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

Updated: March 02, 2025

	Johannesburg	San Jose
🚶 Cost of living one person	$993	$1324
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$2403	$3344
🏠 One person rent	$441	$606
🏘️ Family rent	$809	$1094
🍽️ Food expenses	$288	$499
🚐 Transport expenses	$181	$78
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$1383	$990
😷 Air quality	Moderate	Excellent
✈️ Airport proximity	12 km	7 km
🎓 Higher education	72	60
😀 Quality of life	57	66
🏙️ Population	4.43M	342K

The cost of living in Johannesburg is 25% less expensive than in San Jose, Costa Rica. Cities ranked 5539th and 4143rd ($993 vs $1324) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 4th and 2nd in South Africa and Costa Rica, respectively. Check South Africa vs Costa Rica comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 1.4 months in Johannesburg compared to 0.7 months in San Jose, Costa Rica. Johannesburg ranked 2nd best city to live in South Africa vs San Jose, Costa Rica ranked 1st in Costa Rica, while ranked 5667th and 4085th among best cities to live in the world.

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

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

Prices in Johannesburg vs San Jose, Costa Rica

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

	Johannesburg	San Jose
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$9.65	$11.2
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$37.9	$51.4
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$4.9	$9.6
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.37	$2.9
☕ Cappuccino	$2.01	$4.5
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$0.99	$1.97
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$377	$738
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$318	$444
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$790	$1315
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$627	$874
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$71.9	$53.7
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$110	$82.5
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$39.5	$49.2
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	11.55%	10.31%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1031	$2883
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$684	$1718
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$1.62	$0.98
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$72	$41.6
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$9.35	$16.2
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.28	$1.42
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.18	$2.07
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$0.95	$2.32
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.36	$1.94
🥚 Eggs, x12	$2.58	$3.34
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$10	$11.2
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$5.04	$8.97
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$6.12	$14.3
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.6	$3.92
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.49	$1.46
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.41	$3.91
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.59	$2.99
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.35	$2.99
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.44	$2.81
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.58	$1.85
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.44	$3.17
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$5.96	$18.6
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.25	$2.43
🚬 Cigarette pack	$2.97	$5.13
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$5.59	$8.09
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$3.94	$7.94
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$1.88	$3.22
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$1.42	$3.77
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$33.2	$65
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$7.2	$9.08
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$27.8	$72.3
💇 Haircut, simple	$5.55	$15.2
👖 Brand Jeans	$48.5	$68.8
👟 Brand Sneakers	$88.8	$125
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$214	$601
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$5271	$12527

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

$349

$907

$6.64K

Cost of Living in the nearest cities

Cities near Johannesburg

Distance	City	Cost of living
11 km or 6.8 mi	Sandton	$953
13 km or 8 mi	Randburg	$837
19 km or 12 mi	Soweto	$923
28 km or 17 mi	Benoni	$785
40 km or 25 mi	Springs	$678
41 km or 25 mi	Centurion	$807
53 km or 33 mi	Pretoria	$906
53 km or 33 mi	Vereeniging	$672
59 km or 36 mi	Vanderbijlpark	$773
71 km or 44 mi	Brits	$820
101 km or 62 mi	Rustenburg	$889
109 km or 68 mi	Potchefstroom	$695
143 km or 89 mi	Bethal	$784
152 km or 94 mi	Middelburg	$795
155 km or 97 mi	Klerksdorp	$722
179 km or 111 mi	Kroonstad	$768
237 km or 147 mi	Welkom	$748
244 km or 152 mi	Mmabatho	$780
262 km or 163 mi	Lobatse	$665
275 km or 171 mi	Gaborone	$691
287 km or 179 mi	Butha-Buthe	$535
302 km or 188 mi	Kanye	$664
311 km or 193 mi	Mbabane	$562
323 km or 201 mi	Vryheid	$763
325 km or 202 mi	Molepolole	$628
329 km or 204 mi	Teyateyaneng	$500
333 km or 207 mi	Manzini	$442
350 km or 217 mi	Maseru	$621
366 km or 228 mi	Mahalapye	$631
369 km or 229 mi	Bloemfontein	$657
409 km or 254 mi	Mafeteng	$567
417 km or 259 mi	Palapye	$540
429 km or 267 mi	Kimberley	$814
442 km or 275 mi	Pietermaritzburg	$640
443 km or 275 mi	Matola	$964
446 km or 277 mi	Serowe	$583
454 km or 282 mi	Maputo	$1068
501 km or 311 mi	Durban	$809
562 km or 349 mi	Francistown	$624
577 km or 358 mi	Xai-Xai	$1003

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