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

Updated: March 02, 2025

	Belem	San Jose
🚶 Cost of living one person	$755	$1324
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$1572	$3344
🏠 One person rent	$405	$606
🏘️ Family rent	$562	$1094
🍽️ Food expenses	$216	$499
🚐 Transport expenses	$67	$78
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$421	$990
😷 Air quality	Excellent	Excellent
✈️ Airport proximity	9 km	7 km
🎓 Higher education	40	60
😀 Quality of life	41	66
🏙️ Population	1.3M	342K

The cost of living in Belem is 43% less expensive than in San Jose, Costa Rica. Cities ranked 6655th and 4143rd ($755 vs $1324) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 11th and 2nd in Brazil and Costa Rica, respectively. Check Brazil vs Costa Rica comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 0.6 months in Belem compared to 0.7 months in San Jose, Costa Rica. Belem ranked 67th best city to live in Brazil vs San Jose, Costa Rica ranked 1st in Costa Rica, while ranked 6876th and 4085th among best cities to live in the world.

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

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Prices in Belem vs San Jose, Costa Rica

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

	Belem	San Jose
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$3.66	$11.2
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$14	$51.4
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$5.92	$9.6
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.86	$2.9
☕ Cappuccino	$2.4	$4.5
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$0.87	$1.97
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$462	$738
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$303	$444
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$575	$1315
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$435	$874
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$52.8	$53.7
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$81.6	$82.5
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$17	$49.2
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	12.21%	10.31%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1728	$2883
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1162	$1718
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$0.69	$0.98
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$30	$41.6
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$5.37	$16.2
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.02	$1.42
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.05	$2.07
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$0.75	$2.32
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.75	$1.94
🥚 Eggs, x12	$2.04	$3.34
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$9.64	$11.2
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.45	$8.97
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$5.68	$14.3
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.3	$3.92
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.72	$1.46
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.22	$3.91
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.35	$2.99
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.22	$2.99
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.52	$2.81
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.96	$1.85
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.64	$3.17
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$8.95	$18.6
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.15	$2.43
🚬 Cigarette pack	$1.56	$5.13
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$2.63	$8.09
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$2.68	$7.94
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$1	$3.22
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$0.88	$3.77
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$18.5	$65
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$4.95	$9.08
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$34	$72.3
💇 Haircut, simple	$5.63	$15.2
👖 Brand Jeans	$50.4	$68.8
👟 Brand Sneakers	$51.6	$125
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$96.1	$601
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$3002	$12527

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

$349

$907

$6.64K

Cost of Living in the nearest cities

Cities near Belem

Distance	City	Cost of living
18 km or 11 mi	Ananindeua	$638
51 km or 32 mi	Abaetetuba	$518
67 km or 42 mi	Castanhal	$621
141 km or 88 mi	Cameta	$583
150 km or 93 mi	Capanema	$615
197 km or 123 mi	Braganca	$615
214 km or 133 mi	Paragominas	$614
221 km or 137 mi	Breves	$590
264 km or 164 mi	Viseu	$624
288 km or 179 mi	Tucurui	$603
329 km or 205 mi	Macapa	$610
336 km or 209 mi	Santana	$565
398 km or 247 mi	Pinheiro	$642
425 km or 264 mi	Santa Ines	$621
440 km or 274 mi	Maraba	$629
455 km or 283 mi	Altamira	$611
467 km or 290 mi	Imperatriz	$621
482 km or 299 mi	Sao Luis	$710
508 km or 316 mi	Itapecuru Mirim	$639
510 km or 317 mi	Sao Jose de Ribamar	$665
516 km or 320 mi	Bacabal	$603
552 km or 343 mi	Grajau	$602
570 km or 354 mi	Coroata	$600
578 km or 359 mi	Barra do Corda	$593
612 km or 380 mi	Codo	$572
625 km or 389 mi	Chapadinha	$591
639 km or 397 mi	Araguaina	$590
685 km or 426 mi	Caxias	$546
698 km or 434 mi	Santarem	$639
729 km or 453 mi	Balsas	$569
748 km or 465 mi	Timon	$537
751 km or 467 mi	Teresina	$557
765 km or 475 mi	Parnaiba	$589
810 km or 503 mi	Piripiri	$570
819 km or 509 mi	Oriximina	$697
829 km or 515 mi	Cayenne	$1643
847 km or 527 mi	Floriano	$543
867 km or 538 mi	Camocim	$564
867 km or 539 mi	Kourou	$1645
888 km or 552 mi	Itaituba	$695

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