Milwaukee vs San Diego - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 11, 2026

	Milwaukee	San Diego
🚶 Cost of living one person	$2078	$3507
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$5083	$7962
🏠 One person rent	$1194	$2395
🏘️ Family rent	$1948	$4150
🍽️ Food expenses	$591	$737
🚐 Transport expenses	$118	$179
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$3809	$5553
😷 Air quality	Excellent	Excellent
✈️ Airport proximity	12 km	3 km
🎓 Higher education	81	86
😀 Quality of life	89	91
🏙️ Population	577K	1.39M

The cost of living in Milwaukee is 41% less expensive than in San Diego. Cities ranked 1833rd and 50th ($2078 vs $3507) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 1456th and 38th in the United States.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 1.8 months in Milwaukee compared to 1.6 months in San Diego. Ranked 70th vs 26th best cities to live in the United States, and 260th vs 137th among the best cities to live in the world.

Salary adjustment calculator
the estimated difference in money purchasing power

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Prices in Milwaukee vs San Diego

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

	Milwaukee	San Diego
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$16.5	$22.1
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$60.5	$86.3
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$9.91	$15
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$5.7	$8.74
☕ Cappuccino	$5.12	$6.24
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$3.01	$3.1
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1421	$2519
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$908	$2068
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$2353	$4514
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1538	$3653
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$121	$165
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$185	$253
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$62.1	$71.6
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	6.44%	6.5%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$2254	$8566
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1645	$6843
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$2.01	$2.51
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$73.7	$72
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$16	$19.6
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$0.86	$1.23
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.86	$1.28
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$2.87	$3.98
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.24	$3.95
🥚 Eggs, x12	$4.58	$6.16
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$10.8	$16
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$13.2	$13.6
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$16.7	$20.9
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.4	$4.33
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.38	$1.8
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.62	$4.22
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.34	$4.8
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.18	$2.67
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.49	$2.5
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.57	$1.61
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$2.32	$3.26
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$16.2	$16.7
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.81	$2.8
🚬 Cigarette pack	$10.5	$12.2
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$9.34	$14.9
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$4.34	$9.99
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$3.57	$5.5
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$1.85	$2.48
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$44.7	$62.9
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$13.6	$18.2
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$166	$131
💇 Haircut, simple	$16.8	$30.3
👖 Brand Jeans	$48.1	$63
👟 Brand Sneakers	$85.1	$109
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$1835	$1998
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$24369	$26517

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

Cost of Living in the nearest cities

Cities near Milwaukee

Distance	City	Cost of living
5.6 km or 3.5 mi	West Allis	$1962
6.3 km or 3.9 mi	Wauwatosa	$1986
10 km or 6.4 mi	Greenfield	$1965
13 km or 8.3 mi	Brookfield	$1924
15 km or 9.4 mi	New Berlin	$1963
17 km or 11 mi	South Milwaukee	$2040
17 km or 11 mi	Menomonee Falls	$1997
17 km or 11 mi	Franklin	$1997
19 km or 12 mi	Oak Creek	$2028
19 km or 12 mi	Mequon	$2020
22 km or 14 mi	Muskego	$1966
23 km or 14 mi	Waukesha	$1812
27 km or 17 mi	Caledonia	$2037
37 km or 23 mi	Mount Pleasant	$2079
38 km or 24 mi	Racine	$2070
46 km or 28 mi	West Bend	$1971
53 km or 33 mi	Kenosha	$2034
57 km or 36 mi	Pleasant Prairie	$2092
64 km or 40 mi	Watertown	$1990
67 km or 42 mi	Zion	$2381
74 km or 46 mi	Fort Atkinson	$1814
76 km or 47 mi	Round Lake Beach	$2365
76 km or 47 mi	Gurnee	$2379
77 km or 48 mi	Waukegan	$2435
78 km or 49 mi	Grayslake	$2354
80 km or 50 mi	Sheboygan	$1746
81 km or 51 mi	North Chicago	$2403
84 km or 52 mi	McHenry	$2437
85 km or 53 mi	Libertyville	$2410
87 km or 54 mi	Mundelein	$2131
90 km or 56 mi	Fond du Lac	$1844
91 km or 57 mi	Woodstock	$2229
91 km or 57 mi	Vernon Hills	$2402
96 km or 60 mi	Janesville	$1784
97 km or 60 mi	Crystal Lake	$2504
97 km or 60 mi	Highland Park	$2398
98 km or 61 mi	Buffalo Grove	$2371
101 km or 63 mi	Lake in the Hills	$2519
102 km or 63 mi	Wheeling	$2434
103 km or 64 mi	Northbrook	$2415

Cities near San Diego

Distance	City	Cost of living
4.2 km or 2.6 mi	Coronado	$3220
7.2 km or 4.5 mi	National	$3053
13 km or 7.8 mi	Lemon Grove	$2995
14 km or 9 mi	Chula Vista	$2995
14 km or 9 mi	La Mesa	$2963
16 km or 9.8 mi	Imperial Beach	$2933
18 km or 11 mi	La Jolla	$3033
21 km or 13 mi	El Cajon	$3040
24 km or 15 mi	Tijuana	$1295
25 km or 15 mi	Santee	$2948
30 km or 19 mi	Poway	$2995
38 km or 24 mi	Encinitas	$3243
40 km or 25 mi	Las Delicias	$1141
43 km or 26 mi	Rosarito Beach	$1138
46 km or 29 mi	Escondido	$3261
47 km or 30 mi	San Marcos	$2995
52 km or 33 mi	Carlsbad	$3245
54 km or 33 mi	Vista	$2976
57 km or 36 mi	Oceanside	$3251
73 km or 46 mi	Fallbrook	$2927
88 km or 55 mi	Temecula	$2676
91 km or 57 mi	San Clemente	$2963
95 km or 59 mi	Murrieta	$3070
97 km or 61 mi	Dana Point	$3030
98 km or 61 mi	French Valley	$2758
99 km or 61 mi	San Juan Capistrano	$3085
99 km or 61 mi	Wildomar	$2815
104 km or 65 mi	Laguna Niguel	$3513
107 km or 66 mi	Laguna Beach	$3122
107 km or 67 mi	Menifee	$2621
109 km or 68 mi	Ensenada	$968
109 km or 68 mi	Lake Elsinore	$2669
110 km or 68 mi	Mission Viejo	$3544
110 km or 69 mi	Laguna Hills	$3027
111 km or 69 mi	Rancho Santa Margarita	$2980
114 km or 71 mi	Aliso Viejo	$3449
114 km or 71 mi	Lake Forest	$2554
115 km or 72 mi	Hemet	$2767
119 km or 74 mi	Perris	$2697
119 km or 74 mi	Temescal Valley	$2804