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

Updated: March 02, 2025

	Istanbul	San Jose
🚶 Cost of living one person	$1248	$1324
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$3224	$3344
🏠 One person rent	$649	$606
🏘️ Family rent	$1199	$1094
🍽️ Food expenses	$354	$499
🚐 Transport expenses	$125	$78
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$883	$990
😷 Air quality	Moderate	Excellent
✈️ Airport proximity	12 km	7 km
🎓 Higher education	95	60
😀 Quality of life	76	66
🏙️ Population	15.7M	342K

The cost of living in Istanbul is 6% less expensive than in San Jose, Costa Rica. Cities ranked 4347th and 4143rd ($1248 vs $1324) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 1st and 2nd in Turkey and Costa Rica, respectively. Check Turkey vs Costa Rica comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 0.7 months in Istanbul compared to 0.7 months in San Jose, Costa Rica. Istanbul ranked 1st best city to live in Turkey vs San Jose, Costa Rica ranked 1st in Costa Rica, while ranked 850th and 4085th among best cities to live in the world.

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

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

Prices in Istanbul vs San Jose, Costa Rica

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

	Istanbul	San Jose
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$11	$11.2
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$49.1	$51.4
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$8.29	$9.6
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$4.14	$2.9
☕ Cappuccino	$3.37	$4.5
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$1.38	$1.97
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$853	$738
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$529	$444
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1671	$1315
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$985	$874
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$41.3	$53.7
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$63.7	$82.5
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$13.4	$49.2
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	47.81%	10.31%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$3233	$2883
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1719	$1718
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$0.74	$0.98
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$42.7	$41.6
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$5.79	$16.2
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.23	$1.42
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.11	$2.07
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$0.79	$2.32
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.11	$1.94
🥚 Eggs, x12	$2.36	$3.34
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$9.72	$11.2
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$6.14	$8.97
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$19.1	$14.3
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.37	$3.92
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.13	$1.46
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.2	$3.91
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.56	$2.99
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.61	$2.99
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.61	$2.81
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.38	$1.85
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.49	$3.17
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$11.1	$18.6
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.18	$2.43
🚬 Cigarette pack	$2.19	$5.13
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$5.59	$8.09
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$3.23	$7.94
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$2.91	$3.22
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$2.38	$3.77
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$54.7	$65
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$6.81	$9.08
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$78.3	$72.3
💇 Haircut, simple	$8.76	$15.2
👖 Brand Jeans	$58.1	$68.8
👟 Brand Sneakers	$103	$125
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$815	$601
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$17728	$12527

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

$349

$907

$6.64K

Cost of Living in the nearest cities

Cities near Istanbul

Distance	City	Cost of living
40 km or 25 mi	Cayirova	$599
46 km or 28 mi	Gebze	$573
73 km or 45 mi	Korfez	$782
79 km or 49 mi	Kocaeli	$718
83 km or 51 mi	Golcuk	$835
87 km or 54 mi	Izmit	$1113
91 km or 56 mi	Kapakli	$701
92 km or 57 mi	Bursa	$743
96 km or 59 mi	Kartepe	$872
98 km or 61 mi	Corlu	$690
111 km or 69 mi	Bandirma	$679
113 km or 70 mi	Inegol	$708
121 km or 75 mi	Tekirdag	$661
124 km or 77 mi	Adapazari	$455
124 km or 77 mi	Sakarya	$547
129 km or 80 mi	Bilecik	$755
141 km or 88 mi	Luleburgaz	$661
166 km or 103 mi	Kirklareli	$642
176 km or 110 mi	Balikesir	$707
186 km or 115 mi	Duzce	$535
190 km or 118 mi	Eskisehir	$691
192 km or 120 mi	Uzunkopru	$652
197 km or 122 mi	Kutahya	$568
207 km or 129 mi	Burgas	$721
208 km or 129 mi	Karadeniz Eregli	$626
214 km or 133 mi	Edirne	$624
224 km or 139 mi	Bolu	$616
234 km or 145 mi	Soma	$679
236 km or 147 mi	Canakkale	$690
259 km or 161 mi	Varna	$892
260 km or 162 mi	Alexandroupoli	$911
261 km or 162 mi	Yambol	$546
261 km or 162 mi	Usak	$629
284 km or 177 mi	Afyonkarahisar	$464
287 km or 178 mi	Sliven	$631
290 km or 180 mi	Salihli	$677
290 km or 180 mi	Bartin	$710
295 km or 184 mi	Manisa	$638
296 km or 184 mi	Mytilene	$934
299 km or 186 mi	Komotini	$899

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