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

Updated: March 02, 2025

	Berlin	San Jose
🚶 Cost of living one person	$2027	$1324
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$4661	$3344
🏠 One person rent	$1127	$606
🏘️ Family rent	$2029	$1094
🍽️ Food expenses	$505	$499
🚐 Transport expenses	$258	$78
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$3225	$990
😷 Air quality	Good	Excellent
✈️ Airport proximity	19 km	7 km
🎓 Higher education	100	60
😀 Quality of life	95	66
🏙️ Population	3.78M	342K

The cost of living in Berlin is 53% more expensive than in San Jose, Costa Rica. Cities ranked 1762nd and 4143rd ($2027 vs $1324) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 2nd and 2nd in Germany and Costa Rica, respectively. Check Germany vs Costa Rica comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 1.6 months in Berlin compared to 0.7 months in San Jose, Costa Rica. Berlin ranked 3rd best city to live in Germany vs San Jose, Costa Rica ranked 1st in Costa Rica, while ranked 21st and 4085th among best cities to live in the world.

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

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

Prices in Berlin vs San Jose, Costa Rica

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

	Berlin	San Jose
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$14.6	$11.2
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$65.3	$51.4
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$12.5	$9.6
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$4.57	$2.9
☕ Cappuccino	$3.85	$4.5
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$2.94	$1.97
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1156	$738
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$832	$444
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$2233	$1315
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1562	$874
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$190	$53.7
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$293	$82.5
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$40.1	$49.2
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	3.88%	10.31%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$8133	$2883
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$5908	$1718
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$3.68	$0.98
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$57.5	$41.6
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$23.9	$16.2
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.81	$1.42
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.28	$2.07
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$1.93	$2.32
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.88	$1.94
🥚 Eggs, x12	$3.66	$3.34
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$13.2	$11.2
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$11	$8.97
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$16.7	$14.3
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.93	$3.92
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.94	$1.46
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.27	$3.91
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.75	$2.99
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.99	$2.99
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.81	$2.81
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.55	$1.85
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.9	$3.17
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$6.55	$18.6
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.2	$2.43
🚬 Cigarette pack	$9.01	$5.13
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$9.37	$8.09
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$3.2	$7.94
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$1.73	$3.22
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$2.11	$3.77
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$33.3	$65
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$13	$9.08
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$59.3	$72.3
💇 Haircut, simple	$19.3	$15.2
👖 Brand Jeans	$88.2	$68.8
👟 Brand Sneakers	$95.1	$125
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$186	$601
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$9774	$12527

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

$349

$907

$6.64K

Cost of Living in the nearest cities

Cities near Berlin

Distance	City	Cost of living
15 km or 9.2 mi	Teltow	$1707
18 km or 11 mi	Hohen Neuendorf	$1782
18 km or 11 mi	Hennigsdorf	$1770
20 km or 13 mi	Falkensee	$1714
21 km or 13 mi	Bernau bei Berlin	$1763
25 km or 16 mi	Potsdam	$1724
25 km or 16 mi	Ludwigsfelde	$1691
28 km or 18 mi	Oranienburg	$1796
30 km or 19 mi	Konigs Wusterhausen	$1695
34 km or 21 mi	Werder	$1665
34 km or 21 mi	Strausberg	$1711
46 km or 29 mi	Eberswalde	$1714
49 km or 31 mi	Furstenwalde	$1632
50 km or 31 mi	Luckenwalde	$1663
57 km or 36 mi	Brandenburg an der Havel	$1686
60 km or 37 mi	Neuruppin	$1723
72 km or 44 mi	Rathenow	$1690
81 km or 50 mi	Frankfurt	$1534
86 km or 53 mi	Schwedt	$1644
88 km or 55 mi	Wittenberg	$1354
97 km or 60 mi	Neustrelitz	$1442
97 km or 60 mi	Eisenhuttenstadt	$1437
104 km or 65 mi	Stendal	$1319
106 km or 66 mi	Cottbus	$1241
107 km or 67 mi	Burg bei Magdeburg	$1315
107 km or 67 mi	Zerbst	$1332
109 km or 68 mi	Dessau-Rolau	$1340
109 km or 68 mi	Torgau	$1350
116 km or 72 mi	Neubrandenburg	$1421
119 km or 74 mi	Senftenberg	$1351
121 km or 75 mi	Waren	$1395
124 km or 77 mi	Bitterfeld-Wolfen	$1308
124 km or 77 mi	Schonebeck	$1326
125 km or 78 mi	Spremberg	$1310
127 km or 79 mi	Magdeburg	$1282
128 km or 79 mi	Szczecin	$1108
128 km or 80 mi	Kothen	$1346
128 km or 80 mi	Gorzow Wielkopolski	$1022
131 km or 81 mi	Delitzsch	$1419
134 km or 83 mi	Hoyerswerda	$1373

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