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

Updated: March 02, 2025

	Beijing	San Jose
🚶 Cost of living one person	$1016	$1324
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$2879	$3344
🏠 One person rent	$575	$606
🏘️ Family rent	$1275	$1094
🍽️ Food expenses	$245	$499
🚐 Transport expenses	$102	$78
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$1443	$990
😷 Air quality	Moderate	Excellent
✈️ Airport proximity	13 km	7 km
🎓 Higher education	100	60
😀 Quality of life	75	66
🏙️ Population	21.9M	342K

The cost of living in Beijing is 23% less expensive than in San Jose, Costa Rica. Cities ranked 5387th and 4143rd ($1016 vs $1324) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 7th and 2nd in China and Costa Rica, respectively. Check China vs Costa Rica comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 1.4 months in Beijing compared to 0.7 months in San Jose, Costa Rica. Beijing ranked 5th best city to live in China vs San Jose, Costa Rica ranked 1st in Costa Rica, while ranked 989th and 4085th among best cities to live in the world.

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

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

Prices in Beijing vs San Jose, Costa Rica

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

	Beijing	San Jose
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$3.86	$11.2
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$29.5	$51.4
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$5.36	$9.6
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.22	$2.9
☕ Cappuccino	$3.58	$4.5
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$0.46	$1.97
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$819	$738
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$456	$444
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1965	$1315
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1021	$874
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$33.6	$53.7
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$51.7	$82.5
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$13	$49.2
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	3.78%	10.31%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$14717	$2883
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$6695	$1718
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$0.69	$0.98
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$32.3	$41.6
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$4.77	$16.2
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.12	$1.42
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.76	$2.07
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$1.46	$2.32
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.21	$1.94
🥚 Eggs, x12	$1.84	$3.34
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$13.7	$11.2
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.23	$8.97
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$9.64	$14.3
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.1	$3.92
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.53	$1.46
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.79	$3.91
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.23	$2.99
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.84	$2.99
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.96	$2.81
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.35	$1.85
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.33	$3.17
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$9.26	$18.6
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$0.83	$2.43
🚬 Cigarette pack	$3.43	$5.13
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$4.49	$8.09
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$3.51	$7.94
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$1.33	$3.22
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$1.93	$3.77
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$53.9	$65
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$8.3	$9.08
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$33.2	$72.3
💇 Haircut, simple	$9.62	$15.2
👖 Brand Jeans	$60.8	$68.8
👟 Brand Sneakers	$76.9	$125
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$698	$601
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$22456	$12527

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

$349

$907

$6.64K

Cost of Living in the nearest cities

Cities near Beijing

Distance	City	Cost of living
50 km or 31 mi	Langfang	$716
58 km or 36 mi	Zhuozhou	$729
58 km or 36 mi	Sanhe	$756
78 km or 49 mi	Gaobeidian	$644
87 km or 54 mi	Bazhou	$649
109 km or 68 mi	Tianjin	$687
135 km or 84 mi	Renqiu	$586
137 km or 85 mi	Zunhua	$680
139 km or 87 mi	Baoding	$472
151 km or 94 mi	Binhai	$665
155 km or 97 mi	Tangshan	$702
163 km or 101 mi	Zhangjiakou	$634
164 km or 102 mi	Hejian	$592
176 km or 110 mi	Chengde	$711
182 km or 113 mi	Cangzhou	$679
189 km or 117 mi	Huanghua	$655
189 km or 118 mi	Anguo	$550
196 km or 122 mi	Dingzhou	$584
197 km or 122 mi	Qian'an	$642
198 km or 123 mi	Luanzhou	$635
204 km or 127 mi	Botou	$618
224 km or 139 mi	Shenzhou	$581
228 km or 142 mi	Xinle	$533
229 km or 142 mi	Pingquan	$629
239 km or 148 mi	Jinzhou	$544
241 km or 150 mi	Xinji	$564
249 km or 155 mi	Gaocheng	$524
249 km or 155 mi	Hengshui	$642
252 km or 156 mi	Laoling	$638
263 km or 164 mi	Shijiazhuang	$481
265 km or 165 mi	Datong	$703
272 km or 169 mi	Jizhou	$590
273 km or 169 mi	Qinhuangdao	$664
273 km or 170 mi	Dezhou	$638
281 km or 175 mi	Fengzhen	$616
282 km or 175 mi	Huairen	$624
294 km or 183 mi	Lingyuan	$620
296 km or 184 mi	Nangong	$600
302 km or 187 mi	Ulanqab	$620
314 km or 195 mi	Binzhou	$815

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