San Diego vs Tucson - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: October 10, 2024

	San Diego	Tucson
🚶 Cost of living one person	$3346	$1954
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$7719	$4634
🏠 One person rent	$2248	$1160
🏘️ Family rent	$4052	$2033
🍽️ Food expenses	$722	$589
🚐 Transport expenses	$185	$67.9
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$5772	$3612
😷 Air quality	Excellent	Excellent
✈️ Airport proximity	3 km	7 km
🎓 Higher education	87	33
😀 Quality of life	92	80
🏙️ Population	1.39M	543K

The cost of living in San Diego is 71% more expensive than in Tucson. Cities ranked 45th and 2005th ($3346 vs $1954) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 36th and 1656th in the United States.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 1.7 months in San Diego compared to 1.8 months in Tucson. Ranked 12th vs 133rd best cities to live in the United States, and 75th vs 528th among the best cities to live in the world.

Salary adjustment calculator
the estimated difference in money purchasing power

Cost of living in San Diego vs Tucson infographic

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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	$20.9	$16.9
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$85.8	$64.4
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$12.9	$11.2
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$8.25	$6.05
☕ Cappuccino	$5.51	$5.2
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$2.62	$2.85
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$2399	$1056
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1894	$896
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$4351	$1998
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$3534	$1646
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$184	$159
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$286	$244
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$69.1	$72.8
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	6.53%	6.55%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$9294	$2540
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$7063	$2461
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$2.52	$0.62
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$72.6	$19.8
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$20.2	$14.1
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.38	$1.03
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.16	$0.9
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$3.98	$2.99
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.91	$4.59
🥚 Eggs, x12	$4.72	$3.92
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$15	$11.4
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$14.4	$13.5
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$18.4	$15.2
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.96	$4.22
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.69	$1.38
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.78	$3.91
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$5.11	$3.62
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.54	$2.1
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.34	$2.48
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.6	$1.43
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$3.2	$2.12
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$18.3	$14.8
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$3.1	$2.08
🚬 Cigarette pack	$11.3	$9.72
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$16.2	$9.23
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$10.9	$3.98
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$5.94	$3.36
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$2.98	$1.72
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$72.4	$30
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$18	$11.7
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$132	$92.3
💇 Haircut, simple	$28	$16.7
👖 Brand Jeans	$56.2	$54.1
👟 Brand Sneakers	$99.1	$93.8
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$1752	$1080
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$21468	$15724

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	$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 Tucson

Distance	City	Cost of living
16 km or 9.9 mi	Casas Adobes	$2016
23 km or 14 mi	Oro Valley	$2040
26 km or 16 mi	Marana	$2052
33 km or 20 mi	Sahuarita	$2026
97 km or 60 mi	Nogales	$1986
97 km or 60 mi	Sierra Vista	$1665
100 km or 62 mi	Nogales	$786
101 km or 62 mi	Florence	$2324
106 km or 66 mi	Casa Grande	$2313
133 km or 83 mi	Queen Creek	$2338
140 km or 87 mi	Maricopa	$2291
145 km or 90 mi	Apache Junction	$2342
148 km or 92 mi	Chandler	$2414
149 km or 93 mi	Gilbert	$2372
157 km or 98 mi	Mesa	$2416
164 km or 102 mi	Agua Prieta	$778
164 km or 102 mi	Tempe	$2430
169 km or 105 mi	Scottsdale	$2588
171 km or 106 mi	Fountain Hills	$2352
181 km or 112 mi	Phoenix	$2369
189 km or 118 mi	Avondale	$2518
190 km or 118 mi	Goodyear	$2446
193 km or 120 mi	Glendale	$1989
195 km or 121 mi	Peoria	$2201
201 km or 125 mi	Buckeye	$2422
202 km or 126 mi	El Mirage	$2287
204 km or 126 mi	Caborca	$758
206 km or 128 mi	Surprise	$2339
295 km or 183 mi	Prescott Valley	$2415
295 km or 183 mi	Prescott	$2484
337 km or 210 mi	Flagstaff	$2268
347 km or 216 mi	Hermosillo	$854
350 km or 217 mi	Nuevo Casas Grandes	$813
350 km or 217 mi	Yuma	$1792
361 km or 225 mi	San Luis Rio Colorado	$840
362 km or 225 mi	San Luis	$1928
376 km or 233 mi	Blythe	$2638
391 km or 243 mi	Las Cruces	$1613
403 km or 250 mi	Lake Havasu	$1999
419 km or 260 mi	Gallup	$2618