Amsterdam vs San Jose, Costa Rica - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: June 21, 2026

	Amsterdam	San Jose
🚶 Cost of living one person	$3165	$1574
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$7127	$3920
🏠 One person rent	$2073	$747
🏘️ Family rent	$3318	$1276
🍽️ Food expenses	$659	$579
🚐 Transport expenses	$265	$85.8
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$4747	$1063
😷 Air quality	Excellent	Excellent
✈️ Airport proximity	12 km	7 km
🎓 Higher education	95	60
😀 Quality of life	95	73
🏙️ Population	921K	335K

The cost of living in Amsterdam is 101% more expensive than in San Jose, Costa Rica. Cities ranked 138th and 3714th ($3165 vs $1574) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 1st and 2nd in the Netherlands and Costa Rica, respectively. Check the Netherlands vs Costa Rica comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 1.5 months in Amsterdam compared to 0.7 months in San Jose, Costa Rica. Amsterdam ranked 3rd best city to live in the Netherlands vs San Jose, Costa Rica ranked 1st in Costa Rica, while ranked 24th and 2425th among best cities to live in the world.

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<img src="https://livingcost.org/assets/photo/cost/amsterdam/san-jose-cr.jpg" alt="Cost of living in Amsterdam vs San Jose, Costa Rica infographic" style="max-width: 100%; height: auto;"><p>Source: <a href="https://livingcost.org/cost/amsterdam/san-jose-cr" target="_blank">Amsterdam vs San Jose, Costa Rica - Cost of Living Comparison</a></p>

Prices in Amsterdam vs San Jose, Costa Rica

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

	Amsterdam	San Jose
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$22	$12.8
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$93	$49.5
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$15.6	$11.8
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$7.81	$3.36
☕ Cappuccino	$4.82	$5.2
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$4.06	$2.34
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$2259	$821
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1723	$585
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$3695	$1456
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$2790	$1048
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$191	$58.3
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$296	$89.7
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$51.3	$56.7
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	3.65%	9.32%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$11141	$2299
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$7428	$1800
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$3.92	$1.09
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$118	$56.4
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$32.8	$16
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$2.47	$1.45
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.59	$2.43
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$2.55	$3.01
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.84	$2.56
🥚 Eggs, x12	$5.44	$3.5
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$17.4	$11.8
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$14.4	$9.83
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$23.2	$13.9
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.13	$5.01
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.94	$1.73
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.61	$4.77
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.82	$3.76
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.13	$4.11
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.61	$3.66
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.16	$2.1
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$3.84	$3.6
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$7.7	$23.3
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.76	$2.92
🚬 Cigarette pack	$14.6	$5.9
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$6.06	$9.27
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$4.94	$9.95
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$2.19	$3.95
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$3.14	$4.6
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$62.6	$68.5
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$16.8	$8.55
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$44.1	$104
💇 Haircut, simple	$37.3	$16
👖 Brand Jeans	$98	$70.9
👟 Brand Sneakers	$113	$140
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$2748	$814
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$20104	$16872

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

Cost of Living in the nearest cities

Cities near Amsterdam

Distance	City	Cost of living
14 km or 8.8 mi	Purmerend	$2185
18 km or 11 mi	Haarlem	$2755
21 km or 13 mi	IJmuiden	$2354
22 km or 14 mi	Almere	$2399
25 km or 16 mi	Zandvoort	$1865
26 km or 16 mi	Hilversum	$2564
26 km or 16 mi	Huizen	$2296
35 km or 22 mi	Langedijk	$2283
36 km or 22 mi	Utrecht	$2608
38 km or 23 mi	Leiden	$2389
38 km or 24 mi	Oegstgeest	$2307
40 km or 25 mi	Zeist	$2407
42 km or 26 mi	Lelystad	$1477
48 km or 30 mi	Leidschendam	$2365
49 km or 30 mi	Harderwijk	$2148
52 km or 32 mi	The Hague	$2491
53 km or 33 mi	Scheveningen	$2310
55 km or 34 mi	Delft	$2424
57 km or 36 mi	Dronten	$2026
59 km or 36 mi	Rotterdam	$2659
60 km or 37 mi	Veenendaal	$1805
61 km or 38 mi	Ridderkerk	$2336
64 km or 40 mi	Sliedrecht	$2234
64 km or 40 mi	Ede	$2053
65 km or 40 mi	Elburg	$2104
66 km or 41 mi	Tiel	$2662
67 km or 42 mi	Zaltbommel	$2304
70 km or 43 mi	Wageningen	$2341
72 km or 45 mi	Kampen	$2077
75 km or 47 mi	Apeldoorn	$2159
76 km or 47 mi	Texel	$2220
81 km or 50 mi	's-Hertogenbosch	$2272
82 km or 51 mi	Arnhem	$2253
83 km or 51 mi	Zwolle	$1942
83 km or 52 mi	Zwartewaterland	$2040
86 km or 54 mi	Deventer	$2082
89 km or 55 mi	Nijmegen	$2152
89 km or 55 mi	Sneek	$2166
89 km or 55 mi	Breda	$2112
91 km or 57 mi	Tilburg	$2247

Cities near San Jose, Costa Rica

Distance	City	Cost of living
7.9 km or 4.9 mi	Heredia	$1471
17 km or 11 mi	Alajuela	$1362
20 km or 12 mi	Cartago	$1361
82 km or 51 mi	Puntarenas	$872
115 km or 72 mi	Limon	$1228
124 km or 77 mi	Santa Teresa	$1325
167 km or 104 mi	Liberia	$1024
197 km or 122 mi	Tamarindo	$1929
244 km or 151 mi	San Juan del Sur	$844
246 km or 153 mi	David	$909
279 km or 173 mi	Juigalpa	$796
302 km or 188 mi	Granada	$706
316 km or 196 mi	Masaya	$817
343 km or 213 mi	Managua	$788
387 km or 241 mi	Matagalpa	$665
398 km or 247 mi	Santiago de Veraguas	$1112
408 km or 253 mi	Jinotega	$503
413 km or 257 mi	Leon	$759
429 km or 266 mi	Esteli	$716
438 km or 272 mi	Penonome	$1147
447 km or 278 mi	Chinandega	$791
457 km or 284 mi	Chitre	$1144
463 km or 288 mi	Colon	$1185
486 km or 302 mi	La Chorrera	$982
508 km or 316 mi	Balboa	$1396
513 km or 319 mi	Panama City	$1590
524 km or 326 mi	Tocumen	$1373
535 km or 333 mi	Pacora	$1361
574 km or 357 mi	Tegucigalpa	$909
596 km or 370 mi	San Miguel	$1132
609 km or 378 mi	Usulutan	$1123
635 km or 395 mi	Comayagua	$678
666 km or 414 mi	Yoro	$756
696 km or 432 mi	San Salvador	$1291
697 km or 433 mi	Soyapango	$1261
701 km or 435 mi	Mejicanos	$1254
702 km or 436 mi	Apopa	$1231
703 km or 437 mi	Santa Tecla	$1183
713 km or 443 mi	La Ceiba	$619
729 km or 453 mi	El Progreso	$832