San Diego vs Sendai - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: June 21, 2026

	San Diego	Sendai
🚶 Cost of living one person	$3486	$1007
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$7909	$2414
🏠 One person rent	$2368	$414
🏘️ Family rent	$4139	$669
🍽️ Food expenses	$735	$354
🚐 Transport expenses	$181	$141
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$5217	$1115
😷 Air quality	Excellent	Excellent
✈️ Airport proximity	3 km	15 km
🎓 Higher education	86	73
😀 Quality of life	91	74
🏙️ Population	1.39M	1.06M

The cost of living in San Diego is 246% more expensive than in Sendai. Cities ranked 52nd and 5531st ($3486 vs $1007) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 39th and 360th in the United States and Japan, respectively. Check the United States vs Japan comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 1.5 months in San Diego compared to 1.1 months in Sendai. San Diego ranked 38th best city to live in the United States vs Sendai ranked 228th in Japan, while ranked 155th and 2040th among best cities to live in the world.

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the estimated difference in money purchasing power

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Prices in San Diego vs Sendai

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

	San Diego	Sendai
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$22.2	$5.41
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$84.5	$31.9
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$15	$4.33
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$8.97	$3.24
☕ Cappuccino	$6.34	$3.41
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$3.17	$1.5
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$2489	$471
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$2046	$265
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$4508	$705
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$3643	$476
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$162	$75.8
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$251	$116
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$71.3	$31.4
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	6.31%	2.71%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$8050	$2654
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$6577	$1391
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$2.5	$1.58
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$71.5	$48
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$19.7	$20.8
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.37	$1.01
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.38	$1.39
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$4.32	$1.13
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.81	$3.77
🥚 Eggs, x12	$7.04	$1.94
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$16	$9.31
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$13.1	$7.22
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$20.7	$8.68
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.24	$3.75
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.77	$2.11
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.14	$4.65
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.77	$2.96
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.64	$2.21
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.63	$1.89
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.5	$0.59
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$3.26	$1.23
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$16.6	$7.69
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$3	$1.68
🚬 Cigarette pack	$12.2	$4.09
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$15.2	$10.5
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$9.97	$4.34
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$5.48	$1.26
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$2.47	$1.25
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$72.2	$49.5
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$19.1	$10.1
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$131	$61.7
💇 Haircut, simple	$30.2	$13.6
👖 Brand Jeans	$66.2	$42.5
👟 Brand Sneakers	$112	$37.7
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$1937	$224
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$22295	$4242

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	$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

Cities near Sendai

Distance	City	Cost of living
11 km or 6.8 mi	Natori	$935
12 km or 7.2 mi	Rifu	$934
12 km or 7.5 mi	Tagajo	$936
14 km or 8.7 mi	Tomiya	$939
14 km or 8.9 mi	Shiogama	$936
18 km or 11 mi	Iwanuma	$937
20 km or 12 mi	Taiwa	$943
25 km or 16 mi	Shibata	$937
26 km or 16 mi	Watari	$943
27 km or 17 mi	Ogawara	$938
33 km or 21 mi	Kakuda	$941
34 km or 21 mi	Kami	$957
35 km or 21 mi	Higashimatsushima	$960
35 km or 22 mi	Misato	$964
35 km or 22 mi	Osaki	$964
37 km or 23 mi	Shiroishi	$924
42 km or 26 mi	Ishinomaki	$975
44 km or 27 mi	Tendo	$928
45 km or 28 mi	Higashine	$944
47 km or 29 mi	Yamagata	$924
49 km or 30 mi	Murayama	$949
53 km or 33 mi	Soma	$954
53 km or 33 mi	Kurihara	$980
53 km or 33 mi	Sagae	$933
54 km or 34 mi	Kaminoyama	$919
55 km or 34 mi	Tome	$982
57 km or 35 mi	Date	$904
66 km or 41 mi	Fukushima	$914
66 km or 41 mi	Takahata	$932
67 km or 42 mi	Nan'yo	$935
70 km or 44 mi	Minamisoma	$974
74 km or 46 mi	Shinjo	$994
75 km or 46 mi	Nagai	$950
77 km or 48 mi	Yonezawa	$942
77 km or 48 mi	Ichinoseki	$1004
85 km or 53 mi	Nihonmatsu	$932
94 km or 58 mi	Kesennuma	$1007
94 km or 58 mi	Motomiya	$956
96 km or 59 mi	Tamura	$978
100 km or 62 mi	Oshu	$1014