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

Updated: March 11, 2026

	Auckland	San Jose
🚶 Cost of living one person	$2156	$1454
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$4802	$3624
🏠 One person rent	$1242	$697
🏘️ Family rent	$1967	$1213
🍽️ Food expenses	$543	$527
🚐 Transport expenses	$242	$78.6
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$3398	$935
😷 Air quality	Excellent	Excellent
✈️ Airport proximity	15 km	7 km
🎓 Higher education	32	60
😀 Quality of life	89	72
🏙️ Population	1.47M	335K

The cost of living in Auckland is 48% more expensive than in San Jose, Costa Rica. Cities ranked 1604th and 4213th ($2156 vs $1454) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 2nd and 2nd in New Zealand and Costa Rica, respectively. Check New Zealand vs Costa Rica comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 1.6 months in Auckland compared to 0.6 months in San Jose, Costa Rica. Auckland ranked 1st best city to live in New Zealand vs San Jose, Costa Rica ranked 1st in Costa Rica, while ranked 240th 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/auckland/san-jose-cr.jpg" alt="Cost of living in Auckland vs San Jose, Costa Rica infographic" style="max-width: 100%; height: auto;"><p>Source: <a href="https://livingcost.org/cost/auckland/san-jose-cr" target="_blank">Auckland vs San Jose, Costa Rica - Cost of Living Comparison</a></p>

Prices in Auckland vs San Jose, Costa Rica

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

	Auckland	San Jose
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$13.5	$11.2
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$71.5	$51
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$9.86	$10.4
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$7.14	$2.9
☕ Cappuccino	$3.63	$4.68
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$2.35	$2.14
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1205	$821
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1071	$531
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$2099	$1484
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1689	$973
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$94.7	$54.9
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$147	$83.8
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$49.2	$53.3
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	6.07%	9.69%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$7507	$2465
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$5316	$1757
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$2.91	$1
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$131	$48.8
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$18.4	$15.1
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.63	$1.41
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.75	$2.26
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$2.03	$2.62
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.77	$2.38
🥚 Eggs, x12	$6.66	$3.03
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$8.91	$11.5
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$10.8	$8.94
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$15.6	$13.4
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.05	$4.34
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.11	$1.57
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.3	$4.35
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.81	$3.48
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.8	$3.75
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.53	$3.18
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.79	$1.93
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$2.36	$3.28
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$11.4	$20.3
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.9	$2.64
🚬 Cigarette pack	$26.3	$5.46
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$11.7	$8.15
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$4.16	$9.92
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$1.55	$3.47
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$2.45	$4.31
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$36.7	$59.8
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$13.2	$7.93
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$41.1	$96.4
💇 Haircut, simple	$19.3	$15.9
👖 Brand Jeans	$75.6	$67.6
👟 Brand Sneakers	$107	$129
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$988	$704
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$15607	$14663

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

Cost of Living in the nearest cities

Cities near Auckland

Distance	City	Cost of living
13 km or 8.4 mi	Waitakere	$1778
17 km or 11 mi	Manukau	$1646
28 km or 18 mi	Hibiscus Coast	$1782
40 km or 25 mi	Pukekohe	$1527
113 km or 70 mi	Hamilton	$1474
132 km or 82 mi	Whangarei	$1261
154 km or 96 mi	Tauranga	$1740
193 km or 120 mi	Rotorua	$1393
234 km or 146 mi	Taupo	$1523
253 km or 157 mi	New Plymouth	$1304
344 km or 214 mi	Whanganui	$1528
347 km or 216 mi	Napier	$1605
348 km or 217 mi	Gisborne	$1696
359 km or 223 mi	Hastings	$1518
396 km or 246 mi	Palmerston North	$1458
453 km or 281 mi	Paraparaumu	$1741
464 km or 288 mi	Masterton	$1359
476 km or 296 mi	Porirua	$1788
477 km or 296 mi	Upper Hutt	$1803
486 km or 302 mi	Lower Hutt	$1920
494 km or 307 mi	Wellington	$2037
512 km or 318 mi	Nelson	$1533
524 km or 326 mi	Blenheim	$1325
765 km or 475 mi	Christchurch	$1787
891 km or 553 mi	Timaru	$1894
995 km or 618 mi	Wanaka	$1623
1044 km or 649 mi	Queenstown	$2303
1064 km or 661 mi	Dunedin	$1579
1190 km or 740 mi	Invercargill	$1318
1809 km or 1124 mi	Noumea	$1928
1821 km or 1131 mi	Dumbea	$1865
1826 km or 1135 mi	Paita	$1865
1997 km or 1241 mi	Mua	$1033
1997 km or 1241 mi	Nukualofa	$1035
2097 km or 1303 mi	Port Macquarie	$1796
2112 km or 1312 mi	Suva	$879
2120 km or 1317 mi	Nasinu	$857
2129 km or 1323 mi	Coffs Harbour	$2172
2134 km or 1326 mi	Nadi	$1039
2140 km or 1330 mi	Newcastle	$1997

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