Buenos Aires vs San Jose, Costa Rica - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated:

Livingcost

Buenos Aires San Jose
🚶 Cost of living one person
$791
$1169
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family
$1973
$3119
🏠 One person rent
$365
$496
🏘️ Family rent
$638
$1078
🍽️ Food expenses
$261
$471
🚐 Transport expenses
$69.1
$71.8
💳 Monthly salary after tax
$374
$877
😷 Air quality
Moderate
Excellent
✈️ Airport proximity
5 km
7 km
🎓 Higher education
79
60
😀 Quality of life
71
67
🏙️ Population
3.12M
342K

The cost of living in Buenos Aires is 32% less expensive than in San Jose, Costa Rica. Cities ranked 6407th and 4518th ($791 vs $1169) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 1st and 3rd in Argentina and Costa Rica, respectively. Check Argentina vs Costa Rica comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 0.5 months in Buenos Aires compared to 0.8 months in San Jose, Costa Rica. Buenos Aires ranked 1st best city to live in Argentina vs San Jose, Costa Rica ranked 1st in Costa Rica, while ranked 2311th and 4043rd among best cities to live in the world.

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Cost of living in Buenos Aires vs San Jose, Costa Rica infographic

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Prices in Buenos Aires vs San Jose, Costa Rica

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

Buenos Aires San Jose
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu
$7.12
$10.8
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2
$25.7
$51.7
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's
$5.85
$9.47
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz
$1.9
$3.31
☕ Cappuccino
$2.01
$4.21
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz
$1.2
$1.78
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2
$440
$597
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2
$292
$368
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2
$884
$1266
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2
$506
$901
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.
$23.5
$42.3
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.
$36.2
$64.2
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited
$20.1
$40
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years
23.96%
8.83%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2
$2326
$1778
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2
$1774
$1310
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket
$0.15
$0.88
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport
$13.7
$40.7
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi
$7.13
$13.9
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal
$0.9
$1.45
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt
$0.93
$1.96
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb
$1.27
$2.32
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb
$1
$2.15
🥚 Eggs, x12
$2
$3.59
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb
$7.97
$9.52
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb
$4.61
$9.16
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb
$5.59
$13.2
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb
$1.72
$4.79
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb
$1.34
$1.38
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb
$0.85
$2.62
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb
$1.36
$2.58
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb
$0.93
$2.45
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb
$0.77
$2.21
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt
$0.54
$1.45
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz
$2.4
$3.02
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle
$4.36
$15.1
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz
$1.1
$2.25
🚬 Cigarette pack
$2.08
$4.81
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week
$8.18
$6.97
🧴 Hair Shampoo
$4.24
$8.01
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls
$3.82
$3.06
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube
$2.88
$3.18
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month
$25.5
$57.8
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person
$4
$7.43
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit
$39.1
$62.4
💇 Haircut, simple
$5.64
$13.6
👖 Brand Jeans
$75
$84.2
👟 Brand Sneakers
$115
$113
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month
$202
$369
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year
$6679
$9894

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Cities near Buenos Aires

Distance City Cost of living
11 km or 6.9 mi Villa Dominico
$645
11 km or 7 mi Lanus
$657
13 km or 7.9 mi Wilde
$650
13 km or 8.1 mi Remedios de Escalada
$608
14 km or 8.7 mi Caseros
$658
14 km or 8.8 mi Florida Este
$658
14 km or 8.9 mi Ciudad Madero
$643
14 km or 8.9 mi Bernal
$661
15 km or 9.4 mi Monte Chingolo
$589
15 km or 9.6 mi Lomas del Mirador
$648
17 km or 10 mi La Tablada
$639
17 km or 10 mi Quilmes
$705
18 km or 11 mi Ramos Mejia
$650
18 km or 11 mi San Justo
$642
19 km or 12 mi El Palomar
$654
19 km or 12 mi Temperley
$536
19 km or 12 mi Lomas de Zamora
$547
19 km or 12 mi San Isidro
$683
19 km or 12 mi Ciudad Evita
$624
19 km or 12 mi San Francisco Solano
$598
20 km or 12 mi Villa Luzuriaga
$644
20 km or 13 mi Rafael Calzada
$540
22 km or 13 mi Isidro Casanova
$639
22 km or 13 mi Ezpeleta
$678
22 km or 14 mi Moron
$665
24 km or 15 mi San Fernando de la Buena Vista
$666
24 km or 15 mi Florencio Varela
$559
24 km or 15 mi Burzaco
$558
24 km or 15 mi Berazategui
$679
25 km or 15 mi Gregorio de Laferrere
$626
25 km or 16 mi Rafael Castillo
$629
25 km or 16 mi Monte Grande
$579
29 km or 18 mi Ezeiza
$597
29 km or 18 mi Longchamps
$577
29 km or 18 mi Libertad
$626
31 km or 19 mi Gonzalez Catan
$623
32 km or 20 mi Glew
$581
32 km or 20 mi Merlo
$623
36 km or 23 mi Jose C. Paz
$581
37 km or 23 mi Virrey del Pino
$605

Cities near San Jose, Costa Rica

Distance City Cost of living
7.9 km or 4.9 mi Heredia
$1040
17 km or 11 mi Alajuela
$1163
20 km or 12 mi Cartago
$1009
82 km or 51 mi Puntarenas
$1024
115 km or 72 mi Limon
$1147
124 km or 77 mi Santa Teresa
$1114
167 km or 104 mi Liberia
$1220
197 km or 122 mi Tamarindo
$1473
244 km or 151 mi San Juan del Sur
$805
246 km or 153 mi David
$789
279 km or 173 mi Juigalpa
$647
302 km or 188 mi Granada
$680
316 km or 196 mi Masaya
$699
343 km or 213 mi Managua
$787
387 km or 241 mi Matagalpa
$548
398 km or 247 mi Santiago de Veraguas
$961
408 km or 253 mi Jinotega
$458
413 km or 257 mi Leon
$614
429 km or 266 mi Esteli
$593
438 km or 272 mi Penonome
$940
447 km or 278 mi Chinandega
$627
457 km or 284 mi Chitre
$980
463 km or 288 mi Colon
$1157
486 km or 302 mi La Chorrera
$917
508 km or 316 mi Balboa
$1189
513 km or 319 mi Panama City
$1316
524 km or 326 mi Tocumen
$1171
535 km or 333 mi Pacora
$1182
574 km or 357 mi Tegucigalpa
$863
596 km or 370 mi San Miguel
$1107
609 km or 378 mi Usulutan
$1031
635 km or 395 mi Comayagua
$702
666 km or 414 mi Yoro
$738
696 km or 432 mi San Salvador
$1147
697 km or 433 mi Soyapango
$1117
701 km or 435 mi Mejicanos
$1112
702 km or 436 mi Apopa
$1093
703 km or 437 mi Santa Tecla
$1153
713 km or 443 mi La Ceiba
$676
729 km or 453 mi El Progreso
$892