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

Updated: March 02, 2025

	London	San Jose
🚶 Cost of living one person	$3296	$1324
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$7841	$3344
🏠 One person rent	$2211	$606
🏘️ Family rent	$4100	$1094
🍽️ Food expenses	$551	$499
🚐 Transport expenses	$375	$78
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$4153	$990
😷 Air quality	Excellent	Excellent
✈️ Airport proximity	13 km	7 km
🎓 Higher education	100	60
😀 Quality of life	99	66
🏙️ Population	8.8M	342K

The cost of living in London is 149% more expensive than in San Jose, Costa Rica. Cities ranked 58th and 4143rd ($3296 vs $1324) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 2nd 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 4085th among best cities to live in the world.

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

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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	$21.4	$11.2
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$84	$51.4
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$9.67	$9.6
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$8.03	$2.9
☕ Cappuccino	$4.64	$4.5
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$2.46	$1.97
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$2704	$738
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1831	$444
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$5123	$1315
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$3478	$874
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$167	$53.7
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$255	$82.5
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$38.5	$49.2
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	5.06%	10.31%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$20412	$2883
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$10524	$1718
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$3.62	$0.98
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$91.9	$41.6
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$30.2	$16.2
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.82	$1.42
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.53	$2.07
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$1.86	$2.32
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.25	$1.94
🥚 Eggs, x12	$4.77	$3.34
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$11	$11.2
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$8.95	$8.97
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$13.5	$14.3
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.95	$3.92
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.75	$1.46
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.99	$3.91
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.14	$2.99
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.43	$2.99
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.59	$2.81
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.1	$1.85
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$2.87	$3.17
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$11.9	$18.6
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.74	$2.43
🚬 Cigarette pack	$20.2	$5.13
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$3.29	$8.09
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$5.99	$7.94
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$2.7	$3.22
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$2.61	$3.77
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$55.7	$65
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$17.6	$9.08
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$69.7	$72.3
💇 Haircut, simple	$15.3	$15.2
👖 Brand Jeans	$97.6	$68.8
👟 Brand Sneakers	$113	$125
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$2250	$601
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$26090	$12527

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	$2868
11 km or 7 mi	Wimbledon	$2332
13 km or 8.3 mi	Richmond	$2273
15 km or 9.3 mi	Croydon	$2414
16 km or 10 mi	Greenford	$2209
19 km or 12 mi	Ewell	$2207
21 km or 13 mi	Coulsdon	$2214
23 km or 14 mi	Esher	$2185
24 km or 15 mi	Walton-on-Thames	$2182
25 km or 15 mi	Watford	$2470
27 km or 17 mi	Upminster	$2136
28 km or 17 mi	Rickmansworth	$2217
31 km or 19 mi	St Albans	$2261
32 km or 20 mi	Grays	$2028
32 km or 20 mi	Hertford	$2076
32 km or 20 mi	Slough	$2112
32 km or 20 mi	Brentwood	$2433
35 km or 22 mi	Harlow	$2199
35 km or 22 mi	Gravesend	$2035
35 km or 22 mi	Hemel Hempstead	$2122
37 km or 23 mi	Woking	$2429
38 km or 24 mi	Harpenden	$2052
40 km or 25 mi	Billericay	$2048
41 km or 25 mi	Maidenhead	$2623
43 km or 27 mi	East Grinstead	$2052
43 km or 27 mi	Basildon	$1924
43 km or 27 mi	Guildford	$2422
44 km or 27 mi	Crawley	$2092
44 km or 27 mi	Stevenage	$1987
44 km or 27 mi	Bracknell	$2248
44 km or 28 mi	Rochester	$1973
44 km or 28 mi	Tonbridge	$2063
45 km or 28 mi	High Wycombe	$2089
46 km or 28 mi	Bishop's Stortford	$2062
46 km or 28 mi	Luton	$1885
47 km or 29 mi	Chatham	$2263
49 km or 30 mi	Chelmsford	$1948
49 km or 30 mi	Gillingham	$2135
49 km or 30 mi	Godalming	$2344
49 km or 31 mi	Farnborough	$2009

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