Milwaukee vs San Diego - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: June 21, 2026

	Milwaukee	San Diego
🚶 Cost of living one person	$2088	$3486
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$5072	$7909
🏠 One person rent	$1201	$2368
🏘️ Family rent	$1937	$4139
🍽️ Food expenses	$594	$735
🚐 Transport expenses	$119	$181
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$3838	$5217
😷 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 40% less expensive than in San Diego. Cities ranked 1786th and 52nd ($2088 vs $3486) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 1421st and 39th in the United States.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 1.8 months in Milwaukee compared to 1.5 months in San Diego. Ranked 57th vs 38th best cities to live in the United States, and 224th vs 155th among the best cities to live in the world.

Salary adjustment calculator
the estimated difference in money purchasing power

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

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	$16.8	$22.2
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$61.1	$84.5
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$10.1	$15
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$5.61	$8.97
☕ Cappuccino	$5.05	$6.34
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$2.93	$3.17
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1419	$2489
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$918	$2046
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$2352	$4508
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1521	$3643
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$120	$162
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$186	$251
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$63.5	$71.3
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	6.16%	6.31%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$2602	$8050
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1709	$6577
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$1.99	$2.5
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$74.9	$71.5
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$16	$19.7
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$0.9	$1.37
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.89	$1.38
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$2.91	$4.32
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.21	$3.81
🥚 Eggs, x12	$4.55	$7.04
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$10.6	$16
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$13.2	$13.1
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$16.8	$20.7
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.38	$4.24
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.48	$1.77
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.64	$4.14
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.3	$4.77
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.19	$2.64
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.56	$2.63
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.57	$1.5
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$2.33	$3.26
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$16	$16.6
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.82	$3
🚬 Cigarette pack	$10.6	$12.2
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$9.28	$15.2
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$4.36	$9.97
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$3.52	$5.48
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$1.84	$2.47
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$38.4	$72.2
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$13.3	$19.1
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$165	$131
💇 Haircut, simple	$16.9	$30.2
👖 Brand Jeans	$49.1	$66.2
👟 Brand Sneakers	$86.5	$112
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$1817	$1937
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$24100	$22295

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	$1923
6.3 km or 3.9 mi	Wauwatosa	$1949
10 km or 6.4 mi	Greenfield	$1927
13 km or 8.3 mi	Brookfield	$1993
15 km or 9.4 mi	New Berlin	$1934
17 km or 11 mi	South Milwaukee	$2000
17 km or 11 mi	Menomonee Falls	$1979
17 km or 11 mi	Franklin	$1963
19 km or 12 mi	Oak Creek	$1993
19 km or 12 mi	Mequon	$1990
22 km or 14 mi	Muskego	$1930
23 km or 14 mi	Waukesha	$1746
27 km or 17 mi	Caledonia	$1996
37 km or 23 mi	Mount Pleasant	$2058
38 km or 24 mi	Racine	$2065
46 km or 28 mi	West Bend	$1946
53 km or 33 mi	Kenosha	$2039
57 km or 36 mi	Pleasant Prairie	$2097
64 km or 40 mi	Watertown	$1950
67 km or 42 mi	Zion	$2344
74 km or 46 mi	Fort Atkinson	$1771
76 km or 47 mi	Round Lake Beach	$2382
76 km or 47 mi	Gurnee	$2389
77 km or 48 mi	Waukegan	$2443
78 km or 49 mi	Grayslake	$2364
80 km or 50 mi	Sheboygan	$1825
81 km or 51 mi	North Chicago	$2407
84 km or 52 mi	McHenry	$2434
85 km or 53 mi	Libertyville	$2418
87 km or 54 mi	Mundelein	$2162
90 km or 56 mi	Fond du Lac	$1813
91 km or 57 mi	Woodstock	$2249
91 km or 57 mi	Vernon Hills	$2428
96 km or 60 mi	Janesville	$1796
97 km or 60 mi	Crystal Lake	$2555
97 km or 60 mi	Highland Park	$2418
98 km or 61 mi	Buffalo Grove	$2410
101 km or 63 mi	Lake in the Hills	$2559
102 km or 63 mi	Wheeling	$2453
103 km or 64 mi	Northbrook	$2400

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