Brisbane vs San Diego - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: June 21, 2026

	Brisbane	San Diego
🚶 Cost of living one person	$2323	$3486
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$5585	$7909
🏠 One person rent	$1439	$2368
🏘️ Family rent	$2525	$4139
🍽️ Food expenses	$586	$735
🚐 Transport expenses	$144	$181
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$4313	$5217
😷 Air quality	Excellent	Excellent
✈️ Airport proximity	13 km	3 km
🎓 Higher education	66	86
😀 Quality of life	97	91
🏙️ Population	2.71M	1.39M

The cost of living in Brisbane is 33% less expensive than in San Diego. Cities ranked 1241st and 52nd ($2323 vs $3486) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 11th and 39th 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 38th in the United States, while ranked 3rd 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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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	$15.8	$22.2
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$71.2	$84.5
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$11.3	$15
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$8.69	$8.97
☕ Cappuccino	$4.32	$6.34
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$2.85	$3.17
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1733	$2489
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1173	$2046
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$3028	$4508
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$2142	$3643
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$98.5	$162
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$151	$251
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$54.9	$71.3
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	5.91%	6.31%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$8341	$8050
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$5970	$6577
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$0.35	$2.5
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$23.5	$71.5
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$18.6	$19.7
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.39	$1.37
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.63	$1.38
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$2.24	$4.32
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.91	$3.81
🥚 Eggs, x12	$5.18	$7.04
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$9.38	$16
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$9.56	$13.1
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$14.6	$20.7
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.14	$4.24
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.12	$1.77
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.97	$4.14
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$5.11	$4.77
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.87	$2.64
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.54	$2.63
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.07	$1.5
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$2.95	$3.26
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$13.2	$16.6
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$4.98	$3
🚬 Cigarette pack	$24.3	$12.2
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$8.15	$15.2
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$4.18	$9.97
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$3.49	$5.48
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$3.62	$2.47
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$53.3	$72.2
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$14	$19.1
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$61.5	$131
💇 Haircut, simple	$24	$30.2
👖 Brand Jeans	$87.8	$66.2
👟 Brand Sneakers	$115	$112
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$2164	$1937
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$13265	$22295

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	$1825
45 km or 28 mi	Caboolture	$1992
66 km or 41 mi	Southport	$2341
71 km or 44 mi	Gold Coast	$2530
75 km or 47 mi	Caloundra	$1863
91 km or 57 mi	Sunshine Coast	$1838
107 km or 66 mi	Toowoomba	$1720
143 km or 89 mi	Byron Bay	$2672
243 km or 151 mi	Hervey Bay	$1883
299 km or 186 mi	Bundaberg	$1720
315 km or 196 mi	Coffs Harbour	$2132
362 km or 225 mi	Armidale	$1273
441 km or 274 mi	Gladstone	$1643
441 km or 274 mi	Port Macquarie	$1786
520 km or 323 mi	Rockhampton	$1642
618 km or 384 mi	Newcastle	$1995
682 km or 424 mi	Dubbo	$1855
719 km or 447 mi	Dee Why	$2354
722 km or 449 mi	Kellyville	$2040
730 km or 453 mi	Blacktown	$1709
732 km or 455 mi	Parramatta	$2481
733 km or 455 mi	Sydney	$2844
740 km or 460 mi	Bathurst	$1701
748 km or 465 mi	Orange	$1460
801 km or 498 mi	Wollongong	$1695
869 km or 540 mi	Goulburn	$1795
945 km or 587 mi	Canberra	$2258
1006 km or 625 mi	Wagga Wagga	$1608
1009 km or 627 mi	Griffith	$1825
1111 km or 690 mi	Townsville	$2015
1224 km or 761 mi	Shepparton	$1816
1278 km or 794 mi	Mildura	$1905
1320 km or 820 mi	Bendigo	$1493
1337 km or 831 mi	Traralgon	$2000
1367 km or 849 mi	Sunbury	$1933
1372 km or 853 mi	Pakenham	$1936
1375 km or 855 mi	Melbourne	$2543
1376 km or 855 mi	Berwick	$1915
1376 km or 855 mi	South Yarra	$1834
1377 km or 856 mi	Dandenong	$1913

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