San Diego vs Thimphu - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 02, 2025

	San Diego	Thimphu
🚶 Cost of living one person	$3428	$422
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$7974	$1047
🏠 One person rent	$2311	$145
🏘️ Family rent	$4175	$225
🍽️ Food expenses	$743	$176
🚐 Transport expenses	$180	$46
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$5531	$550
😷 Air quality	Excellent	Bad
✈️ Airport proximity	3 km	22 km
🎓 Higher education	87	5
😀 Quality of life	91	34
🏙️ Population	1.39M	115K

The cost of living in San Diego is 712% more expensive than in Thimphu. Cities ranked 36th and 8915th ($3428 vs $422) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 32nd and 2nd in the United States and Bhutan, respectively. Check the United States vs Bhutan comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 1.6 months in San Diego compared to 1.3 months in Thimphu. San Diego ranked 13th best city to live in the United States vs Thimphu ranked 1st in Bhutan, while ranked 95th and 7592nd among best cities to live in the world.

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Cost of living in San Diego vs Thimphu infographic

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Prices in San Diego vs Thimphu

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

	San Diego	Thimphu
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$22.1	$3.18
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$83.1	$17.6
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$15	$4.04
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$8.3	$2.3
☕ Cappuccino	$6.04	$1.86
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$2.96	$0.54
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$2424	$159
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1978	$94.7
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$4583	$250
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$3654	$161
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$177	$16.8
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$269	$25.6
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$66.3	$20.7
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	6.42%	10.76%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$9086	$605
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$7072	$920
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$2.51	$1.48
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$72.1	$27.1
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$19.4	$19.4
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.33	$0.91
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.23	$0.84
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$3.95	$0.77
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.13	$0.72
🥚 Eggs, x12	$5.2	$2.02
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$15.6	$4.92
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$13.3	$4.2
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$18.4	$4.11
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.75	$2.1
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.71	$1.4
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.32	$1.77
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.97	$0.77
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.75	$0.48
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.44	$0.55
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.69	$0.21
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$3.7	$1.06
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$17.6	$4.94
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.85	$0.73
🚬 Cigarette pack	$12.1	$3.79
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$17.4	$1.58
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$13.1	$3.59
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$5.87	$1.25
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$2.99	$0.65
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$75	$38.9
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$17	$3.23
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$130	$28.8
💇 Haircut, simple	$31.9	$3.27
👖 Brand Jeans	$59.6	$32
👟 Brand Sneakers	$98.3	$43.9
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$1785	$239
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$28706	$666

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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 Thimphu

Distance	City	Cost of living
22 km or 14 mi	Paro	$459
147 km or 91 mi	Siliguri	$312
196 km or 122 mi	Rangpur	$296
203 km or 126 mi	Saidpur	$296
211 km or 131 mi	Shigatse	$900
214 km or 133 mi	Damak	$317
257 km or 159 mi	Raiganj	$309
257 km or 160 mi	Guwahati	$342
258 km or 160 mi	Biratnagar	$323
259 km or 161 mi	Dispur	$335
266 km or 166 mi	Balurghat	$307
280 km or 174 mi	Lhasa	$963
287 km or 178 mi	Purnia	$300
294 km or 183 mi	Bogra	$280
308 km or 191 mi	Shillong	$408
313 km or 195 mi	Malda	$308
313 km or 195 mi	Mymensingh	$264
350 km or 217 mi	Saharsa	$292
360 km or 224 mi	Bhagalpur	$282
362 km or 225 mi	Rajshahi	$274
364 km or 226 mi	Sylhet	$305
377 km or 234 mi	Janakpur	$292
401 km or 249 mi	Berhampore	$304
413 km or 257 mi	Narsingdi	$295
418 km or 260 mi	Brahmanbaria	$297
421 km or 262 mi	Kathmandu	$419
424 km or 264 mi	Lalitpur	$341
426 km or 265 mi	Dhaka	$430
438 km or 272 mi	Agartala	$367
439 km or 273 mi	Narayanganj	$309
444 km or 276 mi	Muzaffarpur	$288
454 km or 282 mi	Hetauda	$294
468 km or 291 mi	Krishnanagar	$281
474 km or 295 mi	Birgunj	$321
482 km or 299 mi	Jessore	$289
486 km or 302 mi	Shantipur	$294
493 km or 306 mi	Patna	$316
495 km or 308 mi	Durgapur	$292
500 km or 311 mi	Asansol	$299
502 km or 312 mi	Kulti	$300