Canberra vs San Diego - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: June 21, 2026

	Canberra	San Diego
🚶 Cost of living one person	$2258	$3486
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$5105	$7909
🏠 One person rent	$1409	$2368
🏘️ Family rent	$2111	$4139
🍽️ Food expenses	$584	$735
🚐 Transport expenses	$117	$181
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$4498	$5217
😷 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 35% less expensive than in San Diego. Cities ranked 1373rd and 52nd ($2258 vs $3486) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 12th 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 2 months in Canberra compared to 1.5 months in San Diego. Canberra ranked 10th best city to live in Australia vs San Diego ranked 38th in the United States, while ranked 438th 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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<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	$15.6	$22.2
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$73.7	$84.5
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$10.5	$15
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$8.03	$8.97
☕ Cappuccino	$3.75	$6.34
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$3.24	$3.17
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1459	$2489
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1187	$2046
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$2549	$4508
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1714	$3643
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$117	$162
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$179	$251
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$50.8	$71.3
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	5.83%	6.31%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$9940	$8050
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$6181	$6577
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$3.2	$2.5
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$86.9	$71.5
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$16.7	$19.7
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.32	$1.37
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.44	$1.38
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$2.66	$4.32
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.17	$3.81
🥚 Eggs, x12	$5.41	$7.04
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$13.4	$16
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$10.1	$13.1
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$17.7	$20.7
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.74	$4.24
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.29	$1.77
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.68	$4.14
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.65	$4.77
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.91	$2.64
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.73	$2.63
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.01	$1.5
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$2.28	$3.26
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$16	$16.6
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$4.69	$3
🚬 Cigarette pack	$26.9	$12.2
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$4.98	$15.2
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$4.85	$9.97
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$2.55	$5.48
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$2.09	$2.47
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$62.8	$72.2
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$14.4	$19.1
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$53.7	$131
💇 Haircut, simple	$19.2	$30.2
👖 Brand Jeans	$80	$66.2
👟 Brand Sneakers	$119	$112
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$2338	$1937
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$17844	$22295

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	$1795
161 km or 100 mi	Wagga Wagga	$1608
187 km or 116 mi	Wollongong	$1695
212 km or 132 mi	Bathurst	$1701
223 km or 139 mi	Orange	$1460
235 km or 146 mi	Blacktown	$1709
238 km or 148 mi	Parramatta	$2481
243 km or 151 mi	Kellyville	$2040
247 km or 154 mi	Sydney	$2844
261 km or 162 mi	Dee Why	$2354
303 km or 188 mi	Griffith	$1825
341 km or 212 mi	Dubbo	$1855
357 km or 222 mi	Shepparton	$1816
358 km or 222 mi	Newcastle	$1995
397 km or 246 mi	Traralgon	$2000
448 km or 278 mi	Pakenham	$1936
454 km or 282 mi	Berwick	$1915
459 km or 285 mi	Dandenong	$1913
464 km or 288 mi	Cranbourne	$1810
466 km or 289 mi	South Yarra	$1834
466 km or 290 mi	Bendigo	$1493
466 km or 290 mi	Melbourne	$2543
470 km or 292 mi	Sunbury	$1933
477 km or 297 mi	Frankston	$1889
485 km or 302 mi	Melton	$1896
488 km or 303 mi	Tarneit	$1813
489 km or 304 mi	Hoppers Crossing	$1847
531 km or 330 mi	Geelong	$2179
535 km or 332 mi	Ballarat	$1606
554 km or 344 mi	Port Macquarie	$1786
583 km or 362 mi	Armidale	$1273
649 km or 403 mi	Mildura	$1905
669 km or 415 mi	Coffs Harbour	$2132
684 km or 425 mi	Warrnambool	$1876
698 km or 434 mi	Devonport	$1868
706 km or 438 mi	Launceston	$1728
796 km or 495 mi	Mount Gambier	$1880
852 km or 529 mi	Byron Bay	$2672
858 km or 533 mi	Hobart	$2364
902 km or 560 mi	Toowoomba	$1720

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