San Diego vs Wellington - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: June 21, 2026

	San Diego	Wellington
🚶 Cost of living one person	$3486	$2003
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$7909	$4295
🏠 One person rent	$2368	$1243
🏘️ Family rent	$4139	$1875
🍽️ Food expenses	$735	$532
🚐 Transport expenses	$181	$103
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$5217	$3056
😷 Air quality	Excellent	Excellent
✈️ Airport proximity	3 km	5 km
🎓 Higher education	86	18
😀 Quality of life	91	84
🏙️ Population	1.39M	216K

The cost of living in San Diego is 74% more expensive than in Wellington. Cities ranked 52nd and 2013th ($3486 vs $2003) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 39th and 3rd in the United States and New Zealand, respectively. Check the United States vs New Zealand comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 1.5 months in San Diego compared to 1.5 months in Wellington. San Diego ranked 38th best city to live in the United States vs Wellington ranked 3rd in New Zealand, while ranked 155th and 485th 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 Wellington

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

	San Diego	Wellington
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$22.2	$12.8
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$84.5	$60.3
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$15	$9.74
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$8.97	$7.34
☕ Cappuccino	$6.34	$3.47
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$3.17	$2.52
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$2489	$1149
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$2046	$1062
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$4508	$1957
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$3643	$1575
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$162	$110
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$251	$169
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$71.3	$53.9
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	6.31%	5.32%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$8050	$7032
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$6577	$3790
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$2.5	$2.91
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$71.5	$110
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$19.7	$16.9
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.37	$1.78
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.38	$1.88
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$4.32	$2.17
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.81	$1.91
🥚 Eggs, x12	$7.04	$7.17
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$16	$11.4
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$13.1	$9.58
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$20.7	$15.8
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.24	$3.13
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.77	$2.32
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.14	$3.14
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.77	$5.65
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.64	$2.24
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.63	$1.21
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.5	$0.84
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$3.26	$2.13
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$16.6	$11.2
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$3	$3.59
🚬 Cigarette pack	$12.2	$25
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$15.2	$10.5
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$9.97	$4.77
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$5.48	$2.06
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$2.47	$2.45
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$72.2	$37.5
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$19.1	$11.8
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$131	$35.8
💇 Haircut, simple	$30.2	$17.7
👖 Brand Jeans	$66.2	$81.8
👟 Brand Sneakers	$112	$109
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$1937	$1020
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$22295	$13757

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 Wellington

Distance	City	Cost of living
14 km or 8.8 mi	Lower Hutt	$1869
18 km or 11 mi	Porirua	$1803
29 km or 18 mi	Upper Hutt	$1751
46 km or 29 mi	Paraparaumu	$1709
73 km or 46 mi	Blenheim	$1248
81 km or 51 mi	Masterton	$1440
125 km or 78 mi	Palmerston North	$1395
129 km or 80 mi	Nelson	$1469
152 km or 95 mi	Whanganui	$1400
252 km or 157 mi	Hastings	$1503
255 km or 159 mi	New Plymouth	$1261
270 km or 168 mi	Napier	$1653
305 km or 190 mi	Christchurch	$1705
310 km or 192 mi	Taupo	$1475
372 km or 231 mi	Rotorua	$1259
392 km or 244 mi	Hamilton	$1424
402 km or 250 mi	Gisborne	$1647
418 km or 260 mi	Tauranga	$1660
450 km or 279 mi	Timaru	$1800
455 km or 283 mi	Pukekohe	$1530
479 km or 298 mi	Manukau	$1553
486 km or 302 mi	Waitakere	$1752
494 km or 307 mi	Auckland	$2100
521 km or 324 mi	Hibiscus Coast	$1745
596 km or 371 mi	Wanaka	$1567
614 km or 382 mi	Dunedin	$1507
620 km or 385 mi	Whangarei	$1239
647 km or 402 mi	Queenstown	$2232
768 km or 477 mi	Invercargill	$1282
2223 km or 1381 mi	Wollongong	$1695
2226 km or 1383 mi	Dee Why	$2354
2227 km or 1384 mi	Sydney	$2844
2235 km or 1389 mi	Newcastle	$1995
2235 km or 1389 mi	Port Macquarie	$1786
2246 km or 1395 mi	Parramatta	$2481
2254 km or 1401 mi	Noumea	$1911
2255 km or 1401 mi	Kellyville	$2040
2256 km or 1402 mi	Blacktown	$1709
2263 km or 1406 mi	Hobart	$2364
2266 km or 1408 mi	Dumbea	$1844