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

Updated: March 11, 2026

	Asuncion	San Jose
🚶 Cost of living one person	$752	$1454
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$1837	$3624
🏠 One person rent	$348	$697
🏘️ Family rent	$617	$1213
🍽️ Food expenses	$262	$527
🚐 Transport expenses	$59.3	$78.6
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$536	$935
😷 Air quality	Moderate	Excellent
✈️ Airport proximity	13 km	7 km
🎓 Higher education	35	60
😀 Quality of life	57	72
🏙️ Population	462K	335K

The cost of living in Asuncion is 48% less expensive than in San Jose, Costa Rica. Cities ranked 6973rd and 4213th ($752 vs $1454) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 1st and 2nd in Paraguay and Costa Rica, respectively. Check Paraguay vs Costa Rica comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 0.7 months in Asuncion compared to 0.6 months in San Jose, Costa Rica. Asuncion ranked 1st best city to live in Paraguay vs San Jose, Costa Rica ranked 1st in Costa Rica, while ranked 6216th and 3173rd among best cities to live in the world.

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the estimated difference in money purchasing power

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

Prices in Asuncion vs San Jose, Costa Rica

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

	Asuncion	San Jose
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$5.88	$11.2
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$29.9	$51
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$6.01	$10.4
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.64	$2.9
☕ Cappuccino	$3.05	$4.68
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$0.99	$2.14
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$448	$821
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$268	$531
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$825	$1484
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$493	$973
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$26.1	$54.9
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$40.1	$83.8
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$17.6	$53.3
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	9.83%	9.69%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1605	$2465
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1243	$1757
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$0.52	$1
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$32	$48.8
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$9.59	$15.1
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.08	$1.41
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.1	$2.26
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$0.93	$2.62
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.93	$2.38
🥚 Eggs, x12	$2.08	$3.03
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$8.57	$11.5
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.25	$8.94
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$8.31	$13.4
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.31	$4.34
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.06	$1.57
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.08	$4.35
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.04	$3.48
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.25	$3.75
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.22	$3.18
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.44	$1.93
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$2.08	$3.28
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$6.46	$20.3
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.07	$2.64
🚬 Cigarette pack	$1.75	$5.46
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$5.93	$8.15
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$5.6	$9.92
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$1.65	$3.47
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$2.21	$4.31
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$31.4	$59.8
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$6.79	$7.93
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$23	$96.4
💇 Haircut, simple	$9.66	$15.9
👖 Brand Jeans	$53.4	$67.6
👟 Brand Sneakers	$89.5	$129
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$186	$704
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$4760	$14663

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

Cost of Living in the nearest cities

Cities near Asuncion

Distance	City	Cost of living
13 km or 8.3 mi	San Lorenzo	$720
15 km or 9.4 mi	Luque	$744
112 km or 70 mi	Formosa	$429
120 km or 74 mi	Coronel Oviedo	$643
163 km or 101 mi	Caaguazu	$457
212 km or 132 mi	Concepcion	$652
270 km or 168 mi	Corrientes	$622
275 km or 171 mi	Resistencia	$398
287 km or 178 mi	Encarnacion	$619
288 km or 179 mi	Posadas	$385
304 km or 189 mi	Ciudad del Este	$649
307 km or 191 mi	Foz do Iguacu	$712
326 km or 203 mi	Presidencia Roque Saenz Pena	$474
348 km or 216 mi	Obera	$469
361 km or 224 mi	Pedro Juan Caballero	$629
363 km or 226 mi	Ponta Pora	$654
407 km or 253 mi	Sao Borja	$607
422 km or 262 mi	Cascavel	$633
424 km or 264 mi	Santa Rosa	$568
447 km or 278 mi	Dourados	$670
455 km or 283 mi	Goya	$622
471 km or 293 mi	Reconquista	$633
472 km or 293 mi	Santo Angelo	$585
498 km or 310 mi	Uruguaiana	$566
504 km or 313 mi	Ijui	$584
508 km or 315 mi	Pato Branco	$663
539 km or 335 mi	Chapeco	$713
549 km or 341 mi	Campo Mourao	$513
584 km or 363 mi	Carazinho	$628
586 km or 364 mi	Artigas	$1021
593 km or 369 mi	Erechim	$659
599 km or 372 mi	Concordia	$672
613 km or 381 mi	Maringa	$674
614 km or 382 mi	Passo Fundo	$613
616 km or 383 mi	Santa Maria	$557
619 km or 385 mi	Campo Grande	$672
621 km or 386 mi	Guarapuava	$579
648 km or 403 mi	Sao Gabriel	$509
654 km or 407 mi	Apucarana	$627
655 km or 407 mi	Santana do Livramento	$578

Cities near San Jose, Costa Rica

Distance	City	Cost of living
7.9 km or 4.9 mi	Heredia	$1378
17 km or 11 mi	Alajuela	$1323
20 km or 12 mi	Cartago	$1290
82 km or 51 mi	Puntarenas	$825
115 km or 72 mi	Limon	$1332
124 km or 77 mi	Santa Teresa	$1273
167 km or 104 mi	Liberia	$957
197 km or 122 mi	Tamarindo	$1832
244 km or 151 mi	San Juan del Sur	$840
246 km or 153 mi	David	$922
279 km or 173 mi	Juigalpa	$782
302 km or 188 mi	Granada	$699
316 km or 196 mi	Masaya	$812
343 km or 213 mi	Managua	$796
387 km or 241 mi	Matagalpa	$679
398 km or 247 mi	Santiago de Veraguas	$1122
408 km or 253 mi	Jinotega	$470
413 km or 257 mi	Leon	$754
429 km or 266 mi	Esteli	$687
438 km or 272 mi	Penonome	$1153
447 km or 278 mi	Chinandega	$787
457 km or 284 mi	Chitre	$1154
463 km or 288 mi	Colon	$1179
486 km or 302 mi	La Chorrera	$977
508 km or 316 mi	Balboa	$1425
513 km or 319 mi	Panama City	$1583
524 km or 326 mi	Tocumen	$1403
535 km or 333 mi	Pacora	$1395
574 km or 357 mi	Tegucigalpa	$863
596 km or 370 mi	San Miguel	$1120
609 km or 378 mi	Usulutan	$1109
635 km or 395 mi	Comayagua	$705
666 km or 414 mi	Yoro	$737
696 km or 432 mi	San Salvador	$1274
697 km or 433 mi	Soyapango	$1246
701 km or 435 mi	Mejicanos	$1237
702 km or 436 mi	Apopa	$1221
703 km or 437 mi	Santa Tecla	$1178
713 km or 443 mi	La Ceiba	$626
729 km or 453 mi	El Progreso	$804