London vs San Diego - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: October 14, 2025

	London	San Diego
🚶 Cost of living one person	$3851	$3469
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$8597	$7890
🏠 One person rent	$2689	$2370
🏘️ Family rent	$4575	$4148
🍽️ Food expenses	$592	$726
🚐 Transport expenses	$400	$179
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$4336	$5254
😷 Air quality	Excellent	Excellent
✈️ Airport proximity	13 km	3 km
🎓 Higher education	100	86
😀 Quality of life	99	93
🏙️ Population	8.8M	1.39M

The cost of living in London is 11% more expensive than in San Diego. Cities ranked 8th and 43rd ($3851 vs $3469) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 1st and 33rd in the United Kingdom and the United States, respectively. Check the United Kingdom vs the United States comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 1.1 months in London compared to 1.5 months in San Diego. London ranked 1st best city to live in the United Kingdom vs San Diego ranked 26th in the United States, while ranked 5th and 97th among best cities to live in the world.

Salary adjustment calculator
the estimated difference in money purchasing power

Cost of living in London vs San Diego infographic

Share this infographic!

Use the link below to embed the infographic from our site and automatically keep the data layer up to date.

If you prefer to download the image, please credit us as a source.

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

Prices in London vs San Diego

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

	London	San Diego
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$22.2	$21.5
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$91.7	$85.1
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$10.2	$15.1
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$9.11	$8.63
☕ Cappuccino	$5.24	$6.32
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$3.08	$3.03
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$3237	$2499
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$2291	$2053
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$4710	$4569
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$4163	$3654
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$170	$156
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$264	$240
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$39.1	$71
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	4.83%	6.43%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$21687	$9580
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$11040	$7151
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$4.04	$2.49
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$101	$71
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$31.5	$19.6
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.85	$1.25
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.65	$1.26
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$2.11	$3.92
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.38	$3.92
🥚 Eggs, x12	$5.16	$6.16
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$12	$15.2
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$9.17	$13.1
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$15.8	$20.3
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.05	$4.5
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.72	$1.74
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.18	$4.03
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.28	$4.81
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.43	$2.56
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.82	$2.37
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.2	$1.58
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$3.31	$3.26
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$13.2	$16.6
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$3.12	$2.91
🚬 Cigarette pack	$22.4	$12.3
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$4.31	$14.9
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$6	$9.97
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$2.76	$5.53
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$2.97	$2.47
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$59	$63.1
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$18.6	$17.9
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$69.9	$131
💇 Haircut, simple	$16.9	$30.4
👖 Brand Jeans	$110	$60.2
👟 Brand Sneakers	$120	$108
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$2511	$1745
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$27583	$28967

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

Cost of Living in the nearest cities

Cities near London

Distance	City	Cost of living
1.3 km or 0.8 mi	Westminster	$2960
11 km or 7 mi	Wimbledon	$2512
13 km or 8.3 mi	Richmond	$2449
15 km or 9.3 mi	Croydon	$2514
16 km or 10 mi	Greenford	$2435
19 km or 12 mi	Ewell	$2367
21 km or 13 mi	Coulsdon	$2352
23 km or 14 mi	Esher	$2337
24 km or 15 mi	Walton-on-Thames	$2326
25 km or 15 mi	Watford	$2633
27 km or 17 mi	Upminster	$2299
28 km or 17 mi	Rickmansworth	$2374
31 km or 19 mi	St Albans	$2456
32 km or 20 mi	Grays	$2200
32 km or 20 mi	Hertford	$2197
32 km or 20 mi	Slough	$2273
32 km or 20 mi	Brentwood	$2655
35 km or 22 mi	Harlow	$2091
35 km or 22 mi	Gravesend	$2176
35 km or 22 mi	Hemel Hempstead	$2274
37 km or 23 mi	Woking	$2515
38 km or 24 mi	Harpenden	$2224
40 km or 25 mi	Billericay	$2205
41 km or 25 mi	Maidenhead	$2785
43 km or 27 mi	East Grinstead	$2206
43 km or 27 mi	Basildon	$2164
43 km or 27 mi	Guildford	$2559
44 km or 27 mi	Crawley	$2275
44 km or 27 mi	Stevenage	$2223
44 km or 27 mi	Bracknell	$2469
44 km or 28 mi	Rochester	$1780
44 km or 28 mi	Tonbridge	$2118
45 km or 28 mi	High Wycombe	$2122
46 km or 28 mi	Bishop's Stortford	$2132
46 km or 28 mi	Luton	$2160
47 km or 29 mi	Chatham	$2419
49 km or 30 mi	Chelmsford	$2000
49 km or 30 mi	Gillingham	$2245
49 km or 30 mi	Godalming	$2416
49 km or 31 mi	Farnborough	$2165

Cities near San Diego

Distance	City	Cost of living
4.2 km or 2.6 mi	Coronado	$3195
7.2 km or 4.5 mi	National	$3013
13 km or 7.8 mi	Lemon Grove	$2932
14 km or 9 mi	Chula Vista	$2972
14 km or 9 mi	La Mesa	$2943
16 km or 9.8 mi	Imperial Beach	$2909
18 km or 11 mi	La Jolla	$2996
21 km or 13 mi	El Cajon	$2988
24 km or 15 mi	Tijuana	$1210
25 km or 15 mi	Santee	$2887
30 km or 19 mi	Poway	$2922
38 km or 24 mi	Encinitas	$3066
40 km or 25 mi	Las Delicias	$1063
43 km or 26 mi	Rosarito Beach	$1055
46 km or 29 mi	Escondido	$3215
47 km or 30 mi	San Marcos	$2931
52 km or 33 mi	Carlsbad	$3252
54 km or 33 mi	Vista	$2930
57 km or 36 mi	Oceanside	$3274
73 km or 46 mi	Fallbrook	$2873
88 km or 55 mi	Temecula	$2681
91 km or 57 mi	San Clemente	$2967
95 km or 59 mi	Murrieta	$3049
97 km or 61 mi	Dana Point	$2994
98 km or 61 mi	French Valley	$2715
99 km or 61 mi	San Juan Capistrano	$3057
99 km or 61 mi	Wildomar	$2776
104 km or 65 mi	Laguna Niguel	$3490
107 km or 66 mi	Laguna Beach	$3075
107 km or 67 mi	Menifee	$2626
109 km or 68 mi	Ensenada	$903
109 km or 68 mi	Lake Elsinore	$2671
110 km or 68 mi	Mission Viejo	$3585
110 km or 69 mi	Laguna Hills	$3037
111 km or 69 mi	Rancho Santa Margarita	$3014
114 km or 71 mi	Aliso Viejo	$3450
114 km or 71 mi	Lake Forest	$2539
115 km or 72 mi	Hemet	$2742
119 km or 74 mi	Perris	$2691
119 km or 74 mi	Temescal Valley	$2782