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

Updated: March 02, 2025

	Auckland	San Jose
🚶 Cost of living one person	$1968	$1324
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$4648	$3344
🏠 One person rent	$1094	$606
🏘️ Family rent	$1952	$1094
🍽️ Food expenses	$516	$499
🚐 Transport expenses	$233	$78
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$3283	$990
😷 Air quality	Excellent	Excellent
✈️ Airport proximity	15 km	7 km
🎓 Higher education	32	60
😀 Quality of life	90	66
🏙️ Population	1.47M	342K

The cost of living in Auckland is 49% more expensive than in San Jose, Costa Rica. Cities ranked 1924th and 4143rd ($1968 vs $1324) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 1st 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 1.7 months in Auckland compared to 0.7 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 161st and 4085th among best cities to live in the world.

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Cost of living in Auckland vs San Jose, Costa Rica infographic

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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	$11.2
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$69.6	$51.4
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$9.02	$9.6
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$6.92	$2.9
☕ Cappuccino	$3.38	$4.5
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$2.12	$1.97
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1104	$738
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$931	$444
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$2191	$1315
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1679	$874
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$80.4	$53.7
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$123	$82.5
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$47.7	$49.2
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	6.64%	10.31%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$7916	$2883
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$6301	$1718
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$2.56	$0.98
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$122	$41.6
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$18.7	$16.2
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.64	$1.42
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.67	$2.07
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$1.93	$2.32
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.85	$1.94
🥚 Eggs, x12	$6.79	$3.34
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$8.19	$11.2
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$9.32	$8.97
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$12.2	$14.3
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.76	$3.92
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.15	$1.46
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.92	$3.91
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.69	$2.99
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.14	$2.99
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.67	$2.81
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.79	$1.85
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$2.49	$3.17
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$11.4	$18.6
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$3.27	$2.43
🚬 Cigarette pack	$23.7	$5.13
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$11.6	$8.09
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$3.96	$7.94
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$1.46	$3.22
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$2.36	$3.77
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$33	$65
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$13.4	$9.08
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$41.4	$72.3
💇 Haircut, simple	$18.6	$15.2
👖 Brand Jeans	$72.2	$68.8
👟 Brand Sneakers	$102	$125
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$890	$601
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$13719	$12527

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	$1709
17 km or 11 mi	Manukau	$1736
28 km or 18 mi	Hibiscus Coast	$1670
40 km or 25 mi	Pukekohe	$1493
113 km or 70 mi	Hamilton	$1506
132 km or 82 mi	Whangarei	$1213
154 km or 96 mi	Tauranga	$1652
193 km or 120 mi	Rotorua	$1182
234 km or 146 mi	Taupo	$1418
253 km or 157 mi	New Plymouth	$1248
344 km or 214 mi	Whanganui	$1457
347 km or 216 mi	Napier	$1433
348 km or 217 mi	Gisborne	$1524
359 km or 223 mi	Hastings	$1144
396 km or 246 mi	Palmerston North	$1444
453 km or 281 mi	Paraparaumu	$1560
464 km or 288 mi	Masterton	$1253
476 km or 296 mi	Porirua	$1607
477 km or 296 mi	Upper Hutt	$1676
486 km or 302 mi	Lower Hutt	$1751
494 km or 307 mi	Wellington	$1837
512 km or 318 mi	Nelson	$1475
524 km or 326 mi	Blenheim	$1248
765 km or 475 mi	Christchurch	$1847
891 km or 553 mi	Timaru	$1717
995 km or 618 mi	Wanaka	$1746
1044 km or 649 mi	Queenstown	$1921
1064 km or 661 mi	Dunedin	$1435
1190 km or 740 mi	Invercargill	$1242
1809 km or 1124 mi	Noumea	$1652
1821 km or 1131 mi	Dumbea	$1604
1826 km or 1135 mi	Paita	$1604
1997 km or 1241 mi	Mua	$1002
1997 km or 1241 mi	Nukualofa	$1001
2097 km or 1303 mi	Port Macquarie	$1681
2112 km or 1312 mi	Suva	$808
2120 km or 1317 mi	Nasinu	$810
2129 km or 1323 mi	Coffs Harbour	$1963
2134 km or 1326 mi	Nadi	$977
2140 km or 1330 mi	Newcastle	$1448

Cities near San Jose, Costa Rica

Distance	City	Cost of living
7.9 km or 4.9 mi	Heredia	$1296
17 km or 11 mi	Alajuela	$1269
20 km or 12 mi	Cartago	$1024
82 km or 51 mi	Puntarenas	$801
115 km or 72 mi	Limon	$1225
124 km or 77 mi	Santa Teresa	$1213
167 km or 104 mi	Liberia	$932
197 km or 122 mi	Tamarindo	$1710
244 km or 151 mi	San Juan del Sur	$839
246 km or 153 mi	David	$890
279 km or 173 mi	Juigalpa	$666
302 km or 188 mi	Granada	$701
316 km or 196 mi	Masaya	$710
343 km or 213 mi	Managua	$738
387 km or 241 mi	Matagalpa	$624
398 km or 247 mi	Santiago de Veraguas	$1089
408 km or 253 mi	Jinotega	$455
413 km or 257 mi	Leon	$632
429 km or 266 mi	Esteli	$598
438 km or 272 mi	Penonome	$1116
447 km or 278 mi	Chinandega	$638
457 km or 284 mi	Chitre	$1117
463 km or 288 mi	Colon	$1172
486 km or 302 mi	La Chorrera	$957
508 km or 316 mi	Balboa	$1328
513 km or 319 mi	Panama City	$1479
524 km or 326 mi	Tocumen	$1310
535 km or 333 mi	Pacora	$1304
574 km or 357 mi	Tegucigalpa	$863
596 km or 370 mi	San Miguel	$1088
609 km or 378 mi	Usulutan	$1083
635 km or 395 mi	Comayagua	$753
666 km or 414 mi	Yoro	$755
696 km or 432 mi	San Salvador	$1204
697 km or 433 mi	Soyapango	$1182
701 km or 435 mi	Mejicanos	$1175
702 km or 436 mi	Apopa	$1160
703 km or 437 mi	Santa Tecla	$1194
713 km or 443 mi	La Ceiba	$626
729 km or 453 mi	El Progreso	$903