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

Updated: March 02, 2025

	Busan	San Jose
🚶 Cost of living one person	$1060	$1324
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$2838	$3344
🏠 One person rent	$390	$606
🏘️ Family rent	$797	$1094
🍽️ Food expenses	$436	$499
🚐 Transport expenses	$135	$78
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$2181	$990
😷 Air quality	Moderate	Excellent
✈️ Airport proximity	13 km	7 km
🎓 Higher education	72	60
😀 Quality of life	89	66
🏙️ Population	3.45M	342K

The cost of living in Busan is 20% less expensive than in San Jose, Costa Rica. Cities ranked 5092nd and 4143rd ($1060 vs $1324) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 30th and 2nd in South Korea and Costa Rica, respectively. Check South Korea vs Costa Rica comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 2.1 months in Busan compared to 0.7 months in San Jose, Costa Rica. Busan ranked 4th best city to live in South Korea vs San Jose, Costa Rica ranked 1st in Costa Rica, while ranked 201st and 4085th among best cities to live in the world.

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

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Prices in Busan vs San Jose, Costa Rica

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

	Busan	San Jose
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$5.69	$11.2
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$28	$51.4
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$5.51	$9.6
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$3.28	$2.9
☕ Cappuccino	$3.79	$4.5
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$1.8	$1.97
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$392	$738
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$248	$444
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$825	$1315
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$584	$874
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$92.3	$53.7
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$143	$82.5
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$20.7	$49.2
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	4.26%	10.31%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$7716	$2883
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$7051	$1718
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$1.09	$0.98
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$40.2	$41.6
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$11.2	$16.2
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.12	$1.42
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$2.05	$2.07
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$2.95	$2.32
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.46	$1.94
🥚 Eggs, x12	$3.1	$3.34
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$12.6	$11.2
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$8.19	$8.97
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$26.4	$14.3
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$6.81	$3.92
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.06	$1.46
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$6.97	$3.91
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.64	$2.99
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.35	$2.99
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.2	$2.81
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.75	$1.85
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.98	$3.17
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$13	$18.6
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.7	$2.43
🚬 Cigarette pack	$3.11	$5.13
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$4.4	$8.09
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$3.79	$7.94
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$1.58	$3.22
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$1.3	$3.77
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$43.7	$65
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$9.64	$9.08
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$23	$72.3
💇 Haircut, simple	$8.84	$15.2
👖 Brand Jeans	$85.9	$68.8
👟 Brand Sneakers	$80.7	$125
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$470	$601
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$13395	$12527

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

Cost of Living in the nearest cities

Cities near Busan

Distance	City	Cost of living
21 km or 13 mi	Gimhae	$959
27 km or 16 mi	Yangsan	$1027
40 km or 25 mi	Changwon	$1075
46 km or 28 mi	Masan	$998
50 km or 31 mi	Geoje	$887
51 km or 32 mi	Miryang	$1030
56 km or 35 mi	Ulsan	$1059
63 km or 39 mi	Tongyeong	$924
64 km or 40 mi	Sacheon	$983
81 km or 50 mi	Tsushima Island	$901
84 km or 52 mi	Gyeongsan	$991
85 km or 53 mi	Gyeongju	$1388
87 km or 54 mi	Jinju	$1054
94 km or 58 mi	Daegu	$995
98 km or 61 mi	Yeongcheon	$1115
102 km or 64 mi	Tsushima	$903
108 km or 67 mi	Pohang	$988
123 km or 77 mi	Gwangyang	$1002
131 km or 82 mi	Yeosu	$989
138 km or 86 mi	Gumi	$992
141 km or 88 mi	Gimcheon	$977
142 km or 88 mi	Suncheon	$1059
154 km or 96 mi	Namwon	$987
162 km or 101 mi	Iki	$902
165 km or 103 mi	Andong	$880
166 km or 103 mi	Sangju	$1000
183 km or 113 mi	Mungyeong	$979
189 km or 118 mi	Jeonju	$854
193 km or 120 mi	Gwangju	$1101
195 km or 121 mi	Yeongju	$964
198 km or 123 mi	Hirado	$891
199 km or 124 mi	Munakata	$916
199 km or 124 mi	Fukutsu	$916
200 km or 124 mi	Okagaki	$913
201 km or 125 mi	Koga	$921
201 km or 125 mi	Shingu	$919
202 km or 125 mi	Itoshima	$910
202 km or 126 mi	Karatsu	$895
204 km or 127 mi	Daejeon	$992
205 km or 127 mi	Jeongeup	$970

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