San Diego vs Tokyo - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: June 21, 2026

	San Diego	Tokyo
🚶 Cost of living one person	$3486	$1679
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$7909	$4119
🏠 One person rent	$2368	$813
🏘️ Family rent	$4139	$1422
🍽️ Food expenses	$735	$448
🚐 Transport expenses	$181	$307
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$5217	$2429
😷 Air quality	Excellent	Excellent
✈️ Airport proximity	3 km	15 km
🎓 Higher education	86	100
😀 Quality of life	91	96
🏙️ Population	1.39M	14.3M

The cost of living in San Diego is 108% more expensive than in Tokyo. Cities ranked 52nd and 3273rd ($3486 vs $1679) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 39th and 3rd in the United States and Japan, respectively. Check the United States vs Japan comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 1.5 months in San Diego compared to 1.4 months in Tokyo. San Diego ranked 38th best city to live in the United States vs Tokyo ranked 1st in Japan, while ranked 155th and 9th 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 Tokyo

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

	San Diego	Tokyo
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$22.2	$7.52
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$84.5	$43.8
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$15	$4.99
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$8.97	$3.71
☕ Cappuccino	$6.34	$3.41
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$3.17	$1.41
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$2489	$1130
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$2046	$583
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$4508	$2080
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$3643	$1045
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$162	$90.6
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$251	$140
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$71.3	$30.2
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	6.31%	1.87%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$8050	$10558
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$6577	$5002
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$2.5	$1.3
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$71.5	$76.1
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$19.7	$28.2
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.37	$1.08
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.38	$1.51
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$4.32	$1.58
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.81	$5.4
🥚 Eggs, x12	$7.04	$2.27
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$16	$11.7
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$13.1	$7.38
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$20.7	$19.9
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.24	$4.99
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.77	$2.61
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.14	$4.41
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.77	$6.21
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.64	$3.64
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.63	$3.43
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.5	$0.56
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$3.26	$1.3
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$16.6	$9.42
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$3	$1.76
🚬 Cigarette pack	$12.2	$3.89
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$15.2	$10.4
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$9.97	$3.17
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$5.48	$1.37
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$2.47	$1.36
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$72.2	$63.9
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$19.1	$12.5
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$131	$40.1
💇 Haircut, simple	$30.2	$21
👖 Brand Jeans	$66.2	$49.2
👟 Brand Sneakers	$112	$56.3
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$1937	$688
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$22295	$17493

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	$3269
7.2 km or 4.5 mi	National	$3094
13 km or 7.8 mi	Lemon Grove	$3023
14 km or 9 mi	Chula Vista	$3033
14 km or 9 mi	La Mesa	$2997
16 km or 9.8 mi	Imperial Beach	$2984
18 km or 11 mi	La Jolla	$3065
21 km or 13 mi	El Cajon	$3077
24 km or 15 mi	Tijuana	$1276
25 km or 15 mi	Santee	$2956
30 km or 19 mi	Poway	$3012
38 km or 24 mi	Encinitas	$3265
40 km or 25 mi	Las Delicias	$1126
43 km or 26 mi	Rosarito Beach	$1108
46 km or 29 mi	Escondido	$3274
47 km or 30 mi	San Marcos	$3008
52 km or 33 mi	Carlsbad	$3269
54 km or 33 mi	Vista	$3011
57 km or 36 mi	Oceanside	$3221
73 km or 46 mi	Fallbrook	$2984
88 km or 55 mi	Temecula	$2690
91 km or 57 mi	San Clemente	$2994
95 km or 59 mi	Murrieta	$3137
97 km or 61 mi	Dana Point	$3051
98 km or 61 mi	French Valley	$2799
99 km or 61 mi	San Juan Capistrano	$3075
99 km or 61 mi	Wildomar	$2850
104 km or 65 mi	Laguna Niguel	$3492
107 km or 66 mi	Laguna Beach	$3129
107 km or 67 mi	Menifee	$2646
109 km or 68 mi	Ensenada	$967
109 km or 68 mi	Lake Elsinore	$2663
110 km or 68 mi	Mission Viejo	$3520
110 km or 69 mi	Laguna Hills	$3064
111 km or 69 mi	Rancho Santa Margarita	$2984
114 km or 71 mi	Aliso Viejo	$3503
114 km or 71 mi	Lake Forest	$2598
115 km or 72 mi	Hemet	$2768
119 km or 74 mi	Perris	$2738
119 km or 74 mi	Temescal Valley	$2826

Cities near Tokyo

Distance	City	Cost of living
12 km or 7.3 mi	Musashino	$1131
12 km or 7.4 mi	Komae	$1133
12 km or 7.5 mi	Mitaka	$1144
13 km or 8 mi	Wako	$1073
13 km or 8.4 mi	Kawaguchi	$1045
14 km or 8.5 mi	Hirai	$1074
14 km or 8.9 mi	Toda	$985
14 km or 8.9 mi	Chofu	$1128
14 km or 9 mi	Nishitokyo	$1123
15 km or 9.3 mi	Asaka	$1051
15 km or 9.4 mi	Warabi	$973
16 km or 10 mi	Niiza	$1068
17 km or 10 mi	Higashikurume	$1086
17 km or 11 mi	Koganei	$1087
18 km or 11 mi	Kawasaki-ku	$1199
18 km or 11 mi	Inagi	$1070
18 km or 11 mi	Soka	$1075
18 km or 11 mi	Kiyose	$1064
19 km or 12 mi	Shiki	$1004
19 km or 12 mi	Kawasaki	$1358
19 km or 12 mi	Urayasu	$1080
20 km or 12 mi	Fuchu	$1105
20 km or 12 mi	Saitama	$1055
20 km or 12 mi	Kodaira	$1101
20 km or 12 mi	Yashio	$1037
21 km or 13 mi	Kokubunji	$1075
21 km or 13 mi	Higashimurayama	$1085
21 km or 13 mi	Miyoshi	$1033
22 km or 14 mi	Ichikawa	$1005
22 km or 14 mi	Matsudo	$1084
23 km or 14 mi	Misato	$1038
23 km or 14 mi	Fujimi	$1009
23 km or 14 mi	Kunitachi	$1070
23 km or 14 mi	Tama	$1047
24 km or 15 mi	Tokorozawa	$1091
24 km or 15 mi	Koshigaya	$1107
25 km or 15 mi	Tachikawa	$1094
25 km or 15 mi	Higashiyamato	$1077
26 km or 16 mi	Yoshikawa	$1053
26 km or 16 mi	Fujimino	$1006