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

Updated: March 02, 2025

	Chengdu	San Jose
🚶 Cost of living one person	$623	$1324
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$1664	$3344
🏠 One person rent	$240	$606
🏘️ Family rent	$430	$1094
🍽️ Food expenses	$229	$499
🚐 Transport expenses	$83.8	$78
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$863	$990
😷 Air quality	Bad	Excellent
✈️ Airport proximity	12 km	7 km
🎓 Higher education	94	60
😀 Quality of life	72	66
🏙️ Population	20.9M	342K

The cost of living in Chengdu is 53% less expensive than in San Jose, Costa Rica. Cities ranked 7421st and 4143rd ($623 vs $1324) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 164th 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 Chengdu compared to 0.7 months in San Jose, Costa Rica. Chengdu ranked 9th best city to live in China vs San Jose, Costa Rica ranked 1st in Costa Rica, while ranked 1890th and 4085th among best cities to live in the world.

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

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

Prices in Chengdu vs San Jose, Costa Rica

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

	Chengdu	San Jose
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$2.78	$11.2
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$21.9	$51.4
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$4.74	$9.6
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.32	$2.9
☕ Cappuccino	$3.32	$4.5
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$0.45	$1.97
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$304	$738
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$170	$444
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$595	$1315
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$313	$874
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$31.5	$53.7
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$47.7	$82.5
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$12.1	$49.2
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	4.34%	10.31%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$3812	$2883
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$2020	$1718
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$0.41	$0.98
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$26.2	$41.6
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$3.51	$16.2
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.14	$1.42
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.95	$2.07
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$1.4	$2.32
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.04	$1.94
🥚 Eggs, x12	$1.83	$3.34
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$14.4	$11.2
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.72	$8.97
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$11.6	$14.3
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.78	$3.92
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.15	$1.46
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.41	$3.91
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.03	$2.99
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.66	$2.99
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.72	$2.81
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.4	$1.85
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.21	$3.17
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$9.97	$18.6
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$0.89	$2.43
🚬 Cigarette pack	$3.18	$5.13
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$4.03	$8.09
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$4.9	$7.94
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$1.39	$3.22
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$1.57	$3.77
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$27.4	$65
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$6.02	$9.08
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$22.1	$72.3
💇 Haircut, simple	$6.41	$15.2
👖 Brand Jeans	$45.7	$68.8
👟 Brand Sneakers	$72.9	$125
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$305	$601
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$11550	$12527

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

Cost of Living in the nearest cities

Cities near Chengdu

Distance	City	Cost of living
38 km or 24 mi	Chongzhou	$581
38 km or 24 mi	Pengzhou	$572
41 km or 25 mi	Guanghan	$554
53 km or 33 mi	Shifang	$540
55 km or 34 mi	Jianyang	$580
56 km or 35 mi	Dujiangyan	$570
60 km or 38 mi	Deyang	$549
65 km or 40 mi	Qionglai	$572
71 km or 44 mi	Meishan	$590
77 km or 48 mi	Mianzhu	$529
81 km or 50 mi	Ziyang	$592
110 km or 68 mi	Mianyang	$527
124 km or 77 mi	Leshan	$554
127 km or 79 mi	Ya'an	$573
127 km or 79 mi	Shehong	$546
131 km or 81 mi	Emeishan	$540
139 km or 87 mi	Jiangyou	$532
145 km or 90 mi	Suining	$579
153 km or 95 mi	Neijiang	$652
161 km or 100 mi	Zigong	$584
188 km or 117 mi	Longchang	$593
193 km or 120 mi	Nanchong	$526
208 km or 129 mi	Langzhong	$530
219 km or 136 mi	Yibin	$590
237 km or 148 mi	Luzhou	$613
247 km or 153 mi	Guang'an	$584
259 km or 161 mi	Guangyuan	$599
261 km or 162 mi	Huaying	$553
265 km or 165 mi	Chongqing	$634
288 km or 179 mi	Bazhong	$610
333 km or 207 mi	Dazhou	$591
341 km or 212 mi	Longnan	$608
353 km or 220 mi	Xichang	$580
372 km or 231 mi	Zhaotong	$601
388 km or 241 mi	Hanzhong	$696
390 km or 243 mi	Renhuai	$540
392 km or 244 mi	Bijie	$584
408 km or 253 mi	Wanyuan	$585
431 km or 268 mi	Zunyi	$554
459 km or 285 mi	Liupanshui	$574

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