San Diego vs South Tarawa - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: October 14, 2025

	San Diego	South Tarawa
🚶 Cost of living one person	$3469	$533
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$7890	$1272
🏠 One person rent	$2370	$235
🏘️ Family rent	$4148	$392
🍽️ Food expenses	$726	$220
🚐 Transport expenses	$179	$22.3
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$5254	$181
😷 Air quality	Excellent	Excellent
✈️ Airport proximity	3 km	20 km
🎓 Higher education	86	1
😀 Quality of life	93	25
🏙️ Population	1.39M	63.4K

The cost of living in San Diego is 551% more expensive than in South Tarawa. Cities ranked 43rd and 8428th ($3469 vs $533) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 33rd and 1st in the United States and Kiribati, respectively. Check the United States vs Kiribati comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 1.5 months in San Diego compared to 0.3 months in South Tarawa. San Diego ranked 26th best city to live in the United States vs South Tarawa ranked 1st in Kiribati, while ranked 97th and 8954th among best cities to live in the world.

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Cost of living in San Diego vs South Tarawa infographic

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Prices in San Diego vs South Tarawa

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

	San Diego	South Tarawa
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$21.5	$3.73
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$85.1	$21.8
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$15.1	$5.03
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$8.63	$1.8
☕ Cappuccino	$6.32	$1.9
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$3.03	$0.61
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$2499	$226
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$2053	$155
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$4569	$405
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$3654	$280
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$156	$39.7
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$240	$61.5
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$71	$26.2
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	6.43%	12.18%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$9580	$1457
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$7151	$926
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$2.49	$0.42
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$71	$16.3
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$19.6	$6.92
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.25	$1.07
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.26	$1.21
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$3.92	$0.74
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.92	$1.21
🥚 Eggs, x12	$6.16	$1.7
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$15.2	$7.34
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$13.1	$4.41
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$20.3	$7.25
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.5	$2.21
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.74	$1.24
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.03	$1.63
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.81	$1.12
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.56	$1.03
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.37	$1.04
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.58	$0.36
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$3.26	$1.23
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$16.6	$7.85
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.91	$1.43
🚬 Cigarette pack	$12.3	$2.9
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$14.9	$3.83
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$9.97	$2.92
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$5.53	$1.54
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$2.47	$1.27
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$63.1	$24.1
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$17.9	$4.54
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$131	$18.2
💇 Haircut, simple	$30.4	$3.66
👖 Brand Jeans	$60.2	$30.8
👟 Brand Sneakers	$108	$66.5
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$1745	$113
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$28967	$3644

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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	$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

Cities near South Tarawa

Distance	City	Cost of living
658 km or 409 mi	Majuro	$1496
661 km or 411 mi	Djarrit	$1502
706 km or 439 mi	Yaren	$733
1302 km or 809 mi	Vaiaku	$684
1302 km or 809 mi	Funafuti	$683
1768 km or 1099 mi	Auki	$1417
1879 km or 1167 mi	Honiara	$1419
1988 km or 1235 mi	Luganville	$1882
2172 km or 1349 mi	Lautoka	$596
2190 km or 1361 mi	Nadi	$997
2190 km or 1361 mi	Port Vila	$1884
2248 km or 1397 mi	Nasinu	$818
2253 km or 1400 mi	Suva	$836
2310 km or 1435 mi	Manase	$751
2382 km or 1480 mi	Apia	$753
2712 km or 1685 mi	Dumbea	$1811
2713 km or 1686 mi	Paita	$1807
2725 km or 1693 mi	Noumea	$1878
2817 km or 1750 mi	Nukualofa	$1024
2825 km or 1756 mi	Mua	$1022
3022 km or 1878 mi	Lae	$548
3104 km or 1929 mi	Port Moresby	$566
3286 km or 2042 mi	London	$532
3357 km or 2086 mi	Saipan	$1437
3375 km or 2097 mi	Dededo	$2406
3383 km or 2102 mi	Hagatna	$2786
3611 km or 2244 mi	Cairns	$1513
3612 km or 2244 mi	Jayapura	$507
3658 km or 2273 mi	Gladstone	$1503
3665 km or 2277 mi	Townsville	$1683
3668 km or 2279 mi	Bundaberg	$1595
3672 km or 2282 mi	Hervey Bay	$1712
3673 km or 2282 mi	Rockhampton	$1482
3762 km or 2338 mi	Kauai	$2825
3779 km or 2348 mi	Sunshine Coast	$1697
3788 km or 2354 mi	Caloundra	$1710
3822 km or 2375 mi	Caboolture	$1798
3851 km or 2393 mi	Waipahu	$2700
3854 km or 2395 mi	Brisbane	$2065
3855 km or 2396 mi	Pearl	$2637