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

Updated: June 21, 2026

	Austin	San Jose
🚶 Cost of living one person	$2475	$1574
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$5680	$3920
🏠 One person rent	$1530	$747
🏘️ Family rent	$2495	$1276
🍽️ Food expenses	$627	$579
🚐 Transport expenses	$120	$85.8
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$5010	$1063
😷 Air quality	Excellent	Excellent
✈️ Airport proximity	13 km	7 km
🎓 Higher education	65	60
😀 Quality of life	90	73
🏙️ Population	962K	335K

The cost of living in Austin is 57% more expensive than in San Jose, Costa Rica. Cities ranked 932nd and 3714th ($2475 vs $1574) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 806th and 2nd in the United States and Costa Rica, respectively. Check the United States vs Costa Rica comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 2 months in Austin compared to 0.7 months in San Jose, Costa Rica. Austin ranked 46th best city to live in the United States vs San Jose, Costa Rica ranked 1st in Costa Rica, while ranked 192nd and 2425th among best cities to live in the world.

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

Prices in Austin vs San Jose, Costa Rica

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

	Austin	San Jose
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$19.4	$12.8
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$68.7	$49.5
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$12	$11.8
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$7.38	$3.36
☕ Cappuccino	$5.59	$5.2
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$3.34	$2.34
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1888	$821
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1199	$585
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$3110	$1456
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$2018	$1048
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$125	$58.3
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$190	$89.7
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$68.5	$56.7
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	6.41%	9.32%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$5778	$2299
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$3142	$1800
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$1.75	$1.09
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$41.7	$56.4
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$18.1	$16
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$0.81	$1.45
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.01	$2.43
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$3.14	$3.01
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.86	$2.56
🥚 Eggs, x12	$4.68	$3.5
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$13.5	$11.8
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$13.8	$9.83
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$16.8	$13.9
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.37	$5.01
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.55	$1.73
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.57	$4.77
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.35	$3.76
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.73	$4.11
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.71	$3.66
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.51	$2.1
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$2.74	$3.6
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$15.8	$23.3
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.96	$2.92
🚬 Cigarette pack	$9.52	$5.9
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$6.71	$9.27
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$5.99	$9.95
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$4.17	$3.95
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$2.23	$4.6
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$72.4	$68.5
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$14.5	$8.55
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$167	$104
💇 Haircut, simple	$25.5	$16
👖 Brand Jeans	$56.8	$70.9
👟 Brand Sneakers	$93.4	$140
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$1503	$814
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$20982	$16872

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

Cost of Living in the nearest cities

Cities near Austin

Distance	City	Cost of living
19 km or 12 mi	Pflugerville	$2141
25 km or 15 mi	Round Rock	$2058
25 km or 15 mi	Cedar Park	$2151
31 km or 20 mi	Leander	$2149
37 km or 23 mi	Kyle	$2168
39 km or 24 mi	Georgetown	$2110
51 km or 32 mi	San Marcos	$2125
76 km or 47 mi	New Braunfels	$2123
84 km or 52 mi	Seguin	$2120
86 km or 53 mi	Harker Heights	$1937
90 km or 56 mi	Killeen	$1857
93 km or 58 mi	Copperas Cove	$1963
95 km or 59 mi	Cibolo	$2105
96 km or 60 mi	Schertz	$2093
96 km or 60 mi	Temple	$2070
122 km or 76 mi	San Antonio	$2071
137 km or 85 mi	Bryan	$1950
138 km or 86 mi	Kerrville	$1944
140 km or 87 mi	College Station	$1843
150 km or 93 mi	Waco	$2066
180 km or 112 mi	Victoria	$2003
204 km or 126 mi	Rosenberg	$2096
214 km or 133 mi	Huntsville	$1900
215 km or 133 mi	The Woodlands	$2754
218 km or 136 mi	Stephenville	$2093
218 km or 136 mi	Conroe	$1860
219 km or 136 mi	Sugar Land	$2011
226 km or 140 mi	Missouri	$2093
227 km or 141 mi	Spring	$2107
230 km or 143 mi	Cleburne	$2148
233 km or 145 mi	Corsicana	$2111
234 km or 145 mi	Houston	$2261
248 km or 154 mi	Waxahachie	$2174
249 km or 155 mi	Pearland	$2064
252 km or 156 mi	Burleson	$2164
252 km or 157 mi	Midlothian	$2206
256 km or 159 mi	Pasadena	$2142
258 km or 160 mi	Alvin	$1916
260 km or 161 mi	Friendswood	$2025
260 km or 161 mi	Mansfield	$2316

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