San Diego vs Sydney - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 02, 2025

	San Diego	Sydney
🚶 Cost of living one person	$3428	$2539
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$7974	$6160
🏠 One person rent	$2311	$1496
🏘️ Family rent	$4175	$2729
🍽️ Food expenses	$743	$522
🚐 Transport expenses	$180	$374
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$5531	$4315
😷 Air quality	Excellent	Excellent
✈️ Airport proximity	3 km	9 km
🎓 Higher education	87	100
😀 Quality of life	91	100
🏙️ Population	1.39M	4.84M

The cost of living in San Diego is 35% more expensive than in Sydney. Cities ranked 36th and 745th ($3428 vs $2539) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 32nd 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 1.7 months in Sydney. San Diego ranked 13th best city to live in the United States vs Sydney ranked 2nd in Australia, while ranked 95th and 2nd among best cities to live in the world.

Salary adjustment calculator
the estimated difference in money purchasing power

Cost of living in San Diego vs Sydney infographic

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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	$13.7
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$83.1	$66
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$15	$9.73
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$8.3	$7.29
☕ Cappuccino	$6.04	$3.32
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$2.96	$2.55
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$2424	$1823
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1978	$1225
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$4583	$3607
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$3654	$2246
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$177	$106
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$269	$165
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$66.3	$45.3
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	6.42%	6.4%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$9086	$13272
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$7072	$7795
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$2.51	$3.19
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$72.1	$133
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$19.4	$26.6
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.33	$1.25
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.23	$1.55
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$3.95	$2.26
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.13	$2.06
🥚 Eggs, x12	$5.2	$4.76
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$15.6	$10.8
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$13.3	$8.32
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$18.4	$13
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.75	$3.11
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.71	$2.65
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.32	$3.13
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.97	$3.84
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.75	$2.34
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.44	$2.24
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.69	$0.87
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$3.7	$2.41
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$17.6	$13.7
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.85	$4.35
🚬 Cigarette pack	$12.1	$28.2
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$17.4	$6.73
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$13.1	$5.01
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$5.87	$2.66
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$2.99	$2.67
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$75	$55.7
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$17	$15.1
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$130	$58.7
💇 Haircut, simple	$31.9	$20.1
👖 Brand Jeans	$59.6	$80.3
👟 Brand Sneakers	$98.3	$108
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$1785	$1992
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$28706	$17957

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

$349

$907

$6.64K

Cost of Living in the nearest cities

Cities near San Diego

Distance	City	Cost of living
4.2 km or 2.6 mi	Coronado	$3065
7.2 km or 4.5 mi	National	$2962
13 km or 7.8 mi	Lemon Grove	$2914
14 km or 9 mi	Chula Vista	$3017
14 km or 9 mi	La Mesa	$2916
16 km or 9.8 mi	Imperial Beach	$2911
18 km or 11 mi	La Jolla	$2964
21 km or 13 mi	El Cajon	$3043
24 km or 15 mi	Tijuana	$1047
25 km or 15 mi	Santee	$2898
30 km or 19 mi	Poway	$2930
38 km or 24 mi	Encinitas	$3124
40 km or 25 mi	Las Delicias	$912
43 km or 26 mi	Rosarito Beach	$910
46 km or 29 mi	Escondido	$3279
47 km or 30 mi	San Marcos	$2917
52 km or 33 mi	Carlsbad	$3273
54 km or 33 mi	Vista	$2834
57 km or 36 mi	Oceanside	$3199
73 km or 46 mi	Fallbrook	$2907
88 km or 55 mi	Temecula	$2637
91 km or 57 mi	San Clemente	$2945
95 km or 59 mi	Murrieta	$3109
97 km or 61 mi	Dana Point	$2936
98 km or 61 mi	French Valley	$2732
99 km or 61 mi	San Juan Capistrano	$2950
99 km or 61 mi	Wildomar	$2763
104 km or 65 mi	Laguna Niguel	$3188
107 km or 66 mi	Laguna Beach	$2996
107 km or 67 mi	Menifee	$2578
109 km or 68 mi	Ensenada	$880
109 km or 68 mi	Lake Elsinore	$2694
110 km or 68 mi	Mission Viejo	$3496
110 km or 69 mi	Laguna Hills	$3082
111 km or 69 mi	Rancho Santa Margarita	$2971
114 km or 71 mi	Aliso Viejo	$3326
114 km or 71 mi	Lake Forest	$3020
115 km or 72 mi	Hemet	$2764
119 km or 74 mi	Perris	$2682
119 km or 74 mi	Temescal Valley	$2759

Cities near Sydney

Distance	City	Cost of living
15 km or 9.2 mi	Dee Why	$2099
19 km or 12 mi	Parramatta	$2252
29 km or 18 mi	Kellyville	$1824
29 km or 18 mi	Blacktown	$1584
69 km or 43 mi	Wollongong	$1416
117 km or 73 mi	Newcastle	$1448
158 km or 98 mi	Bathurst	$1538
168 km or 104 mi	Goulburn	$1616
205 km or 127 mi	Orange	$1511
247 km or 154 mi	Canberra	$2023
301 km or 187 mi	Dubbo	$1702
314 km or 195 mi	Port Macquarie	$1681
377 km or 234 mi	Armidale	$1185
378 km or 235 mi	Wagga Wagga	$1457
436 km or 271 mi	Coffs Harbour	$1963
478 km or 297 mi	Griffith	$1619
597 km or 371 mi	Shepparton	$1601
624 km or 388 mi	Byron Bay	$1781
638 km or 396 mi	Traralgon	$1727
683 km or 425 mi	Gold Coast	$2239
689 km or 428 mi	Southport	$2067
695 km or 432 mi	Pakenham	$1654
701 km or 436 mi	Berwick	$1643
706 km or 439 mi	Bendigo	$1291
706 km or 439 mi	Toowoomba	$1504
707 km or 439 mi	Dandenong	$1645
711 km or 442 mi	Ipswich	$1677
711 km or 442 mi	Cranbourne	$1600
713 km or 443 mi	South Yarra	$1620
713 km or 443 mi	Melbourne	$2194
716 km or 445 mi	Sunbury	$1691
724 km or 450 mi	Frankston	$1671
732 km or 455 mi	Melton	$1669
733 km or 455 mi	Brisbane	$2016
735 km or 457 mi	Tarneit	$1625
736 km or 457 mi	Hoppers Crossing	$1635
775 km or 481 mi	Caboolture	$1748
778 km or 484 mi	Geelong	$1981
779 km or 484 mi	Ballarat	$1390
807 km or 502 mi	Caloundra	$1683