San Diego vs Tucson - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: June 21, 2026

	San Diego	Tucson
🚶 Cost of living one person	$3486	$1933
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$7909	$4502
🏠 One person rent	$2368	$1119
🏘️ Family rent	$4139	$1848
🍽️ Food expenses	$735	$588
🚐 Transport expenses	$181	$87.3
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$5217	$3964
😷 Air quality	Excellent	Excellent
✈️ Airport proximity	3 km	7 km
🎓 Higher education	86	33
😀 Quality of life	91	84
🏙️ Population	1.39M	543K

The cost of living in San Diego is 80% more expensive than in Tucson. Cities ranked 52nd and 2237th ($3486 vs $1933) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 39th and 1697th in the United States.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 1.5 months in San Diego compared to 2.1 months in Tucson. Ranked 38th vs 153rd best cities to live in the United States, and 155th vs 460th among the best cities to live in the world.

Salary adjustment calculator
the estimated difference in money purchasing power

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<img src="https://livingcost.org/assets/photo/cost/san-diego/tucson.jpg" alt="Cost of living in San Diego vs Tucson infographic" style="max-width: 100%; height: auto;"><p>Source: <a href="https://livingcost.org/cost/san-diego/tucson" target="_blank">San Diego vs Tucson - Cost of Living Comparison</a></p>

Prices in San Diego vs Tucson

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

	San Diego	Tucson
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$22.2	$16.3
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$84.5	$64.4
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$15	$12
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$8.97	$6.23
☕ Cappuccino	$6.34	$4.99
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$3.17	$2.86
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$2489	$1195
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$2046	$878
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$4508	$2025
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$3643	$1502
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$162	$116
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$251	$180
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$71.3	$61
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	6.31%	6.11%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$8050	$3427
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$6577	$2557
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$2.5	$2.37
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$71.5	$38.8
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$19.7	$14
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.37	$0.97
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.38	$0.96
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$4.32	$2.91
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.81	$4.29
🥚 Eggs, x12	$7.04	$4.95
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$16	$12.5
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$13.1	$10.9
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$20.7	$17
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.24	$4.08
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.77	$1.91
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.14	$3.82
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.77	$3.85
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.64	$2.25
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.63	$2.97
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.5	$1.41
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$3.26	$2.44
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$16.6	$14
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$3	$3.29
🚬 Cigarette pack	$12.2	$10.3
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$15.2	$9.27
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$9.97	$3.94
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$5.48	$3.81
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$2.47	$1.72
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$72.2	$33
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$19.1	$12.3
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$131	$93.8
💇 Haircut, simple	$30.2	$16.7
👖 Brand Jeans	$66.2	$51.3
👟 Brand Sneakers	$112	$95
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$1937	$1100
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$22295	$15759

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 Tucson

Distance	City	Cost of living
16 km or 9.9 mi	Casas Adobes	$2011
23 km or 14 mi	Oro Valley	$2060
26 km or 16 mi	Marana	$2089
33 km or 20 mi	Sahuarita	$2070
97 km or 60 mi	Nogales	$2153
97 km or 60 mi	Sierra Vista	$1654
100 km or 62 mi	Nogales	$771
101 km or 62 mi	Florence	$2454
106 km or 66 mi	Casa Grande	$2374
133 km or 83 mi	Queen Creek	$2988
140 km or 87 mi	Maricopa	$2243
145 km or 90 mi	Apache Junction	$2482
148 km or 92 mi	Chandler	$2367
149 km or 93 mi	Gilbert	$2378
157 km or 98 mi	Mesa	$2293
164 km or 102 mi	Agua Prieta	$863
164 km or 102 mi	Tempe	$2463
169 km or 105 mi	Scottsdale	$2509
171 km or 106 mi	Fountain Hills	$2373
181 km or 112 mi	Phoenix	$2423
189 km or 118 mi	Avondale	$2365
190 km or 118 mi	Goodyear	$2343
193 km or 120 mi	Glendale	$1974
195 km or 121 mi	Peoria	$2366
201 km or 125 mi	Buckeye	$2318
202 km or 126 mi	El Mirage	$2296
204 km or 126 mi	Caborca	$876
206 km or 128 mi	Surprise	$2346
295 km or 183 mi	Prescott Valley	$2312
295 km or 183 mi	Prescott	$2321
337 km or 210 mi	Flagstaff	$2573
347 km or 216 mi	Hermosillo	$1097
350 km or 217 mi	Nuevo Casas Grandes	$910
350 km or 217 mi	Yuma	$1767
361 km or 225 mi	San Luis Rio Colorado	$950
362 km or 225 mi	San Luis	$1924
376 km or 233 mi	Blythe	$2818
391 km or 243 mi	Las Cruces	$1665
403 km or 250 mi	Lake Havasu	$2011
419 km or 260 mi	Gallup	$2212