Los Angeles vs San Diego - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: June 21, 2026

	Los Angeles	San Diego
🚶 Cost of living one person	$3420	$3486
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$7800	$7909
🏠 One person rent	$2177	$2368
🏘️ Family rent	$3742	$4139
🍽️ Food expenses	$761	$735
🚐 Transport expenses	$263	$181
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$4482	$5217
😷 Air quality	Good	Excellent
✈️ Airport proximity	17 km	3 km
🎓 Higher education	99	86
😀 Quality of life	93	91
🏙️ Population	3.9M	1.39M

The cost of living in Los Angeles is 2% less expensive than in San Diego. Cities ranked 62nd and 52nd ($3420 vs $3486) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 47th and 39th in the United States.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 1.3 months in Los Angeles compared to 1.5 months in San Diego. Ranked 8th vs 38th best cities to live in the United States, and 50th vs 155th among the best cities to live in the world.

Salary adjustment calculator
the estimated difference in money purchasing power

Share this picture

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

Prices in Los Angeles vs San Diego

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

	Los Angeles	San Diego
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$22.4	$22.2
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$104	$84.5
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$14.1	$15
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$8.92	$8.97
☕ Cappuccino	$6.66	$6.34
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$3.53	$3.17
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$2356	$2489
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1856	$2046
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$4109	$4508
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$3268	$3643
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$152	$162
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$236	$251
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$69.2	$71.3
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	6.28%	6.31%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$8186	$8050
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$7185	$6577
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$1.76	$2.5
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$95.5	$71.5
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$19.5	$19.7
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.37	$1.37
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.32	$1.38
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$4.33	$4.32
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.26	$3.81
🥚 Eggs, x12	$6.59	$7.04
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$15.1	$16
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$14.3	$13.1
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$20.4	$20.7
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$5.08	$4.24
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.46	$1.77
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$5.3	$4.14
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$5.19	$4.77
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.89	$2.64
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.91	$2.63
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.67	$1.5
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$3.57	$3.26
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$15.3	$16.6
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.99	$3
🚬 Cigarette pack	$12.9	$12.2
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$9.24	$15.2
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$6.99	$9.97
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$5.99	$5.48
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$2.92	$2.47
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$70.1	$72.2
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$18.2	$19.1
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$164	$131
💇 Haircut, simple	$29.5	$30.2
👖 Brand Jeans	$80.1	$66.2
👟 Brand Sneakers	$110	$112
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$1748	$1937
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$23685	$22295

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

Cost of Living in the nearest cities

Cities near Los Angeles

Distance	City	Cost of living
8.1 km or 5 mi	Huntington Park	$2945
8.9 km or 5.5 mi	Maywood	$2888
9.2 km or 5.7 mi	Florence-Graham	$2945
10 km or 6.2 mi	Bell	$2868
10 km or 6.2 mi	Monterey Park	$2786
11 km or 6.6 mi	Alhambra	$3031
11 km or 6.6 mi	South Pasadena	$3020
11 km or 7 mi	Cudahy	$2866
12 km or 7.6 mi	San Gabriel	$3184
12 km or 7.7 mi	Bell Gardens	$2798
12 km or 7.8 mi	West Hollywood	$3055
13 km or 7.8 mi	Montebello	$2826
13 km or 8 mi	South Gate	$2867
13 km or 8.2 mi	Glendale	$3717
14 km or 8.8 mi	Inglewood	$3066
15 km or 9 mi	Beverly Hills	$2945
15 km or 9.1 mi	Lynwood	$2880
15 km or 9.3 mi	Rosemead	$2868
15 km or 9.5 mi	Culver	$3054
15 km or 9.6 mi	Pasadena	$3802
16 km or 9.9 mi	Pico Rivera	$2818
16 km or 10 mi	Burbank	$3369
16 km or 10 mi	Downey	$2766
17 km or 11 mi	Compton	$2922
18 km or 11 mi	La Canada Flintridge	$3179
18 km or 11 mi	Hawthorne	$3139
18 km or 11 mi	Temple	$2909
18 km or 11 mi	South El Monte	$2849
18 km or 11 mi	West Whittier-Los Nietos	$2826
18 km or 11 mi	Paramount	$2793
19 km or 12 mi	Gardena	$3076
20 km or 12 mi	El Monte	$2858
21 km or 13 mi	Lawndale	$3243
21 km or 13 mi	Arcadia	$3020
21 km or 13 mi	Bellflower	$2758
22 km or 14 mi	Norwalk	$2694
22 km or 14 mi	Santa Monica	$3654
22 km or 14 mi	Whittier	$2835
23 km or 15 mi	Manhattan Beach	$3295
24 km or 15 mi	Carson	$3000

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