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

Updated: March 11, 2026

	Baltimore	San Jose
🚶 Cost of living one person	$2234	$1454
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$5254	$3624
🏠 One person rent	$1327	$697
🏘️ Family rent	$2204	$1213
🍽️ Food expenses	$617	$527
🚐 Transport expenses	$124	$78.6
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$4084	$935
😷 Air quality	Excellent	Excellent
✈️ Airport proximity	13 km	7 km
🎓 Higher education	97	60
😀 Quality of life	91	72
🏙️ Population	586K	335K

The cost of living in Baltimore is 54% more expensive than in San Jose, Costa Rica. Cities ranked 1414th and 4213th ($2234 vs $1454) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 1179th 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 1.8 months in Baltimore compared to 0.6 months in San Jose, Costa Rica. Baltimore ranked 41st best city to live in the United States vs San Jose, Costa Rica ranked 1st in Costa Rica, while ranked 164th 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/baltimore/san-jose-cr.jpg" alt="Cost of living in Baltimore vs San Jose, Costa Rica infographic" style="max-width: 100%; height: auto;"><p>Source: <a href="https://livingcost.org/cost/baltimore/san-jose-cr" target="_blank">Baltimore vs San Jose, Costa Rica - Cost of Living Comparison</a></p>

Prices in Baltimore vs San Jose, Costa Rica

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

	Baltimore	San Jose
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$17.3	$11.2
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$77.1	$51
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$10.3	$10.4
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$6.71	$2.9
☕ Cappuccino	$5.29	$4.68
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$2.7	$2.14
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1650	$821
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$997	$531
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$2430	$1484
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1814	$973
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$123	$54.9
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$190	$83.8
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$76.3	$53.3
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	6.54%	9.69%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$2325	$2465
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$2166	$1757
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$2.02	$1
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$84.9	$48.8
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$15.4	$15.1
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$0.85	$1.41
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.04	$2.26
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$3.41	$2.62
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.78	$2.38
🥚 Eggs, x12	$4.8	$3.03
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$12.9	$11.5
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$10.6	$8.94
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$16.4	$13.4
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$5.08	$4.34
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.56	$1.57
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$5.99	$4.35
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.6	$3.48
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.46	$3.75
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.8	$3.18
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.55	$1.93
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$2.77	$3.28
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$15.5	$20.3
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.71	$2.64
🚬 Cigarette pack	$13.7	$5.46
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$8.12	$8.15
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$4.29	$9.92
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$3.74	$3.47
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$2.13	$4.31
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$51.6	$59.8
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$14.5	$7.93
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$122	$96.4
💇 Haircut, simple	$20.8	$15.9
👖 Brand Jeans	$52.2	$67.6
👟 Brand Sneakers	$98.1	$129
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$1492	$704
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$21697	$14663

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

Cost of Living in the nearest cities

Cities near Baltimore

Distance	City	Cost of living
11 km or 6.6 mi	Catonsville	$2443
21 km or 13 mi	Owings Mills	$2586
23 km or 14 mi	Columbia	$2830
30 km or 19 mi	Laurel	$2344
31 km or 19 mi	Edgewood	$2985
32 km or 20 mi	Eldersburg	$2521
35 km or 22 mi	Bel Air South	$2755
36 km or 22 mi	Annapolis	$2951
37 km or 23 mi	Bel Air North	$2667
37 km or 23 mi	Bowie	$2544
40 km or 25 mi	Greenbelt	$2650
42 km or 26 mi	College Park	$2777
47 km or 29 mi	Silver Spring	$2252
52 km or 32 mi	Rockville	$2499
54 km or 34 mi	Bethesda	$2763
55 km or 34 mi	Gaithersburg	$2526
57 km or 35 mi	Washington	$3306
57 km or 36 mi	Georgetown	$3030
58 km or 36 mi	Germantown	$2664
65 km or 41 mi	Alexandria	$2877
66 km or 41 mi	Bailey's Crossroads	$2581
66 km or 41 mi	Hanover	$2257
71 km or 44 mi	Frederick	$2333
73 km or 45 mi	Reston	$2721
74 km or 46 mi	Springfield	$2379
75 km or 47 mi	Waldorf	$2522
75 km or 47 mi	Herndon	$2800
76 km or 47 mi	York	$2003
77 km or 48 mi	Fairfax	$2818
80 km or 50 mi	Ashburn	$2736
84 km or 52 mi	Leesburg	$2304
86 km or 54 mi	Newark	$2207
87 km or 54 mi	Centreville	$3292
88 km or 55 mi	Lancaster	$2105
91 km or 56 mi	Woodbridge	$2681
91 km or 57 mi	Marumsco	$2588
95 km or 59 mi	Dover	$2198
95 km or 59 mi	Manassas	$2453
98 km or 61 mi	Waynesboro	$2000
103 km or 64 mi	Hagerstown	$2024

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