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

Updated: June 21, 2026

	London	San Jose
🚶 Cost of living one person	$3662	$1574
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$8238	$3920
🏠 One person rent	$2434	$747
🏘️ Family rent	$4002	$1276
🍽️ Food expenses	$632	$579
🚐 Transport expenses	$409	$85.8
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$4720	$1063
😷 Air quality	Excellent	Excellent
✈️ Airport proximity	13 km	7 km
🎓 Higher education	100	60
😀 Quality of life	97	73
🏙️ Population	8.8M	335K

The cost of living in London is 133% more expensive than in San Jose, Costa Rica. Cities ranked 28th and 3714th ($3662 vs $1574) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 1st and 2nd in the United Kingdom and Costa Rica, respectively. Check the United Kingdom vs Costa Rica comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 1.3 months in London compared to 0.7 months in San Jose, Costa Rica. London ranked 1st best city to live in the United Kingdom vs San Jose, Costa Rica ranked 1st in Costa Rica, while ranked 4th and 2425th among best cities to live in the world.

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

Prices in London vs San Jose, Costa Rica

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

	London	San Jose
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$22.6	$12.8
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$98.8	$49.5
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$11.9	$11.8
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$9.64	$3.36
☕ Cappuccino	$5.66	$5.2
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$2.99	$2.34
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$2743	$821
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$2091	$585
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$4437	$1456
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$3517	$1048
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$171	$58.3
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$260	$89.7
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$40.6	$56.7
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	4.79%	9.32%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$20829	$2299
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$9663	$1800
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$4.01	$1.09
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$106	$56.4
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$31.5	$16
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.98	$1.45
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.85	$2.43
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$2.1	$3.01
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.23	$2.56
🥚 Eggs, x12	$5.47	$3.5
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$14	$11.8
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$10.9	$9.83
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$17.2	$13.9
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.99	$5.01
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.49	$1.73
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.76	$4.77
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.82	$3.76
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.39	$4.11
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.66	$3.66
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.25	$2.1
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$3.6	$3.6
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$13.9	$23.3
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$3.18	$2.92
🚬 Cigarette pack	$23.8	$5.9
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$4.71	$9.27
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$5.95	$9.95
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$3.12	$3.95
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$3.33	$4.6
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$79.6	$68.5
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$18.9	$8.55
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$91.4	$104
💇 Haircut, simple	$17.4	$16
👖 Brand Jeans	$114	$70.9
👟 Brand Sneakers	$125	$140
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$2713	$814
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$25686	$16872

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

Cost of Living in the nearest cities

Cities near London

Distance	City	Cost of living
1.3 km or 0.8 mi	Westminster	$3042
11 km or 7 mi	Wimbledon	$2520
13 km or 8.3 mi	Richmond	$2447
15 km or 9.3 mi	Croydon	$2563
16 km or 10 mi	Greenford	$2399
19 km or 12 mi	Ewell	$2382
21 km or 13 mi	Coulsdon	$2396
23 km or 14 mi	Esher	$2349
24 km or 15 mi	Walton-on-Thames	$2326
25 km or 15 mi	Watford	$2630
27 km or 17 mi	Upminster	$2308
28 km or 17 mi	Rickmansworth	$2384
31 km or 19 mi	St Albans	$2451
32 km or 20 mi	Grays	$2205
32 km or 20 mi	Hertford	$2214
32 km or 20 mi	Slough	$2290
32 km or 20 mi	Brentwood	$2627
35 km or 22 mi	Harlow	$2117
35 km or 22 mi	Gravesend	$2253
35 km or 22 mi	Hemel Hempstead	$2294
37 km or 23 mi	Woking	$2545
38 km or 24 mi	Harpenden	$2244
40 km or 25 mi	Billericay	$2234
41 km or 25 mi	Maidenhead	$2820
43 km or 27 mi	East Grinstead	$2234
43 km or 27 mi	Basildon	$2159
43 km or 27 mi	Guildford	$2634
44 km or 27 mi	Crawley	$2289
44 km or 27 mi	Stevenage	$2235
44 km or 27 mi	Bracknell	$2309
44 km or 28 mi	Rochester	$1842
44 km or 28 mi	Tonbridge	$2188
45 km or 28 mi	High Wycombe	$2200
46 km or 28 mi	Bishop's Stortford	$2164
46 km or 28 mi	Luton	$2196
47 km or 29 mi	Chatham	$2559
49 km or 30 mi	Chelmsford	$2109
49 km or 30 mi	Gillingham	$2363
49 km or 30 mi	Godalming	$2476
49 km or 31 mi	Farnborough	$2178

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