 Cigarette pack	$24.1	$12.3
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$6.9	$14.9
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$3.91	$9.97
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$3.28	$5.53
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$3.35	$2.47
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$41.9	$63.1
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$12.8	$17.9
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$56.3	$131
💇 Haircut, simple	$19.2	$30.4
👖 Brand Jeans	$76.5	$60.2
👟 Brand Sneakers	$102	$108
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$1795	$1745
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$11423	$28967

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

Cost of Living in the nearest cities

Cities near Brisbane

Distance	City	Cost of living
31 km or 19 mi	Ipswich	$1662
45 km or 28 mi	Caboolture	$1798
66 km or 41 mi	Southport	$2140
71 km or 44 mi	Gold Coast	$2297
75 km or 47 mi	Caloundra	$1710
91 km or 57 mi	Sunshine Coast	$1697
107 km or 66 mi	Toowoomba	$1639
143 km or 89 mi	Byron Bay	$2471
243 km or 151 mi	Hervey Bay	$1712
299 km or 186 mi	Bundaberg	$1595
315 km or 196 mi	Coffs Harbour	$1988
362 km or 225 mi	Armidale	$1184
441 km or 274 mi	Gladstone	$1503
441 km or 274 mi	Port Macquarie	$1633
520 km or 323 mi	Rockhampton	$1482
618 km or 384 mi	Newcastle	$1839
682 km or 424 mi	Dubbo	$1747
719 km or 447 mi	Dee Why	$2181
722 km or 449 mi	Kellyville	$1888
730 km or 453 mi	Blacktown	$1599
732 km or 455 mi	Parramatta	$2292
733 km or 455 mi	Sydney	$2640
740 km or 460 mi	Bathurst	$1568
748 km or 465 mi	Orange	$1364
801 km or 498 mi	Wollongong	$1580
869 km or 540 mi	Goulburn	$1678
945 km or 587 mi	Canberra	$2019
1006 km or 625 mi	Wagga Wagga	$1458
1009 km or 627 mi	Griffith	$1667
1111 km or 690 mi	Townsville	$1683
1224 km or 761 mi	Shepparton	$1662
1278 km or 794 mi	Mildura	$1771
1320 km or 820 mi	Bendigo	$1362
1337 km or 831 mi	Traralgon	$1813
1367 km or 849 mi	Sunbury	$1768
1372 km or 853 mi	Pakenham	$1725
1375 km or 855 mi	Melbourne	$2308
1376 km or 855 mi	Berwick	$1706
1376 km or 855 mi	South Yarra	$1681
1377 km or 856 mi	Dandenong	$1736

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