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

Updated: June 21, 2026

	Barcelona	San Jose
🚶 Cost of living one person	$2129	$1574
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$4730	$3920
🏠 One person rent	$1308	$747
🏘️ Family rent	$2082	$1276
🍽️ Food expenses	$510	$579
🚐 Transport expenses	$158	$85.8
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$2324	$1063
😷 Air quality	Excellent	Excellent
✈️ Airport proximity	13 km	7 km
🎓 Higher education	98	60
😀 Quality of life	90	73
🏙️ Population	1.73M	335K

The cost of living in Barcelona is 35% more expensive than in San Jose, Costa Rica. Cities ranked 1659th and 3714th ($2129 vs $1574) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 3rd and 2nd in Spain and Costa Rica, respectively. Check Spain vs Costa Rica comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 1.1 months in Barcelona compared to 0.7 months in San Jose, Costa Rica. Barcelona ranked 2nd best city to live in Spain vs San Jose, Costa Rica ranked 1st in Costa Rica, while ranked 174th and 2425th among best cities to live in the world.

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

Prices in Barcelona vs San Jose, Costa Rica

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

	Barcelona	San Jose
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$17.3	$12.8
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$64.1	$49.5
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$13.9	$11.8
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$5.8	$3.36
☕ Cappuccino	$3.43	$5.2
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$2.8	$2.34
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1418	$821
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1098	$585
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$2417	$1456
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1738	$1048
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$112	$58.3
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$173	$89.7
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$35	$56.7
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	3.04%	9.32%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$7636	$2299
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$5246	$1800
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$3.07	$1.09
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$26.7	$56.4
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$20	$16
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.75	$1.45
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.29	$2.43
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$1.84	$3.01
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.63	$2.56
🥚 Eggs, x12	$4.86	$3.5
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$16.4	$11.8
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$9.71	$9.83
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$19	$13.9
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.03	$5.01
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.2	$1.73
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.32	$4.77
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.81	$3.76
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.14	$4.11
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.05	$3.66
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.58	$2.1
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$2.35	$3.6
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$8.04	$23.3
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.41	$2.92
🚬 Cigarette pack	$7.1	$5.9
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$6.48	$9.27
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$3.42	$9.95
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$1.99	$3.95
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$2.77	$4.6
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$56.3	$68.5
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$11.5	$8.55
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$72.6	$104
💇 Haircut, simple	$19	$16
👖 Brand Jeans	$91.4	$70.9
👟 Brand Sneakers	$119	$140
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$866	$814
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$16301	$16872

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

Cost of Living in the nearest cities

Cities near Barcelona

Distance	City	Cost of living
7 km or 4.4 mi	L'Hospitalet de Llobregat	$1773
7.4 km or 4.6 mi	Badalona	$2084
9.3 km or 5.8 mi	Cornella de Llobregat	$1626
12 km or 7.5 mi	Sant Boi de Llobregat	$1586
13 km or 8 mi	Ripollet	$1660
17 km or 11 mi	Rubi	$1538
19 km or 12 mi	Sabadell	$1623
24 km or 15 mi	Terrassa	$1367
27 km or 17 mi	Granollers	$1588
28 km or 18 mi	Mataro	$1584
42 km or 26 mi	Vilanova i la Geltru	$1455
48 km or 30 mi	Manresa	$1145
61 km or 38 mi	Vic	$1142
65 km or 40 mi	Lloret de Mar	$1344
83 km or 52 mi	Tarragona	$1524
85 km or 53 mi	Girona	$1749
117 km or 73 mi	Figueres	$1506
131 km or 81 mi	Lleida	$1245
136 km or 85 mi	Andorra la Vella	$1836
141 km or 88 mi	Ordino	$1830
158 km or 98 mi	Perpignan	$1328
176 km or 109 mi	Vinaros	$1494
206 km or 128 mi	Palma de Mallorca	$2017
208 km or 129 mi	Ciutadella de Menorca	$1628
212 km or 131 mi	Narbonne	$1202
230 km or 143 mi	Huesca	$1166
234 km or 145 mi	Beziers	$1474
242 km or 150 mi	Mahon	$1658
245 km or 152 mi	Castellon de la Plana	$1183
247 km or 154 mi	Castres	$1596
250 km or 156 mi	Villarreal	$1238
253 km or 157 mi	Borriana	$1271
254 km or 158 mi	Toulouse	$1709
257 km or 159 mi	Zaragoza	$1436
269 km or 167 mi	Tarbes	$1558
281 km or 174 mi	Sagunto	$1408
282 km or 175 mi	Ibiza	$2775
284 km or 177 mi	Montpellier	$1644
299 km or 186 mi	Pau	$1351
303 km or 189 mi	Valencia	$1812

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