San Diego vs Tijuana - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: October 10, 2024

	San Diego	Tijuana
🚶 Cost of living one person	$3346	$1050
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$7719	$2567
🏠 One person rent	$2248	$472
🏘️ Family rent	$4052	$902
🍽️ Food expenses	$722	$352
🚐 Transport expenses	$185	$138
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$5772	$856
😷 Air quality	Excellent	Moderate
✈️ Airport proximity	3 km	4 km
🎓 Higher education	87	22
😀 Quality of life	92	58
🏙️ Population	1.39M	1.96M

The cost of living in San Diego is 219% more expensive than in Tijuana. Cities ranked 45th and 5280th ($3346 vs $1050) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 36th and 11th in the United States and Mexico, respectively. Check the United States vs Mexico comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 1.7 months in San Diego compared to 0.8 months in Tijuana. San Diego ranked 12th best city to live in the United States vs Tijuana ranked 5th in Mexico, while ranked 75th and 5480th among best cities to live in the world.

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Cost of living in San Diego vs Tijuana infographic

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Prices in San Diego vs Tijuana

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

	San Diego	Tijuana
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$20.9	$12.9
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$85.8	$32.7
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$12.9	$8.39
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$8.25	$3.06
☕ Cappuccino	$5.51	$4.13
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$2.62	$1.04
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$2399	$557
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1894	$370
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$4351	$1127
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$3534	$741
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$184	$36.8
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$286	$56.8
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$69.1	$27.4
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	6.53%	11.73%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$9294	$2860
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$7063	$1715
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$2.52	$0.88
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$72.6	$29.5
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$20.2	$18.4
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.38	$1.19
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.16	$1.44
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$3.98	$1.93
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.91	$1.48
🥚 Eggs, x12	$4.72	$2.7
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$15	$6.51
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$14.4	$6.18
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$18.4	$9.56
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.96	$2.34
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.69	$1.24
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.78	$1.63
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$5.11	$1.46
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.54	$1.78
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.34	$1.35
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.6	$0.56
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$3.2	$1.84
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$18.3	$12
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$3.1	$1.47
🚬 Cigarette pack	$11.3	$3.72
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$16.2	$6.06
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$10.9	$3.23
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$5.94	$1.82
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$2.98	$2.18
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$72.4	$38.4
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$18	$4.24
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$132	$45.4
💇 Haircut, simple	$28	$14.3
👖 Brand Jeans	$56.2	$42.2
👟 Brand Sneakers	$99.1	$76.3
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$1752	$185
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$21468	$2656

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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	$2973
7.2 km or 4.5 mi	National	$2877
13 km or 7.8 mi	Lemon Grove	$2783
14 km or 9 mi	Chula Vista	$2893
14 km or 9 mi	La Mesa	$2775
16 km or 9.8 mi	Imperial Beach	$2786
18 km or 11 mi	La Jolla	$2821
21 km or 13 mi	El Cajon	$2936
24 km or 15 mi	Tijuana	$1050
25 km or 15 mi	Santee	$2799
30 km or 19 mi	Poway	$2765
38 km or 24 mi	Encinitas	$2853
40 km or 25 mi	Las Delicias	$922
43 km or 26 mi	Rosarito Beach	$922
46 km or 29 mi	Escondido	$2795
47 km or 30 mi	San Marcos	$2718
52 km or 33 mi	Carlsbad	$2997
54 km or 33 mi	Vista	$2783
57 km or 36 mi	Oceanside	$2926
73 km or 46 mi	Fallbrook	$2767
88 km or 55 mi	Temecula	$2579
91 km or 57 mi	San Clemente	$2886
95 km or 59 mi	Murrieta	$3006
97 km or 61 mi	Dana Point	$2828
98 km or 61 mi	French Valley	$2650
99 km or 61 mi	San Juan Capistrano	$2842
99 km or 61 mi	Wildomar	$2717
104 km or 65 mi	Laguna Niguel	$3001
107 km or 66 mi	Laguna Beach	$2928
107 km or 67 mi	Menifee	$2587
109 km or 68 mi	Ensenada	$912
109 km or 68 mi	Lake Elsinore	$2654
110 km or 68 mi	Mission Viejo	$3444
110 km or 69 mi	Laguna Hills	$3035
111 km or 69 mi	Rancho Santa Margarita	$2950
114 km or 71 mi	Aliso Viejo	$3330
114 km or 71 mi	Lake Forest	$3047
115 km or 72 mi	Hemet	$2789
119 km or 74 mi	Perris	$2595
119 km or 74 mi	Temescal Valley	$2647

Cities near Tijuana

Distance	City	Cost of living
11 km or 6.5 mi	Imperial Beach	$2786
11 km or 6.9 mi	Chula Vista	$2893
15 km or 9.5 mi	Las Delicias	$922
18 km or 11 mi	National	$2877
21 km or 13 mi	Rosarito Beach	$922
22 km or 14 mi	Coronado	$2973
23 km or 15 mi	Lemon Grove	$2783
24 km or 15 mi	San Diego	$3346
27 km or 17 mi	La Mesa	$2775
30 km or 19 mi	El Cajon	$2936
38 km or 24 mi	Santee	$2799
42 km or 26 mi	La Jolla	$2821
48 km or 30 mi	Poway	$2765
62 km or 38 mi	Encinitas	$2853
66 km or 41 mi	Escondido	$2795
69 km or 43 mi	San Marcos	$2718
76 km or 47 mi	Carlsbad	$2997
77 km or 48 mi	Vista	$2783
81 km or 50 mi	Oceanside	$2926
84 km or 52 mi	Ensenada	$912
96 km or 59 mi	Fallbrook	$2767
109 km or 67 mi	Temecula	$2579
115 km or 72 mi	San Clemente	$2886
117 km or 73 mi	Murrieta	$3006
119 km or 74 mi	French Valley	$2650
121 km or 75 mi	Wildomar	$2717
122 km or 76 mi	Dana Point	$2828
123 km or 77 mi	San Juan Capistrano	$2842
128 km or 80 mi	Laguna Niguel	$3001
128 km or 80 mi	Menifee	$2587
131 km or 82 mi	Laguna Beach	$2928
131 km or 82 mi	Lake Elsinore	$2654
134 km or 83 mi	Mission Viejo	$3444
135 km or 84 mi	Rancho Santa Margarita	$2950
135 km or 84 mi	Laguna Hills	$3035
135 km or 84 mi	Hemet	$2789
138 km or 86 mi	Aliso Viejo	$3330
138 km or 86 mi	Lake Forest	$3047
139 km or 87 mi	El Centro	$2653
140 km or 87 mi	San Jacinto	$2644