Managua vs San Diego - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: October 14, 2025

	Managua	San Diego
🚶 Cost of living one person	$760	$3469
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$1894	$7890
🏠 One person rent	$279	$2370
🏘️ Family rent	$460	$4148
🍽️ Food expenses	$337	$726
🚐 Transport expenses	$43	$179
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$194	$5254
😷 Air quality	Moderate	Excellent
✈️ Airport proximity	11 km	3 km
🎓 Higher education	33	86
😀 Quality of life	45	93
🏙️ Population	937K	1.39M

The cost of living in Managua is 78% less expensive than in San Diego. Cities ranked 6823rd and 43rd ($760 vs $3469) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 5th and 33rd in Nicaragua and the United States, respectively. Check Nicaragua vs the United States comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 0.3 months in Managua compared to 1.5 months in San Diego. Managua ranked 1st best city to live in Nicaragua vs San Diego ranked 26th in the United States, while ranked 7112th and 97th among best cities to live in the world.

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Cost of living in Managua vs San Diego infographic

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Prices in Managua vs San Diego

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

	Managua	San Diego
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$4.96	$21.5
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$34.7	$85.1
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$7.28	$15.1
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.36	$8.63
☕ Cappuccino	$2.3	$6.32
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$0.82	$3.03
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$230	$2499
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$170	$2053
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$420	$4569
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$307	$3654
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$60.6	$156
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$93.4	$240
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$36.8	$71
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	10.16%	6.43%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1161	$9580
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$439	$7151
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$0.14	$2.49
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$5.98	$71
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$5.93	$19.6
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.32	$1.25
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.25	$1.26
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$2.42	$3.92
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.75	$3.92
🥚 Eggs, x12	$2.27	$6.16
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$11.7	$15.2
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$6.34	$13.1
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$7.44	$20.3
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.93	$4.5
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.86	$1.74
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.79	$4.03
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.24	$4.81
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.89	$2.56
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.23	$2.37
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.68	$1.58
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.51	$3.26
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$14.6	$16.6
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.43	$2.91
🚬 Cigarette pack	$2.64	$12.3
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$6.12	$14.9
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$5.17	$9.97
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$2.87	$5.53
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$1.58	$2.47
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$36.1	$63.1
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$8.04	$17.9
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$20.2	$131
💇 Haircut, simple	$4.2	$30.4
👖 Brand Jeans	$77.5	$60.2
👟 Brand Sneakers	$134	$108
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$124	$1745
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$7040	$28967

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

Cost of Living in the nearest cities

Cities near Managua

Distance	City	Cost of living
27 km or 17 mi	Masaya	$790
42 km or 26 mi	Granada	$698
74 km or 46 mi	Leon	$735
93 km or 58 mi	Matagalpa	$673
95 km or 59 mi	Juigalpa	$768
104 km or 65 mi	Esteli	$682
108 km or 67 mi	Chinandega	$770
108 km or 67 mi	Jinotega	$467
109 km or 68 mi	San Juan del Sur	$864
192 km or 119 mi	Liberia	$953
211 km or 131 mi	Tamarindo	$1714
239 km or 148 mi	Tegucigalpa	$836
255 km or 159 mi	San Miguel	$1097
272 km or 169 mi	Usulutan	$1090
288 km or 179 mi	Puntarenas	$821
297 km or 185 mi	Comayagua	$739
303 km or 188 mi	Santa Teresa	$1236
326 km or 203 mi	Alajuela	$1303
335 km or 208 mi	Heredia	$1335
343 km or 213 mi	San Jose	$1398
345 km or 214 mi	Yoro	$729
361 km or 224 mi	Soyapango	$1273
361 km or 224 mi	San Salvador	$1362
361 km or 224 mi	Cartago	$1241
365 km or 227 mi	Mejicanos	$1262
365 km or 227 mi	Apopa	$1238
369 km or 229 mi	Santa Tecla	$1182
398 km or 247 mi	El Progreso	$780
400 km or 248 mi	Villanueva	$801
406 km or 252 mi	La Lima	$791
408 km or 253 mi	La Ceiba	$627
408 km or 254 mi	Santa Ana	$695
412 km or 256 mi	Sonsonate	$883
418 km or 260 mi	San Pedro Sula	$989
427 km or 265 mi	Limon	$1288
430 km or 267 mi	Choloma	$661
435 km or 270 mi	Ahuachapan	$1436
453 km or 282 mi	Puerto Cortes	$719
489 km or 304 mi	Jalapa	$1009
533 km or 331 mi	San Miguel Petapa	$1018

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