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

Updated: March 02, 2025

	Austin	San Jose
🚶 Cost of living one person	$2455	$1324
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$5709	$3344
🏠 One person rent	$1585	$606
🏘️ Family rent	$2741	$1094
🍽️ Food expenses	$566	$499
🚐 Transport expenses	$127	$78
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$5262	$990
😷 Air quality	Excellent	Excellent
✈️ Airport proximity	13 km	7 km
🎓 Higher education	65	60
😀 Quality of life	90	66
🏙️ Population	962K	342K

The cost of living in Austin is 85% more expensive than in San Jose, Costa Rica. Cities ranked 858th and 4143rd ($2455 vs $1324) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 790th 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 2.1 months in Austin compared to 0.7 months in San Jose, Costa Rica. Austin ranked 30th best city to live in the United States vs San Jose, Costa Rica ranked 1st in Costa Rica, while ranked 142nd and 4085th among best cities to live in the world.

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

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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	$17.5	$11.2
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$64.7	$51.4
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$10.6	$9.6
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$6.36	$2.9
☕ Cappuccino	$5.69	$4.5
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$2.75	$1.97
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1949	$738
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1266	$444
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$3348	$1315
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$2283	$874
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$113	$53.7
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$176	$82.5
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$69.4	$49.2
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	6.66%	10.31%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$4187	$2883
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$2882	$1718
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$1.49	$0.98
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$44.4	$41.6
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$19.8	$16.2
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$0.78	$1.42
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.11	$2.07
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$2.98	$2.32
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.76	$1.94
🥚 Eggs, x12	$3.96	$3.34
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$13	$11.2
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$10.2	$8.97
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$14.2	$14.3
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.77	$3.92
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.56	$1.46
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.4	$3.91
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.67	$2.99
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.3	$2.99
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.75	$2.81
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.45	$1.85
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$2.88	$3.17
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$15.2	$18.6
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.62	$2.43
🚬 Cigarette pack	$9.03	$5.13
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$6.13	$8.09
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$5.35	$7.94
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$4.01	$3.22
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$1.5	$3.77
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$48.7	$65
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$14.7	$9.08
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$147	$72.3
💇 Haircut, simple	$20.6	$15.2
👖 Brand Jeans	$58.3	$68.8
👟 Brand Sneakers	$89.2	$125
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$1385	$601
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$22096	$12527

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

$349

$907

$6.64K

Cost of Living in the nearest cities

Cities near Austin

Distance	City	Cost of living
19 km or 12 mi	Pflugerville	$2218
25 km or 15 mi	Round Rock	$2163
25 km or 15 mi	Cedar Park	$2244
31 km or 20 mi	Leander	$2260
37 km or 23 mi	Kyle	$2223
39 km or 24 mi	Georgetown	$2192
51 km or 32 mi	San Marcos	$2224
76 km or 47 mi	New Braunfels	$2182
84 km or 52 mi	Seguin	$2182
86 km or 53 mi	Harker Heights	$2044
90 km or 56 mi	Killeen	$1969
93 km or 58 mi	Copperas Cove	$2066
95 km or 59 mi	Cibolo	$2148
96 km or 60 mi	Schertz	$2132
96 km or 60 mi	Temple	$2134
122 km or 76 mi	San Antonio	$2033
137 km or 85 mi	Bryan	$1944
138 km or 86 mi	Kerrville	$2152
140 km or 87 mi	College Station	$1853
150 km or 93 mi	Waco	$2230
180 km or 112 mi	Victoria	$2215
204 km or 126 mi	Rosenberg	$2107
214 km or 133 mi	Huntsville	$2089
215 km or 133 mi	The Woodlands	$2698
218 km or 136 mi	Stephenville	$2133
218 km or 136 mi	Conroe	$1799
219 km or 136 mi	Sugar Land	$2028
226 km or 140 mi	Missouri	$2087
227 km or 141 mi	Spring	$2093
230 km or 143 mi	Cleburne	$2155
233 km or 145 mi	Corsicana	$2170
234 km or 145 mi	Houston	$2265
248 km or 154 mi	Waxahachie	$2190
249 km or 155 mi	Pearland	$2108
252 km or 156 mi	Burleson	$2159
252 km or 157 mi	Midlothian	$2224
256 km or 159 mi	Pasadena	$2182
258 km or 160 mi	Alvin	$2056
260 km or 161 mi	Friendswood	$2097
260 km or 161 mi	Mansfield	$2305

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