Los Angeles vs San Jose, Costa Rica - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: October 14, 2025

	Los Angeles	San Jose
🚶 Cost of living one person	$3361	$1398
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$7751	$3421
🏠 One person rent	$2151	$662
🏘️ Family rent	$3720	$1102
🍽️ Food expenses	$750	$509
🚐 Transport expenses	$245	$78.6
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$4549	$981
😷 Air quality	Good	Excellent
✈️ Airport proximity	17 km	7 km
🎓 Higher education	99	60
😀 Quality of life	94	74
🏙️ Population	3.9M	342K

The cost of living in Los Angeles is 140% more expensive than in San Jose, Costa Rica. Cities ranked 65th and 4260th ($3361 vs $1398) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 51st and 2nd in the United States and Costa Rica, respectively. Check the United States vs Costa Rica comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 1.4 months in Los Angeles compared to 0.7 months in San Jose, Costa Rica. Los Angeles ranked 14th best city to live in the United States vs San Jose, Costa Rica ranked 1st in Costa Rica, while ranked 74th and 2458th among best cities to live in the world.

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Cost of living in Los Angeles vs San Jose, Costa Rica infographic

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

Prices in Los Angeles vs San Jose, Costa Rica

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

	Los Angeles	San Jose
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$22.6	$10.2
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$90.5	$51.6
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$13.2	$9.89
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$8.27	$2.74
☕ Cappuccino	$6.49	$4.55
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$2.83	$2.09
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$2364	$804
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1847	$492
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$4128	$1349
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$3274	$868
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$131	$54.8
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$205	$84.9
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$69.6	$52.5
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	6.62%	10.54%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$7753	$2935
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$6833	$1711
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$1.99	$1
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$81.9	$42.2
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$19.5	$16.2
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.24	$1.43
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.3	$2.08
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$3.99	$2.38
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.39	$2.16
🥚 Eggs, x12	$7.62	$3.11
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$15.8	$11.8
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$15.6	$8.68
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$20.3	$13.6
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$5.28	$4.14
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.75	$1.51
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.64	$4.29
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.76	$3.33
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.88	$3.53
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.64	$3.36
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.49	$1.94
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$4.04	$3.14
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$15.2	$19.2
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$3.97	$2.44
🚬 Cigarette pack	$13.2	$5.28
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$10.4	$8.15
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$9.09	$8.94
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$5.34	$3.05
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$2.8	$3.79
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$68.9	$56.8
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$18	$8.97
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$168	$94.6
💇 Haircut, simple	$31.8	$16.8
👖 Brand Jeans	$62	$60
👟 Brand Sneakers	$102	$126
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$1849	$609
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$26874	$12743

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Cost of living

Cost of Living in the nearest cities

Cities near Los Angeles

Distance	City	Cost of living
8.1 km or 5 mi	Huntington Park	$2803
8.9 km or 5.5 mi	Maywood	$2786
9.2 km or 5.7 mi	Florence-Graham	$2844
10 km or 6.2 mi	Bell	$2780
10 km or 6.2 mi	Monterey Park	$2722
11 km or 6.6 mi	Alhambra	$2940
11 km or 6.6 mi	South Pasadena	$2952
11 km or 7 mi	Cudahy	$2764
12 km or 7.6 mi	San Gabriel	$3132
12 km or 7.7 mi	Bell Gardens	$2728
12 km or 7.8 mi	West Hollywood	$3036
13 km or 7.8 mi	Montebello	$2739
13 km or 8 mi	South Gate	$2762
13 km or 8.2 mi	Glendale	$3656
14 km or 8.8 mi	Inglewood	$2947
15 km or 9 mi	Beverly Hills	$2917
15 km or 9.1 mi	Lynwood	$2807
15 km or 9.3 mi	Rosemead	$2822
15 km or 9.5 mi	Culver	$3002
15 km or 9.6 mi	Pasadena	$3706
16 km or 9.9 mi	Pico Rivera	$2758
16 km or 10 mi	Burbank	$3288
16 km or 10 mi	Downey	$2650
17 km or 11 mi	Compton	$2856
18 km or 11 mi	La Canada Flintridge	$3119
18 km or 11 mi	Hawthorne	$2970
18 km or 11 mi	Temple	$2855
18 km or 11 mi	South El Monte	$2794
18 km or 11 mi	West Whittier-Los Nietos	$2769
18 km or 11 mi	Paramount	$2731
19 km or 12 mi	Gardena	$3004
20 km or 12 mi	El Monte	$2810
21 km or 13 mi	Lawndale	$3122
21 km or 13 mi	Arcadia	$3008
21 km or 13 mi	Bellflower	$2725
22 km or 14 mi	Norwalk	$2682
22 km or 14 mi	Santa Monica	$3595
22 km or 14 mi	Whittier	$2788
23 km or 15 mi	Manhattan Beach	$3191
24 km or 15 mi	Carson	$2927

Cities near San Jose, Costa Rica

Distance	City	Cost of living
7.9 km or 4.9 mi	Heredia	$1335
17 km or 11 mi	Alajuela	$1303
20 km or 12 mi	Cartago	$1241
82 km or 51 mi	Puntarenas	$821
115 km or 72 mi	Limon	$1288
124 km or 77 mi	Santa Teresa	$1236
167 km or 104 mi	Liberia	$953
197 km or 122 mi	Tamarindo	$1714
244 km or 151 mi	San Juan del Sur	$864
246 km or 153 mi	David	$925
279 km or 173 mi	Juigalpa	$768
302 km or 188 mi	Granada	$698
316 km or 196 mi	Masaya	$790
343 km or 213 mi	Managua	$760
387 km or 241 mi	Matagalpa	$673
398 km or 247 mi	Santiago de Veraguas	$1122
408 km or 253 mi	Jinotega	$467
413 km or 257 mi	Leon	$735
429 km or 266 mi	Esteli	$682
438 km or 272 mi	Penonome	$1150
447 km or 278 mi	Chinandega	$770
457 km or 284 mi	Chitre	$1150
463 km or 288 mi	Colon	$1188
486 km or 302 mi	La Chorrera	$981
508 km or 316 mi	Balboa	$1400
513 km or 319 mi	Panama City	$1560
524 km or 326 mi	Tocumen	$1377
535 km or 333 mi	Pacora	$1371
574 km or 357 mi	Tegucigalpa	$836
596 km or 370 mi	San Miguel	$1097
609 km or 378 mi	Usulutan	$1090
635 km or 395 mi	Comayagua	$739
666 km or 414 mi	Yoro	$729
696 km or 432 mi	San Salvador	$1362
697 km or 433 mi	Soyapango	$1273
701 km or 435 mi	Mejicanos	$1262
702 km or 436 mi	Apopa	$1238
703 km or 437 mi	Santa Tecla	$1182
713 km or 443 mi	La Ceiba	$627
729 km or 453 mi	El Progreso	$780