At a glance
Los Angeles is 1.5% more expensive than San Diego on BEA’s overall price index, but San Diego has the higher median rent, by $183 a month.
Price parity is 113.6 in Los Angeles and 111.9 in San Diego (U.S. = 100); median gross rent is $2,063 and $2,246 a month.
Price index and rent come from different surveys and describe metro averages; neither predicts a household’s own costs.
Sources: BLS wages (May 2025) · BEA price parity (2024) · Census ACS (2020–2024) · metro areas, not city limits · How we calculate
Cost of living: Los Angeles vs. San Diego
Using 2024 BEA regional price parities, Los Angeles has an all-items metro price level about 1.5% higher than San Diego relative to the same national benchmark. This is a ratio of broad price indexes, not a forecast of what a specific household would spend. San Diego has a $183 higher reported monthly metro-wide median gross rent than Los Angeles. The metro with the higher broad price parity does not have the higher ACS rental median. That is why the index and rent should be examined separately.
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| Official metro indicator | Los Angeles | San Diego |
|---|---|---|
| BEA 2024 all-items price parity | 113.6 | 111.9 |
| ACS 2020–2024 median gross rent / month | $2,063 | $2,246 |
| ACS gross-rent margin of error | ± $6 | ± $11 |
| ACS median household income (± MOE) | $95,958 ± $378 | $106,268 ± $949 |
| ACS 45+ minute commute share | 20.8% | 13.1% |
These figures cover the Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA and San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA metropolitan areas, not the named cities alone. ACS gross rent includes estimated utilities and is not an asking rent; sampling uncertainty means small gaps may not be meaningful.
What a salary in Los Angeles is worth in San Diego
BEA’s 2024 all-items parity is 113.6 for Los Angeles and 111.9 for San Diego, so matching on that index takes about 1.5% less gross pay in San Diego than in Los Angeles. Twelve months of median gross rent is 25.8% of median household income in Los Angeles and 25.4% in San Diego (renter rent over all-household income, so a rough contrast rather than a budget).
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| Gross pay in Los Angeles | Same index value in San Diego | Gross pay in San Diego | Same index value in Los Angeles |
|---|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $49,261 | $50,000 | $50,750 |
| $75,000 | $73,891 | $75,000 | $76,125 |
| $100,000 | $98,522 | $100,000 | $101,501 |
| $150,000 | $147,782 | $150,000 | $152,251 |
| $200,000 | $197,043 | $200,000 | $203,001 |
Equal index value is not equal take-home pay: taxes, benefits and housing choices differ.
Median gross rents differ by $183 a month ($2,196 over twelve months). That gap is already part of the price index, so do not subtract it again; use real quotes in the worksheet.
How do salaries differ between Los Angeles and San Diego?
79 of 80 curated occupations have a reported annual median wage in both metros. The 12 examples below are the most common jobs in the smaller metro, not the highest- or lowest-paid.
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| BLS occupation | Los Angeles median | San Diego median | Los Angeles adjusted | San Diego adjusted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Retail Salespersons | $37,700 | $37,810 | $33,197 | $33,793 |
| Registered Nurses | $135,560 | $139,520 | $119,367 | $124,697 |
| Office Clerks, General | $48,100 | $49,920 | $42,354 | $44,616 |
| General and Operations Managers | $125,830 | $119,600 | $110,799 | $106,894 |
| Laborers and Freight, Stock, and Material Movers, Hand | $42,390 | $43,320 | $37,326 | $38,718 |
| Software Developers | $160,920 | $163,270 | $141,697 | $145,924 |
| Customer Service Representatives | $48,840 | $48,730 | $43,006 | $43,553 |
| Accountants and Auditors | $94,360 | $96,340 | $83,088 | $86,105 |
| Bookkeeping, Accounting, and Auditing Clerks | $58,590 | $58,580 | $51,591 | $52,356 |
| Maintenance and Repair Workers, General | $56,520 | $54,530 | $49,768 | $48,737 |
| Secretaries and Administrative Assistants, Except Legal, Medical, and Executive | $53,550 | $55,380 | $47,153 | $49,496 |
| Management Analysts | $104,930 | $101,190 | $92,396 | $90,439 |
The price-adjusted wage equals the BLS May 2025 annual occupational median × 100 ÷ the BEA 2024 all-items regional price parity. Census rent, household income and commuting figures are ACS 2020–2024 five-year estimates. They describe different populations and do not determine take-home pay, employment prospects or individual rent. ACS gross rent includes contract rent plus estimated utility and fuel costs.
What changes after adjusting wages for regional prices?
Among the 12 displayed, matched BLS occupations, 2 have a different leading metro for nominal versus price-adjusted median wages, and 10 keep the same leader. Adjusted values divide each median by the metro’s BEA parity; they are not tax-adjusted.
Where the price-adjusted gap is largest
Across the 79 occupations with a reported median in both metros, Los Angeles has the higher price-adjusted median in 23 and San Diego in 56. For the typical occupation (the median of the occupation-by-occupation differences), the adjusted median in Los Angeles is 3.1% lower than in San Diego.
The table lists the eight occupations with the largest percentage differences, in either direction. A large gap can reflect a small local employer base, so check the career page before drawing conclusions.
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| BLS occupation | Los Angeles adjusted | San Diego adjusted | Higher in | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Computer Programmers | $94,298 | $119,880 | San Diego | 27.1% |
| Middle School Teachers, Except Special and Career/Technical Education | $86,619 | $70,124 | Los Angeles | 23.5% |
| Sales Representatives, Wholesale and Manufacturing, Technical and Scientific Products | $94,236 | $112,408 | San Diego | 19.3% |
| Web and Digital Interface Designers | $93,822 | $110,692 | San Diego | 18.0% |
| Child, Family, and School Social Workers | $62,739 | $53,420 | Los Angeles | 17.4% |
| Architects, Except Landscape and Naval | $91,726 | $107,287 | San Diego | 17.0% |
| Welders, Cutters, Solderers, and Brazers | $49,451 | $55,914 | San Diego | 13.1% |
| Electronics Engineers, Except Computer | $123,743 | $139,855 | San Diego | 13.0% |
Difference is the gap relative to the lower of the two adjusted medians.
Which jobs are more common in Los Angeles or San Diego
Raw employment counts mostly track metro size. To compare, this table divides BLS estimated employment by ACS commuting workers (jobs per 10,000 commuters). Of the 74 occupations with at least 1,000 estimated workers in both metros, these are the most over-represented in each.
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| BLS occupation | Los Angeles per 10,000 | San Diego per 10,000 | More common in | Ratio |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Web and Digital Interface Designers | 17.9 | 9.6 | Los Angeles | 1.9× |
| Child, Family, and School Social Workers | 50.8 | 28.7 | Los Angeles | 1.8× |
| Sales Representatives, Wholesale and Manufacturing, Except Technical and Scientific Products | 106.5 | 68.0 | Los Angeles | 1.6× |
| Electronics Engineers, Except Computer | 9.5 | 25.9 | San Diego | 2.7× |
| Computer Programmers | 6.6 | 12.0 | San Diego | 1.8× |
| Computer Network Architects | 6.8 | 11.2 | San Diego | 1.7× |
A rough size scaling, not a formal location quotient. Employment estimates are not job openings.
Investigate a specific career before deciding
Open the dashboard with a role and both metros already selected. Amounts you enter stay in your browser.
Moving between Los Angeles and San Diego: what should you check?
The checklist works in either direction. Get written offers and current rent quotes for the neighborhoods you would consider; metro medians are not listings. The full offer checklist covers taxes, benefits and one-time costs.