San Diego vs Sydney - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 11, 2026

	San Diego	Sydney
🚶 Cost of living one person	$3507	$2844
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$7962	$6700
🏠 One person rent	$2395	$1749
🏘️ Family rent	$4150	$3002
🍽️ Food expenses	$737	$597
🚐 Transport expenses	$179	$337
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$5553	$4145
😷 Air quality	Excellent	Excellent
✈️ Airport proximity	3 km	9 km
🎓 Higher education	86	99
😀 Quality of life	91	98
🏙️ Population	1.39M	5.45M

The cost of living in San Diego is 23% more expensive than in Sydney. Cities ranked 50th and 348th ($3507 vs $2844) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 38th and 1st in the United States and Australia, respectively. Check the United States vs Australia comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 1.6 months in San Diego compared to 1.5 months in Sydney. San Diego ranked 26th best city to live in the United States vs Sydney ranked 2nd in Australia, while ranked 137th and 2nd among best cities to live in the world.

Salary adjustment calculator
the estimated difference in money purchasing power

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Prices in San Diego vs Sydney

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

	San Diego	Sydney
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$22.1	$15.8
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$86.3	$79.7
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$15	$11.2
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$8.74	$7.36
☕ Cappuccino	$6.24	$3.85
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$3.1	$2.82
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$2519	$2123
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$2068	$1437
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$4514	$3835
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$3653	$2492
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$165	$123
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$253	$190
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$71.6	$51.6
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	6.5%	6.09%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$8566	$13218
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$6843	$7866
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$2.51	$3.77
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$72	$118
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$19.6	$20.6
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.23	$1.37
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.28	$1.84
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$3.98	$2.46
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.95	$2.13
🥚 Eggs, x12	$6.16	$5.78
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$16	$13.9
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$13.6	$9.78
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$20.9	$15.8
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.33	$3.56
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.8	$3.1
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.22	$3.24
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.8	$4.66
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.67	$2.86
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.5	$2.53
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.61	$0.82
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$3.26	$2.8
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$16.7	$15.8
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.8	$4.69
🚬 Cigarette pack	$12.2	$24.9
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$14.9	$9.5
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$9.99	$4.93
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$5.5	$3.1
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$2.48	$3.03
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$62.9	$63.4
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$18.2	$16.6
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$131	$70.3
💇 Haircut, simple	$30.3	$21.7
👖 Brand Jeans	$63	$80.9
👟 Brand Sneakers	$109	$111
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$1998	$2281
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$26517	$21946

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	$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

Cities near Sydney

Distance	City	Cost of living
15 km or 9.2 mi	Dee Why	$2379
19 km or 12 mi	Parramatta	$2482
29 km or 18 mi	Kellyville	$2050
29 km or 18 mi	Blacktown	$1710
69 km or 43 mi	Wollongong	$1695
117 km or 73 mi	Newcastle	$1997
158 km or 98 mi	Bathurst	$1699
168 km or 104 mi	Goulburn	$1821
205 km or 127 mi	Orange	$1477
247 km or 154 mi	Canberra	$2223
301 km or 187 mi	Dubbo	$1867
314 km or 195 mi	Port Macquarie	$1796
377 km or 234 mi	Armidale	$1288
378 km or 235 mi	Wagga Wagga	$1583
436 km or 271 mi	Coffs Harbour	$2172
478 km or 297 mi	Griffith	$1824
597 km or 371 mi	Shepparton	$1815
624 km or 388 mi	Byron Bay	$2703
638 km or 396 mi	Traralgon	$1979
683 km or 425 mi	Gold Coast	$2528
689 km or 428 mi	Southport	$2352
695 km or 432 mi	Pakenham	$1896
701 km or 436 mi	Berwick	$1860
706 km or 439 mi	Bendigo	$1487
706 km or 439 mi	Toowoomba	$1766
707 km or 439 mi	Dandenong	$1894
711 km or 442 mi	Ipswich	$1813
711 km or 442 mi	Cranbourne	$1798
713 km or 443 mi	South Yarra	$1829
713 km or 443 mi	Melbourne	$2496
716 km or 445 mi	Sunbury	$1928
724 km or 450 mi	Frankston	$1889
732 km or 455 mi	Melton	$1906
733 km or 455 mi	Brisbane	$2269
735 km or 457 mi	Tarneit	$1822
736 km or 457 mi	Hoppers Crossing	$1854
775 km or 481 mi	Caboolture	$1988
778 km or 484 mi	Geelong	$2217
779 km or 484 mi	Ballarat	$1604
807 km or 502 mi	Caloundra	$1864