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

Updated: June 21, 2026

	Columbus	San Jose
🚶 Cost of living one person	$2140	$1574
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$5154	$3920
🏠 One person rent	$1207	$747
🏘️ Family rent	$2066	$1276
🍽️ Food expenses	$667	$579
🚐 Transport expenses	$126	$85.8
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$3790	$1063
😷 Air quality	Excellent	Excellent
✈️ Airport proximity	10 km	7 km
🎓 Higher education	73	60
😀 Quality of life	88	73
🏙️ Population	906K	335K

The cost of living in Columbus is 36% more expensive than in San Jose, Costa Rica. Cities ranked 1634th and 3714th ($2140 vs $1574) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 1324th and 2nd in the United States and Costa Rica, respectively. Check the United States vs Costa Rica comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 1.8 months in Columbus compared to 0.7 months in San Jose, Costa Rica. Columbus ranked 73rd best city to live in the United States vs San Jose, Costa Rica ranked 1st in Costa Rica, while ranked 266th and 2425th among best cities to live in the world.

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

Prices in Columbus vs San Jose, Costa Rica

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

	Columbus	San Jose
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$20.9	$12.8
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$68.2	$49.5
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$12.1	$11.8
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$6.36	$3.36
☕ Cappuccino	$5.1	$5.2
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$2.65	$2.34
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1354	$821
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$919	$585
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$2171	$1456
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1698	$1048
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$141	$58.3
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$213	$89.7
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$60.4	$56.7
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	6.08%	9.32%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$3423	$2299
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1817	$1800
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$1.99	$1.09
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$60.7	$56.4
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$15.5	$16
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$0.92	$1.45
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.89	$2.43
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$3.07	$3.01
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.49	$2.56
🥚 Eggs, x12	$4.28	$3.5
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$14.1	$11.8
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$14	$9.83
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$16	$13.9
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$5.58	$5.01
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.65	$1.73
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$6.1	$4.77
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.77	$3.76
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.59	$4.11
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.43	$3.66
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.55	$2.1
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$4.03	$3.6
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$18.5	$23.3
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.77	$2.92
🚬 Cigarette pack	$9.99	$5.9
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$9.23	$9.27
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$3.74	$9.95
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$4.09	$3.95
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$2.21	$4.6
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$38.4	$68.5
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$12.2	$8.55
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$86.1	$104
💇 Haircut, simple	$20.2	$16
👖 Brand Jeans	$56.5	$70.9
👟 Brand Sneakers	$90.8	$140
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$1464	$814
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$20945	$16872

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

Cost of Living in the nearest cities

Cities near Columbus

Distance	City	Cost of living
8.6 km or 5.3 mi	Upper Arlington	$2116
11 km or 7.1 mi	Grove	$2075
13 km or 8.3 mi	Gahanna	$2088
15 km or 9 mi	Hilliard	$2120
17 km or 11 mi	Reynoldsburg	$2064
18 km or 11 mi	Dublin	$2117
19 km or 12 mi	Westerville	$1897
22 km or 13 mi	Pickerington	$2021
38 km or 24 mi	Delaware	$2018
43 km or 27 mi	Lancaster	$1928
43 km or 27 mi	Marysville	$2008
51 km or 32 mi	Newark	$1919
69 km or 43 mi	Springfield	$1836
70 km or 43 mi	Chillicothe	$1849
70 km or 44 mi	Marion	$1941
84 km or 52 mi	Zanesville	$1626
86 km or 53 mi	Xenia	$1824
89 km or 55 mi	Fairborn	$1663
94 km or 59 mi	Beavercreek	$1811
97 km or 60 mi	Huber Heights	$1833
97 km or 60 mi	Mansfield	$1567
98 km or 61 mi	Riverside	$1880
103 km or 64 mi	Kettering	$1908
103 km or 64 mi	Troy	$1855
104 km or 65 mi	Athens	$1579
104 km or 65 mi	Centerville	$1906
105 km or 65 mi	Dayton	$1898
105 km or 65 mi	Sidney	$1745
108 km or 67 mi	Piqua	$1836
112 km or 69 mi	Trotwood	$1933
116 km or 72 mi	Ashland	$1707
120 km or 74 mi	Lebanon	$1843
128 km or 80 mi	Middletown	$1617
128 km or 80 mi	Lima	$2066
130 km or 81 mi	Wooster	$1599
131 km or 81 mi	Mason	$1900
132 km or 82 mi	Findlay	$1881
136 km or 84 mi	Portsmouth	$1495
144 km or 90 mi	New Philadelphia	$1818
146 km or 91 mi	Norwalk	$1936

Cities near San Jose, Costa Rica

Distance	City	Cost of living
7.9 km or 4.9 mi	Heredia	$1471
17 km or 11 mi	Alajuela	$1362
20 km or 12 mi	Cartago	$1361
82 km or 51 mi	Puntarenas	$872
115 km or 72 mi	Limon	$1228
124 km or 77 mi	Santa Teresa	$1325
167 km or 104 mi	Liberia	$1024
197 km or 122 mi	Tamarindo	$1929
244 km or 151 mi	San Juan del Sur	$844
246 km or 153 mi	David	$909
279 km or 173 mi	Juigalpa	$796
302 km or 188 mi	Granada	$706
316 km or 196 mi	Masaya	$817
343 km or 213 mi	Managua	$788
387 km or 241 mi	Matagalpa	$665
398 km or 247 mi	Santiago de Veraguas	$1112
408 km or 253 mi	Jinotega	$503
413 km or 257 mi	Leon	$759
429 km or 266 mi	Esteli	$716
438 km or 272 mi	Penonome	$1147
447 km or 278 mi	Chinandega	$791
457 km or 284 mi	Chitre	$1144
463 km or 288 mi	Colon	$1185
486 km or 302 mi	La Chorrera	$982
508 km or 316 mi	Balboa	$1396
513 km or 319 mi	Panama City	$1590
524 km or 326 mi	Tocumen	$1373
535 km or 333 mi	Pacora	$1361
574 km or 357 mi	Tegucigalpa	$909
596 km or 370 mi	San Miguel	$1132
609 km or 378 mi	Usulutan	$1123
635 km or 395 mi	Comayagua	$678
666 km or 414 mi	Yoro	$756
696 km or 432 mi	San Salvador	$1291
697 km or 433 mi	Soyapango	$1261
701 km or 435 mi	Mejicanos	$1254
702 km or 436 mi	Apopa	$1231
703 km or 437 mi	Santa Tecla	$1183
713 km or 443 mi	La Ceiba	$619
729 km or 453 mi	El Progreso	$832