Gold Coast vs San Diego - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: June 21, 2026

	Gold Coast	San Diego
🚶 Cost of living one person	$2530	$3486
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$5679	$7909
🏠 One person rent	$1644	$2368
🏘️ Family rent	$2706	$4139
🍽️ Food expenses	$638	$735
🚐 Transport expenses	$112	$181
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$4225	$5217
😷 Air quality	Excellent	Excellent
✈️ Airport proximity	20 km	3 km
🎓 Higher education	49	86
😀 Quality of life	93	91
🏙️ Population	608K	1.39M

The cost of living in Gold Coast is 27% less expensive than in San Diego. Cities ranked 852nd and 52nd ($2530 vs $3486) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 5th 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 1.7 months in Gold Coast compared to 1.5 months in San Diego. Gold Coast ranked 5th best city to live in Australia vs San Diego ranked 38th in the United States, while ranked 68th 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/gold-coast/san-diego.jpg" alt="Cost of living in Gold Coast vs San Diego infographic" style="max-width: 100%; height: auto;"><p>Source: <a href="https://livingcost.org/cost/gold-coast/san-diego" target="_blank">Gold Coast vs San Diego - Cost of Living Comparison</a></p>

Prices in Gold Coast vs San Diego

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

	Gold Coast	San Diego
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$20.2	$22.2
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$106	$84.5
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$10.4	$15
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$7.74	$8.97
☕ Cappuccino	$3.85	$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	$2097	$2489
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1297	$2046
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$2832	$4508
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$2351	$3643
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$133	$162
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$205	$251
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$54.2	$71.3
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	5.77%	6.31%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$8667	$8050
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$5294	$6577
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$2.75	$2.5
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$56.7	$71.5
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$15	$19.7
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.26	$1.37
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.63	$1.38
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$2.69	$4.32
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.37	$3.81
🥚 Eggs, x12	$4.89	$7.04
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$8.84	$16
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$9.53	$13.1
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$14.7	$20.7
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.88	$4.24
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.16	$1.77
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.4	$4.14
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.26	$4.77
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.59	$2.64
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.49	$2.63
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.57	$1.5
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$2.2	$3.26
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$14.4	$16.6
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$5.93	$3
🚬 Cigarette pack	$25.9	$12.2
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$5.29	$15.2
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$5.14	$9.97
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$2.53	$5.48
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$2.17	$2.47
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$41.5	$72.2
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$14	$19.1
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$56.9	$131
💇 Haircut, simple	$16.7	$30.2
👖 Brand Jeans	$77.8	$66.2
👟 Brand Sneakers	$105	$112
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$2112	$1937
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$9318	$22295

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

Cost of Living in the nearest cities

Cities near Gold Coast

Distance	City	Cost of living
5.6 km or 3.5 mi	Southport	$2341
71 km or 44 mi	Brisbane	$2323
73 km or 45 mi	Byron Bay	$2672
77 km or 48 mi	Ipswich	$1825
114 km or 71 mi	Caboolture	$1992
138 km or 86 mi	Caloundra	$1863
152 km or 94 mi	Toowoomba	$1720
155 km or 97 mi	Sunshine Coast	$1838
256 km or 159 mi	Coffs Harbour	$2132
308 km or 192 mi	Hervey Bay	$1883
323 km or 201 mi	Armidale	$1273
367 km or 228 mi	Bundaberg	$1720
383 km or 238 mi	Port Macquarie	$1786
511 km or 318 mi	Gladstone	$1643
567 km or 353 mi	Newcastle	$1995
591 km or 367 mi	Rockhampton	$1642
660 km or 410 mi	Dubbo	$1855
669 km or 416 mi	Dee Why	$2354
675 km or 419 mi	Kellyville	$2040
683 km or 424 mi	Blacktown	$1709
683 km or 425 mi	Sydney	$2844
684 km or 425 mi	Parramatta	$2481
703 km or 437 mi	Bathurst	$1701
715 km or 445 mi	Orange	$1460
752 km or 468 mi	Wollongong	$1695
827 km or 514 mi	Goulburn	$1795
904 km or 562 mi	Canberra	$2258
974 km or 605 mi	Wagga Wagga	$1608
988 km or 614 mi	Griffith	$1825
1182 km or 734 mi	Townsville	$2015
1196 km or 743 mi	Shepparton	$1816
1271 km or 789 mi	Mildura	$1905
1294 km or 804 mi	Bendigo	$1493
1299 km or 807 mi	Traralgon	$2000
1337 km or 830 mi	Sunbury	$1933
1338 km or 831 mi	Pakenham	$1936
1342 km or 834 mi	Berwick	$1915
1344 km or 835 mi	Melbourne	$2543
1344 km or 835 mi	South Yarra	$1834
1344 km or 835 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