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

Updated: March 11, 2026

	Memphis	San Jose
🚶 Cost of living one person	$1851	$1454
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$4406	$3624
🏠 One person rent	$1052	$697
🏘️ Family rent	$1518	$1213
🍽️ Food expenses	$564	$527
🚐 Transport expenses	$88	$78.6
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$3391	$935
😷 Air quality	Excellent	Excellent
✈️ Airport proximity	8 km	7 km
🎓 Higher education	66	60
😀 Quality of life	87	72
🏙️ Population	633K	335K

The cost of living in Memphis is 27% more expensive than in San Jose, Costa Rica. Cities ranked 2663rd and 4213th ($1851 vs $1454) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 1875th 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 1.8 months in Memphis compared to 0.6 months in San Jose, Costa Rica. Memphis ranked 112th best city to live in the United States vs San Jose, Costa Rica ranked 1st in Costa Rica, while ranked 362nd and 3173rd among best cities to live in the world.

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the estimated difference in money purchasing power

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

Prices in Memphis vs San Jose, Costa Rica

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

	Memphis	San Jose
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$15.2	$11.2
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$64.9	$51
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$11.1	$10.4
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$5.83	$2.9
☕ Cappuccino	$5.1	$4.68
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$2.13	$2.14
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$963	$821
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$841	$531
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1430	$1484
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1222	$973
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$122	$54.9
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$189	$83.8
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$64.6	$53.3
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	6.35%	9.69%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1671	$2465
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1396	$1757
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$1	$1
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$49.3	$48.8
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$12.7	$15.1
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$0.75	$1.41
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.92	$2.26
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$2.42	$2.62
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.7	$2.38
🥚 Eggs, x12	$2.99	$3.03
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$10.3	$11.5
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$9.3	$8.94
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$17.5	$13.4
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$5.06	$4.34
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.76	$1.57
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$5.38	$4.35
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.58	$3.48
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.02	$3.75
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.45	$3.18
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.51	$1.93
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$2.17	$3.28
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$15	$20.3
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.09	$2.64
🚬 Cigarette pack	$8.8	$5.46
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$8.14	$8.15
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$4.95	$9.92
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$3.1	$3.47
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$1.34	$4.31
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$27.3	$59.8
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$13	$7.93
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$132	$96.4
💇 Haircut, simple	$13.5	$15.9
👖 Brand Jeans	$41.8	$67.6
👟 Brand Sneakers	$78.3	$129
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$1700	$704
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$27314	$14663

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

Cost of Living in the nearest cities

Cities near Memphis

Distance	City	Cost of living
16 km or 10 mi	Germantown	$2378
17 km or 10 mi	Bartlett	$2129
17 km or 10 mi	Southaven	$1881
19 km or 12 mi	Horn Lake	$1953
19 km or 12 mi	West Memphis	$1866
21 km or 13 mi	Olive Branch	$2030
27 km or 17 mi	Collierville	$2266
38 km or 24 mi	Atoka	$2122
94 km or 58 mi	Oxford	$1997
103 km or 64 mi	Jonesboro	$1752
115 km or 71 mi	Paragould	$1867
116 km or 72 mi	Dyersburg	$2070
119 km or 74 mi	Jackson	$1745
149 km or 92 mi	Tupelo	$1605
161 km or 100 mi	Searcy	$1829
187 km or 116 mi	Poplar Bluff	$1667
187 km or 116 mi	Cabot	$1631
197 km or 123 mi	Jacksonville	$1836
207 km or 128 mi	Sherwood	$1915
212 km or 132 mi	Starkville	$1545
213 km or 132 mi	Pine Bluff	$1885
213 km or 132 mi	North Little Rock	$1980
213 km or 132 mi	Florence	$1425
215 km or 134 mi	Greenville	$1962
219 km or 136 mi	Little Rock	$1951
223 km or 139 mi	Murray	$1817
226 km or 140 mi	Conway	$1763
230 km or 143 mi	Columbus	$1747
245 km or 153 mi	Benton	$1992
247 km or 153 mi	Cape Girardeau	$1703
249 km or 154 mi	Paducah	$1703
271 km or 168 mi	Columbia	$2023
276 km or 172 mi	Athens	$1852
279 km or 173 mi	Decatur	$1718
283 km or 176 mi	Clarksville	$2085
286 km or 178 mi	Spring Hill	$2366
288 km or 179 mi	Russellville	$1421
290 km or 180 mi	Hot Springs	$1405
295 km or 183 mi	Hopkinsville	$1815
296 km or 184 mi	Franklin	$2822

Cities near San Jose, Costa Rica

Distance	City	Cost of living
7.9 km or 4.9 mi	Heredia	$1378
17 km or 11 mi	Alajuela	$1323
20 km or 12 mi	Cartago	$1290
82 km or 51 mi	Puntarenas	$825
115 km or 72 mi	Limon	$1332
124 km or 77 mi	Santa Teresa	$1273
167 km or 104 mi	Liberia	$957
197 km or 122 mi	Tamarindo	$1832
244 km or 151 mi	San Juan del Sur	$840
246 km or 153 mi	David	$922
279 km or 173 mi	Juigalpa	$782
302 km or 188 mi	Granada	$699
316 km or 196 mi	Masaya	$812
343 km or 213 mi	Managua	$796
387 km or 241 mi	Matagalpa	$679
398 km or 247 mi	Santiago de Veraguas	$1122
408 km or 253 mi	Jinotega	$470
413 km or 257 mi	Leon	$754
429 km or 266 mi	Esteli	$687
438 km or 272 mi	Penonome	$1153
447 km or 278 mi	Chinandega	$787
457 km or 284 mi	Chitre	$1154
463 km or 288 mi	Colon	$1179
486 km or 302 mi	La Chorrera	$977
508 km or 316 mi	Balboa	$1425
513 km or 319 mi	Panama City	$1583
524 km or 326 mi	Tocumen	$1403
535 km or 333 mi	Pacora	$1395
574 km or 357 mi	Tegucigalpa	$863
596 km or 370 mi	San Miguel	$1120
609 km or 378 mi	Usulutan	$1109
635 km or 395 mi	Comayagua	$705
666 km or 414 mi	Yoro	$737
696 km or 432 mi	San Salvador	$1274
697 km or 433 mi	Soyapango	$1246
701 km or 435 mi	Mejicanos	$1237
702 km or 436 mi	Apopa	$1221
703 km or 437 mi	Santa Tecla	$1178
713 km or 443 mi	La Ceiba	$626
729 km or 453 mi	El Progreso	$804