Cost of Living in San Jose, Costa Rica
Updated:
| Cost of living | One person | Family of 4 |
|---|---|---|
| 💰 Total with rent | ||
| 🛋️ Without rent | ||
| 🏨 Rent & Utilities | ||
| 🍽️ Food | ||
| 🚐 Transport | ||
| 💳 Monthly salary after tax | ||
| 😀 Quality of life | ||
| 🏙️ Population | ||
The average cost of living in San Jose is $1239, which is close to the world's average cost of living, ranked 4497th out of 9294 in our global list and 5th out of 9 in Costa Rica.
The median after-tax salary is $923, which is enough to cover living expenses for 0.7 months. Ranked 4226th (TOP 45%) in the list of best places to live in the world and 1st best city to live in Costa Rica. With an estimated population of 342K, San Jose is the 1st largest city in Costa Rica.
| ✈️ Closest airport | 7 km | Tobias Bolanos International Airport |
|---|---|---|
| 😷 Air quality | Excellent | 6.1 µg/m³ |
| 🎓 Best university rank | 750 | University of Costa Rica |
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Prices in San Jose
Prices for goods and services in San Jose are partly crowdsourced by our visitors, just like yourself. Please consider telling us about your city.
| 🍱 Lunch Menu | |
|---|---|
| 🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2 | |
| 🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's | |
| 🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz | |
| ☕ Cappuccino | |
| 🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz |
| 🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in city Center, 40 m2 or 430 ft2 | |
|---|---|
| 🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2 | |
| 🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in city Center, 80 m2 or 860 ft2 | |
| 🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2 | |
| 🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc. | |
| 🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc. | |
| 🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited | |
| 🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years | |
| 🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2 | |
| 🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2 |
| 🚌 Local transport ticket | |
|---|---|
| 🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport | |
| 🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi | |
| ⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal |
| 🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt | |
|---|---|
| 🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb | |
| 🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb | |
| 🥚 Eggs, x12 | |
| 🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb | |
| 🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb | |
| 🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb | |
| 🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb | |
| 🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb | |
| 🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb | |
| 🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb | |
| 🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb | |
| 🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb | |
| 🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt | |
| 🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz | |
| 🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle | |
| 🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz | |
| 🚬 Cigarette pack | |
| 💊 Cold medicince, 1 week | |
| 🧴 Hair Shampoo | |
| 🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls | |
| 👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube |
| 🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month | |
|---|---|
| 🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person | |
| 👩⚕️ Doctor's visit | |
| 💇 Haircut, simple | |
| 👖 Brand Jeans | |
| 👟 Brand Sneakers | |
| 👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month | |
| 🏫 International Primary School, 1 year |
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