Canberra vs San Diego - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 02, 2025

	Canberra	San Diego
🚶 Cost of living one person	$2023	$3428
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$4526	$7974
🏠 One person rent	$1248	$2311
🏘️ Family rent	$1907	$4175
🍽️ Food expenses	$525	$743
🚐 Transport expenses	$125	$180
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$3542	$5531
😷 Air quality	Excellent	Excellent
✈️ Airport proximity	6 km	3 km
🎓 Higher education	30	87
😀 Quality of life	84	91
🏙️ Population	381K	1.39M

The cost of living in Canberra is 41% less expensive than in San Diego. Cities ranked 1768th and 36th ($2023 vs $3428) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 9th and 32nd 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 8th best city to live in Australia vs San Diego ranked 13th in the United States, while ranked 388th and 95th among best cities to live in the world.

Salary adjustment calculator
the estimated difference in money purchasing power

Cost of living in Canberra vs San Diego infographic

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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	$14.1	$22.1
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$76.2	$83.1
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$9.28	$15
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$6.2	$8.3
☕ Cappuccino	$3.23	$6.04
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$2.51	$2.96
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1342	$2424
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1007	$1978
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$2202	$4583
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1533	$3654
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$126	$177
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$193	$269
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$46.8	$66.3
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	6.3%	6.42%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$7003	$9086
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$5163	$7072
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$3.18	$2.51
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$102	$72.1
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$16.8	$19.4
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.17	$1.33
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.3	$1.23
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$2.12	$3.95
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.76	$4.13
🥚 Eggs, x12	$4.21	$5.2
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$10.8	$15.6
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$8.44	$13.3
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$15.2	$18.4
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.18	$4.75
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.75	$1.71
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.85	$4.32
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.36	$4.97
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.32	$2.75
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.24	$2.44
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.09	$1.69
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$2.05	$3.7
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$14.1	$17.6
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$4.59	$2.85
🚬 Cigarette pack	$26.9	$12.1
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$4.45	$17.4
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$4.36	$13.1
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$2.26	$5.87
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$1.89	$2.99
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$45.6	$75
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$12.6	$17
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$47.8	$130
💇 Haircut, simple	$16.8	$31.9
👖 Brand Jeans	$69.8	$59.6
👟 Brand Sneakers	$97.9	$98.3
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$1802	$1785
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$12940	$28706

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	$1616
161 km or 100 mi	Wagga Wagga	$1457
187 km or 116 mi	Wollongong	$1416
212 km or 132 mi	Bathurst	$1538
223 km or 139 mi	Orange	$1511
235 km or 146 mi	Blacktown	$1584
238 km or 148 mi	Parramatta	$2252
243 km or 151 mi	Kellyville	$1824
247 km or 154 mi	Sydney	$2539
261 km or 162 mi	Dee Why	$2099
303 km or 188 mi	Griffith	$1619
341 km or 212 mi	Dubbo	$1702
357 km or 222 mi	Shepparton	$1601
358 km or 222 mi	Newcastle	$1448
397 km or 246 mi	Traralgon	$1727
448 km or 278 mi	Pakenham	$1654
454 km or 282 mi	Berwick	$1643
459 km or 285 mi	Dandenong	$1645
464 km or 288 mi	Cranbourne	$1600
466 km or 289 mi	South Yarra	$1620
466 km or 290 mi	Bendigo	$1291
466 km or 290 mi	Melbourne	$2194
470 km or 292 mi	Sunbury	$1691
477 km or 297 mi	Frankston	$1671
485 km or 302 mi	Melton	$1668
488 km or 303 mi	Tarneit	$1625
489 km or 304 mi	Hoppers Crossing	$1635
531 km or 330 mi	Geelong	$1981
535 km or 332 mi	Ballarat	$1390
554 km or 344 mi	Port Macquarie	$1681
583 km or 362 mi	Armidale	$1185
649 km or 403 mi	Mildura	$1691
669 km or 415 mi	Coffs Harbour	$1963
684 km or 425 mi	Warrnambool	$1631
698 km or 434 mi	Devonport	$1768
706 km or 438 mi	Launceston	$1651
796 km or 495 mi	Mount Gambier	$1701
852 km or 529 mi	Byron Bay	$1781
858 km or 533 mi	Hobart	$2106
902 km or 560 mi	Toowoomba	$1504

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