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

Updated: March 11, 2026

	Basseterre	San Jose
🚶 Cost of living one person	$1330	$1454
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$2639	$3624
🏠 One person rent	$647	$697
🏘️ Family rent	$594	$1213
🍽️ Food expenses	$498	$527
🚐 Transport expenses	$79.1	$78.6
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$1108	$935
😷 Air quality	Excellent	Excellent
✈️ Airport proximity	2 km	7 km
🎓 Higher education	12	60
😀 Quality of life	45	72
🏙️ Population	12.9K	335K

The cost of living in Basseterre is 9% less expensive than in San Jose, Costa Rica. Cities ranked 4513th and 4213th ($1330 vs $1454) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 2nd and 2nd in Saint Kitts and Nevis and Costa Rica, respectively. Check Saint Kitts and Nevis vs Costa Rica comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 0.8 months in Basseterre compared to 0.6 months in San Jose, Costa Rica. Basseterre ranked 1st best city to live in Saint Kitts and Nevis vs San Jose, Costa Rica ranked 1st in Costa Rica, while ranked 7187th 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/basseterre/san-jose-cr.jpg" alt="Cost of living in Basseterre vs San Jose, Costa Rica infographic" style="max-width: 100%; height: auto;"><p>Source: <a href="https://livingcost.org/cost/basseterre/san-jose-cr" target="_blank">Basseterre vs San Jose, Costa Rica - Cost of Living Comparison</a></p>

Prices in Basseterre vs San Jose, Costa Rica

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

	Basseterre	San Jose
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$15	$11.2
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$42.2	$51
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$12.5	$10.4
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.05	$2.9
☕ Cappuccino	$4.32	$4.68
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$2.05	$2.14
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$620	$821
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$513	$531
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$743	$1484
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$378	$973
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$56.7	$54.9
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$87.1	$83.8
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$55.8	$53.3
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	4.02%	9.69%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$4994	$2465
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$4033	$1757
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$2.22	$1
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$41.9	$48.8
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$37.1	$15.1
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$0.89	$1.41
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$2.94	$2.26
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$3.22	$2.62
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.22	$2.38
🥚 Eggs, x12	$5.71	$3.03
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$13.9	$11.5
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$8.79	$8.94
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$15.6	$13.4
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.78	$4.34
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.06	$1.57
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.19	$4.35
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.7	$3.48
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.73	$3.75
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.84	$3.18
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.44	$1.93
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$2.58	$3.28
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$8.98	$20.3
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.83	$2.64
🚬 Cigarette pack	$14.1	$5.46
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$4.63	$8.15
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$4.85	$9.92
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$3.65	$3.47
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$2.96	$4.31
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$38.8	$59.8
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$6.35	$7.93
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$36.8	$96.4
💇 Haircut, simple	$7.15	$15.9
👖 Brand Jeans	$73.8	$67.6
👟 Brand Sneakers	$126	$129
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$394	$704
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$9714	$14663

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

Cost of Living in the nearest cities

Cities near Basseterre

Distance	City	Cost of living
5.7 km or 3.6 mi	Cayon	$1332
87 km or 54 mi	Philipsburg	$2884
97 km or 60 mi	St. John's	$1145
105 km or 65 mi	All Saints	$1166
167 km or 104 mi	Baie-Mahault	$1736
173 km or 108 mi	Petit-Bourg	$1730
174 km or 108 mi	Les Abymes	$1717
180 km or 112 mi	Basse-Terre	$1739
183 km or 114 mi	Le Moule	$1733
187 km or 116 mi	Sainte-Anne	$1732
218 km or 136 mi	Saint Croix	$2600
235 km or 146 mi	Portsmouth	$1173
236 km or 147 mi	Road Town	$2293
262 km or 163 mi	Charlotte Amalie	$2022
265 km or 165 mi	Roseau	$1012
329 km or 205 mi	Fajardo	$1583
334 km or 208 mi	Naguabo	$1683
341 km or 212 mi	Humacao	$1299
344 km or 213 mi	Yabucoa	$1710
346 km or 215 mi	Las Piedras	$1667
348 km or 216 mi	Fort-de-France	$1812
349 km or 217 mi	Rio Grande	$1716
356 km or 221 mi	Canovanas	$1753
359 km or 223 mi	Gurabo	$1189
363 km or 226 mi	Carolina	$1485
364 km or 226 mi	Caguas	$1375
367 km or 228 mi	Trujillo Alto	$1506
368 km or 229 mi	Guayama	$1572
375 km or 233 mi	Cayey	$1826
375 km or 233 mi	San Juan	$2027
376 km or 233 mi	Guaynabo	$1651
376 km or 234 mi	Cidra	$1785
380 km or 236 mi	Catano	$1931
381 km or 237 mi	Bayamon	$1789
388 km or 241 mi	Naranjito	$1585
391 km or 243 mi	Toa Alta	$1764
394 km or 245 mi	Coamo	$1583
396 km or 246 mi	Dorado	$1887
396 km or 246 mi	Santa Isabel	$1271
397 km or 246 mi	Corozal	$1764

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