San Diego vs San Francisco - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: October 10, 2024

	San Diego	San Francisco
🚶 Cost of living one person	$3346	$3781
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$7719	$8717
🏠 One person rent	$2248	$2600
🏘️ Family rent	$4052	$4501
🍽️ Food expenses	$722	$806
🚐 Transport expenses	$185	$181
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$5772	$7795
😷 Air quality	Excellent	Excellent
✈️ Airport proximity	3 km	18 km
🎓 Higher education	87	97
😀 Quality of life	92	97
🏙️ Population	1.39M	874K

The cost of living in San Diego is 11% less expensive than in San Francisco. Cities ranked 45th and 9th ($3346 vs $3781) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 36th and 7th in the United States.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 1.7 months in San Diego compared to 2.1 months in San Francisco. Ranked 12th vs 1st best cities to live in the United States, and 75th vs 12th among the best cities to live in the world.

Salary adjustment calculator
the estimated difference in money purchasing power

Cost of living in San Diego vs San Francisco infographic

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Prices in San Diego vs San Francisco

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

	San Diego	San Francisco
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$20.9	$22.5
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$85.8	$103
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$12.9	$12.3
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$8.25	$8.68
☕ Cappuccino	$5.51	$5.68
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$2.62	$2.79
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$2399	$2707
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1894	$2324
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$4351	$5024
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$3534	$4030
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$184	$138
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$286	$211
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$69.1	$61.5
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	6.53%	6.62%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$9294	$11577
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$7063	$11019
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$2.52	$2.6
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$72.6	$96.5
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$20.2	$20.9
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.38	$1.35
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.16	$1.66
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$3.98	$4.31
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.91	$5.8
🥚 Eggs, x12	$4.72	$6.2
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$15	$23
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$14.4	$15
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$18.4	$22.5
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.96	$6.37
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.69	$3.31
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.78	$5.7
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$5.11	$7
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.54	$3.91
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.34	$3.18
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.6	$1.68
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$3.2	$3.7
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$18.3	$18.1
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$3.1	$3.33
🚬 Cigarette pack	$11.3	$13.6
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$16.2	$10.5
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$10.9	$7.97
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$5.94	$5.38
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$2.98	$2.89
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$72.4	$91.5
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$18	$17.1
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$132	$132
💇 Haircut, simple	$28	$23.8
👖 Brand Jeans	$56.2	$63.2
👟 Brand Sneakers	$99.1	$107
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$1752	$2916
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$21468	$31050

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

Cost of Living in the nearest cities

Cities near San Diego

Distance	City	Cost of living
4.2 km or 2.6 mi	Coronado	$2973
7.2 km or 4.5 mi	National	$2877
13 km or 7.8 mi	Lemon Grove	$2783
14 km or 9 mi	Chula Vista	$2893
14 km or 9 mi	La Mesa	$2775
16 km or 9.8 mi	Imperial Beach	$2786
18 km or 11 mi	La Jolla	$2821
21 km or 13 mi	El Cajon	$2936
24 km or 15 mi	Tijuana	$1050
25 km or 15 mi	Santee	$2799
30 km or 19 mi	Poway	$2765
38 km or 24 mi	Encinitas	$2853
40 km or 25 mi	Las Delicias	$922
43 km or 26 mi	Rosarito Beach	$922
46 km or 29 mi	Escondido	$2795
47 km or 30 mi	San Marcos	$2718
52 km or 33 mi	Carlsbad	$2997
54 km or 33 mi	Vista	$2783
57 km or 36 mi	Oceanside	$2926
73 km or 46 mi	Fallbrook	$2767
88 km or 55 mi	Temecula	$2579
91 km or 57 mi	San Clemente	$2886
95 km or 59 mi	Murrieta	$3006
97 km or 61 mi	Dana Point	$2828
98 km or 61 mi	French Valley	$2650
99 km or 61 mi	San Juan Capistrano	$2842
99 km or 61 mi	Wildomar	$2717
104 km or 65 mi	Laguna Niguel	$3001
107 km or 66 mi	Laguna Beach	$2928
107 km or 67 mi	Menifee	$2587
109 km or 68 mi	Ensenada	$912
109 km or 68 mi	Lake Elsinore	$2654
110 km or 68 mi	Mission Viejo	$3444
110 km or 69 mi	Laguna Hills	$3035
111 km or 69 mi	Rancho Santa Margarita	$2950
114 km or 71 mi	Aliso Viejo	$3330
114 km or 71 mi	Lake Forest	$3047
115 km or 72 mi	Hemet	$2789
119 km or 74 mi	Perris	$2595
119 km or 74 mi	Temescal Valley	$2647

Cities near San Francisco

Distance	City	Cost of living
11 km or 6.9 mi	Daly	$3180
14 km or 8.4 mi	South San Francisco	$3170
14 km or 8.8 mi	Alameda	$3274
15 km or 9.2 mi	Oakland	$3146
16 km or 10 mi	Albany	$2940
17 km or 10 mi	Berkeley	$3082
17 km or 11 mi	San Bruno	$3196
18 km or 11 mi	El Cerrito	$2977
18 km or 11 mi	Pacifica	$3152
19 km or 12 mi	Richmond	$3053
20 km or 12 mi	Millbrae	$3224
21 km or 13 mi	San Pablo	$3048
22 km or 14 mi	Burlingame	$3293
24 km or 15 mi	San Leandro	$3023
24 km or 15 mi	San Rafael	$4155
26 km or 16 mi	San Mateo	$3672
28 km or 17 mi	San Lorenzo	$2802
28 km or 18 mi	Foster	$3473
29 km or 18 mi	Lafayette	$2831
29 km or 18 mi	Hercules	$2949
31 km or 19 mi	Belmont	$3804
32 km or 20 mi	Hayward	$2981
32 km or 20 mi	Castro Valley	$2931
34 km or 21 mi	San Carlos	$3442
34 km or 21 mi	Walnut Creek	$2874
36 km or 23 mi	Redwood	$3584
37 km or 23 mi	Martinez	$2714
37 km or 23 mi	Danville	$2922
37 km or 23 mi	Pleasant Hill	$2767
38 km or 24 mi	Union	$2986
39 km or 24 mi	San Ramon	$2851
39 km or 24 mi	Vallejo	$2885
39 km or 24 mi	Novato	$3176
39 km or 24 mi	Benicia	$2845
41 km or 25 mi	Concord	$2726
42 km or 26 mi	Menlo Park	$3288
42 km or 26 mi	East Palo Alto	$3228
43 km or 27 mi	Newark	$3010
45 km or 28 mi	Dublin	$3091
46 km or 28 mi	Palo Alto	$3610