Canberra vs San Diego - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 11, 2026

	Canberra	San Diego
🚶 Cost of living one person	$2223	$3507
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$4990	$7962
🏠 One person rent	$1398	$2395
🏘️ Family rent	$2158	$4150
🍽️ Food expenses	$563	$737
🚐 Transport expenses	$119	$179
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$4087	$5553
😷 Air quality	Excellent	Excellent
✈️ Airport proximity	6 km	3 km
🎓 Higher education	30	86
😀 Quality of life	85	91
🏙️ Population	381K	1.39M

The cost of living in Canberra is 37% less expensive than in San Diego. Cities ranked 1443rd and 50th ($2223 vs $3507) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 12th and 38th 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 1.8 months in Canberra compared to 1.6 months in San Diego. Canberra ranked 13th best city to live in Australia vs San Diego ranked 26th in the United States, while ranked 479th and 137th among best cities to live in the world.

Salary adjustment calculator
the estimated difference in money purchasing power

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<img src="https://livingcost.org/assets/photo/cost/canberra/san-diego.jpg" alt="Cost of living in Canberra vs San Diego infographic" style="max-width: 100%; height: auto;"><p>Source: <a href="https://livingcost.org/cost/canberra/san-diego" target="_blank">Canberra vs San Diego - Cost of Living Comparison</a></p>

Prices in Canberra vs San Diego

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

	Canberra	San Diego
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$15.5	$22.1
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$69.1	$86.3
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$10.5	$15
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$7.54	$8.74
☕ Cappuccino	$3.66	$6.24
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$2.98	$3.1
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1538	$2519
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1150	$2068
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$2721	$4514
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1726	$3653
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$119	$165
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$182	$253
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$50.8	$71.6
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	5.89%	6.5%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$8609	$8566
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$5425	$6843
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$3.53	$2.51
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$88.3	$72
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$16.6	$19.6
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.33	$1.23
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.4	$1.28
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$2.62	$3.98
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.99	$3.95
🥚 Eggs, x12	$5.14	$6.16
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$11.7	$16
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$9.61	$13.6
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$15.4	$20.9
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.69	$4.33
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.44	$1.8
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.47	$4.22
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.44	$4.8
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.62	$2.67
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.66	$2.5
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.89	$1.61
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$2.28	$3.26
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$15.4	$16.7
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$4.86	$2.8
🚬 Cigarette pack	$26.9	$12.2
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$4.98	$14.9
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$4.81	$9.99
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$2.5	$5.5
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$2.08	$2.48
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$57.5	$62.9
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$14.3	$18.2
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$52.8	$131
💇 Haircut, simple	$19.2	$30.3
👖 Brand Jeans	$79.1	$63
👟 Brand Sneakers	$112	$109
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$2023	$1998
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$15408	$26517

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

Cost of Living in the nearest cities

Cities near Canberra

Distance	City	Cost of living
81 km or 50 mi	Goulburn	$1821
161 km or 100 mi	Wagga Wagga	$1583
187 km or 116 mi	Wollongong	$1695
212 km or 132 mi	Bathurst	$1699
223 km or 139 mi	Orange	$1477
235 km or 146 mi	Blacktown	$1710
238 km or 148 mi	Parramatta	$2482
243 km or 151 mi	Kellyville	$2050
247 km or 154 mi	Sydney	$2844
261 km or 162 mi	Dee Why	$2379
303 km or 188 mi	Griffith	$1824
341 km or 212 mi	Dubbo	$1867
357 km or 222 mi	Shepparton	$1815
358 km or 222 mi	Newcastle	$1997
397 km or 246 mi	Traralgon	$1979
448 km or 278 mi	Pakenham	$1896
454 km or 282 mi	Berwick	$1860
459 km or 285 mi	Dandenong	$1894
464 km or 288 mi	Cranbourne	$1798
466 km or 289 mi	South Yarra	$1829
466 km or 290 mi	Bendigo	$1487
466 km or 290 mi	Melbourne	$2496
470 km or 292 mi	Sunbury	$1928
477 km or 297 mi	Frankston	$1889
485 km or 302 mi	Melton	$1906
488 km or 303 mi	Tarneit	$1822
489 km or 304 mi	Hoppers Crossing	$1854
531 km or 330 mi	Geelong	$2217
535 km or 332 mi	Ballarat	$1604
554 km or 344 mi	Port Macquarie	$1796
583 km or 362 mi	Armidale	$1288
649 km or 403 mi	Mildura	$1904
669 km or 415 mi	Coffs Harbour	$2172
684 km or 425 mi	Warrnambool	$1870
698 km or 434 mi	Devonport	$1898
706 km or 438 mi	Launceston	$1753
796 km or 495 mi	Mount Gambier	$1901
852 km or 529 mi	Byron Bay	$2703
858 km or 533 mi	Hobart	$2308
902 km or 560 mi	Toowoomba	$1766

Cities near San Diego

Distance	City	Cost of living
4.2 km or 2.6 mi	Coronado	$3220
7.2 km or 4.5 mi	National	$3053
13 km or 7.8 mi	Lemon Grove	$2995
14 km or 9 mi	Chula Vista	$2995
14 km or 9 mi	La Mesa	$2963
16 km or 9.8 mi	Imperial Beach	$2933
18 km or 11 mi	La Jolla	$3033
21 km or 13 mi	El Cajon	$3040
24 km or 15 mi	Tijuana	$1295
25 km or 15 mi	Santee	$2948
30 km or 19 mi	Poway	$2995
38 km or 24 mi	Encinitas	$3243
40 km or 25 mi	Las Delicias	$1141
43 km or 26 mi	Rosarito Beach	$1138
46 km or 29 mi	Escondido	$3261
47 km or 30 mi	San Marcos	$2995
52 km or 33 mi	Carlsbad	$3245
54 km or 33 mi	Vista	$2976
57 km or 36 mi	Oceanside	$3251
73 km or 46 mi	Fallbrook	$2927
88 km or 55 mi	Temecula	$2676
91 km or 57 mi	San Clemente	$2963
95 km or 59 mi	Murrieta	$3070
97 km or 61 mi	Dana Point	$3030
98 km or 61 mi	French Valley	$2758
99 km or 61 mi	San Juan Capistrano	$3085
99 km or 61 mi	Wildomar	$2815
104 km or 65 mi	Laguna Niguel	$3513
107 km or 66 mi	Laguna Beach	$3122
107 km or 67 mi	Menifee	$2621
109 km or 68 mi	Ensenada	$968
109 km or 68 mi	Lake Elsinore	$2669
110 km or 68 mi	Mission Viejo	$3544
110 km or 69 mi	Laguna Hills	$3027
111 km or 69 mi	Rancho Santa Margarita	$2980
114 km or 71 mi	Aliso Viejo	$3449
114 km or 71 mi	Lake Forest	$2554
115 km or 72 mi	Hemet	$2767
119 km or 74 mi	Perris	$2697
119 km or 74 mi	Temescal Valley	$2804