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

Updated: March 01, 2024

	Los Angeles	San Jose
🚶 Cost of living one person	$3165	$1169
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$7625	$3119
🏠 One person rent	$2019	$496
🏘️ Family rent	$3688	$1078
🍽️ Food expenses	$715	$471
🚐 Transport expenses	$236	$71.8
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$6398	$877
😷 Air quality	Good	Excellent
✈️ Airport proximity	17 km	7 km
🎓 Higher education	99	60
😀 Quality of life	94	67
🏙️ Population	3.9M	342K

The cost of living in Los Angeles is 171% more expensive than in San Jose, Costa Rica. Cities ranked 72nd and 4518th ($3165 vs $1169) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 60th and 3rd 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 2 months in Los Angeles compared to 0.8 months in San Jose, Costa Rica. Los Angeles ranked 5th best city to live in the United States vs San Jose, Costa Rica ranked 1st in Costa Rica, while ranked 34th and 4043rd 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	$22.5	$10.8
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$101	$51.7
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$11.9	$9.47
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$8.42	$3.31
☕ Cappuccino	$5.63	$4.21
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$2.65	$1.78
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$2215	$597
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1717	$368
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$4161	$1266
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$3237	$901
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$132	$42.3
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$195	$64.2
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$71	$40
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	6.7%	8.83%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$7697	$1778
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$6904	$1310
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$1.75	$0.88
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$87.3	$40.7
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$16.4	$13.9
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.38	$1.45
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.27	$1.96
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$4.26	$2.32
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.61	$2.15
🥚 Eggs, x12	$5.47	$3.59
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$12.9	$9.52
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$13.9	$9.16
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$18	$13.2
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.91	$4.79
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.03	$1.38
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.44	$2.62
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.57	$2.58
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.84	$2.45
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.35	$2.21
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.51	$1.45
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$3.72	$3.02
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$15.9	$15.1
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.97	$2.25
🚬 Cigarette pack	$12	$4.81
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$10.4	$6.97
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$7.97	$8.01
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$4.95	$3.06
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$2.16	$3.18
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$55.5	$57.8
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$17.3	$7.43
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$140	$62.4
💇 Haircut, simple	$29	$13.6
👖 Brand Jeans	$64.1	$84.2
👟 Brand Sneakers	$105	$113
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$2020	$369
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$31623	$9894

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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	$2777
8.9 km or 5.5 mi	Maywood	$2717
9.2 km or 5.7 mi	Florence-Graham	$2781
10 km or 6.2 mi	Bell	$2678
10 km or 6.2 mi	Monterey Park	$2821
11 km or 6.6 mi	Alhambra	$2887
11 km or 6.6 mi	South Pasadena	$2854
11 km or 7 mi	Cudahy	$2638
12 km or 7.6 mi	San Gabriel	$2987
12 km or 7.7 mi	Bell Gardens	$2578
12 km or 7.8 mi	West Hollywood	$2734
13 km or 7.8 mi	Montebello	$2713
13 km or 8 mi	South Gate	$2650
13 km or 8.2 mi	Glendale	$3660
14 km or 8.8 mi	Inglewood	$2886
15 km or 9 mi	Beverly Hills	$2297
15 km or 9.1 mi	Lynwood	$2676
15 km or 9.3 mi	Rosemead	$2750
15 km or 9.5 mi	Culver	$2836
15 km or 9.6 mi	Pasadena	$3263
16 km or 9.9 mi	Pico Rivera	$2649
16 km or 10 mi	Burbank	$3220
16 km or 10 mi	Downey	$2442
17 km or 11 mi	Compton	$2737
18 km or 11 mi	La Canada Flintridge	$3030
18 km or 11 mi	Hawthorne	$2987
18 km or 11 mi	Temple	$2747
18 km or 11 mi	South El Monte	$2702
18 km or 11 mi	West Whittier-Los Nietos	$2621
18 km or 11 mi	Paramount	$2579
19 km or 12 mi	Gardena	$2935
20 km or 12 mi	El Monte	$2707
21 km or 13 mi	Lawndale	$3148
21 km or 13 mi	Arcadia	$2700
21 km or 13 mi	Bellflower	$2541
22 km or 14 mi	Norwalk	$2375
22 km or 14 mi	Santa Monica	$3589
22 km or 14 mi	Whittier	$2665
23 km or 15 mi	Manhattan Beach	$3168
24 km or 15 mi	Carson	$2862

Cities near San Jose, Costa Rica

Distance	City	Cost of living
7.9 km or 4.9 mi	Heredia	$1040
17 km or 11 mi	Alajuela	$1163
20 km or 12 mi	Cartago	$1009
82 km or 51 mi	Puntarenas	$1024
115 km or 72 mi	Limon	$1147
124 km or 77 mi	Santa Teresa	$1114
167 km or 104 mi	Liberia	$1220
197 km or 122 mi	Tamarindo	$1473
244 km or 151 mi	San Juan del Sur	$805
246 km or 153 mi	David	$789
279 km or 173 mi	Juigalpa	$647
302 km or 188 mi	Granada	$680
316 km or 196 mi	Masaya	$699
343 km or 213 mi	Managua	$787
387 km or 241 mi	Matagalpa	$548
398 km or 247 mi	Santiago de Veraguas	$961
408 km or 253 mi	Jinotega	$458
413 km or 257 mi	Leon	$614
429 km or 266 mi	Esteli	$593
438 km or 272 mi	Penonome	$940
447 km or 278 mi	Chinandega	$627
457 km or 284 mi	Chitre	$980
463 km or 288 mi	Colon	$1157
486 km or 302 mi	La Chorrera	$917
508 km or 316 mi	Balboa	$1189
513 km or 319 mi	Panama City	$1316
524 km or 326 mi	Tocumen	$1171
535 km or 333 mi	Pacora	$1182
574 km or 357 mi	Tegucigalpa	$863
596 km or 370 mi	San Miguel	$1107
609 km or 378 mi	Usulutan	$1031
635 km or 395 mi	Comayagua	$702
666 km or 414 mi	Yoro	$738
696 km or 432 mi	San Salvador	$1147
697 km or 433 mi	Soyapango	$1117
701 km or 435 mi	Mejicanos	$1112
702 km or 436 mi	Apopa	$1093
703 km or 437 mi	Santa Tecla	$1153
713 km or 443 mi	La Ceiba	$676
729 km or 453 mi	El Progreso	$892