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

Updated: March 11, 2026

	Mesa	San Jose
🚶 Cost of living one person	$2298	$1454
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$5364	$3624
🏠 One person rent	$1380	$697
🏘️ Family rent	$2408	$1213
🍽️ Food expenses	$677	$527
🚐 Transport expenses	$86	$78.6
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$3995	$935
😷 Air quality	Excellent	Excellent
✈️ Airport proximity	16 km	7 km
🎓 Higher education	68	60
😀 Quality of life	91	72
🏙️ Population	504K	335K

The cost of living in Mesa is 58% more expensive than in San Jose, Costa Rica. Cities ranked 1283rd and 4213th ($2298 vs $1454) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 1085th 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 1.7 months in Mesa compared to 0.6 months in San Jose, Costa Rica. Mesa ranked 29th best city to live in the United States vs San Jose, Costa Rica ranked 1st in Costa Rica, while ranked 142nd 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/mesa/san-jose-cr.jpg" alt="Cost of living in Mesa vs San Jose, Costa Rica infographic" style="max-width: 100%; height: auto;"><p>Source: <a href="https://livingcost.org/cost/mesa/san-jose-cr" target="_blank">Mesa vs San Jose, Costa Rica - Cost of Living Comparison</a></p>

Prices in Mesa vs San Jose, Costa Rica

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

	Mesa	San Jose
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$19.9	$11.2
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$75.6	$51
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$12.4	$10.4
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$5.99	$2.9
☕ Cappuccino	$6.19	$4.68
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$2.9	$2.14
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1421	$821
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1074	$531
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$2515	$1484
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1978	$973
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$155	$54.9
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$240	$83.8
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$82	$53.3
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	6.28%	9.69%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$2933	$2465
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$3509	$1757
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$2	$1
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$44.6	$48.8
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$13.8	$15.1
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$0.9	$1.41
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.9	$2.26
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$4.25	$2.62
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$5.76	$2.38
🥚 Eggs, x12	$4.7	$3.03
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$13.4	$11.5
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$12.5	$8.94
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$15.9	$13.4
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$5.03	$4.34
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.79	$1.57
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.19	$4.35
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$6.16	$3.48
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.22	$3.75
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.21	$3.18
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.57	$1.93
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$2.43	$3.28
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$13.8	$20.3
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.4	$2.64
🚬 Cigarette pack	$10.7	$5.46
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$10.2	$8.15
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$5.33	$9.92
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$4.22	$3.47
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$2.11	$4.31
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$41.7	$59.8
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$12.9	$7.93
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$111	$96.4
💇 Haircut, simple	$20.8	$15.9
👖 Brand Jeans	$49.2	$67.6
👟 Brand Sneakers	$99	$129
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$1191	$704
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$15548	$14663

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

Cost of Living in the nearest cities

Cities near Mesa

Distance	City	Cost of living
8.2 km or 5.1 mi	Gilbert	$2381
10 km or 6.5 mi	Tempe	$2435
12 km or 7.7 mi	Scottsdale	$2471
12 km or 7.7 mi	Chandler	$2396
23 km or 14 mi	Fountain Hills	$2384
25 km or 15 mi	Queen Creek	$3022
26 km or 16 mi	Phoenix	$2357
26 km or 16 mi	Apache Junction	$2490
39 km or 24 mi	Glendale	$1961
42 km or 26 mi	Peoria	$2345
45 km or 28 mi	Maricopa	$2227
48 km or 30 mi	Avondale	$2359
49 km or 30 mi	Goodyear	$2338
51 km or 31 mi	El Mirage	$2312
55 km or 34 mi	Surprise	$2353
59 km or 37 mi	Florence	$2444
59 km or 37 mi	Casa Grande	$2366
71 km or 44 mi	Buckeye	$2324
132 km or 82 mi	Marana	$2089
136 km or 85 mi	Oro Valley	$2050
138 km or 86 mi	Prescott	$2316
140 km or 87 mi	Prescott Valley	$2317
141 km or 88 mi	Casas Adobes	$2005
157 km or 98 mi	Tucson	$1930
183 km or 114 mi	Sahuarita	$2059
199 km or 124 mi	Flagstaff	$2589
244 km or 152 mi	Nogales	$2110
247 km or 154 mi	Nogales	$776
254 km or 158 mi	Sierra Vista	$1638
257 km or 160 mi	Blythe	$2798
258 km or 160 mi	Lake Havasu	$1993
272 km or 169 mi	Yuma	$1764
283 km or 176 mi	Kingman	$1842
292 km or 182 mi	San Luis	$1919
293 km or 182 mi	San Luis Rio Colorado	$978
301 km or 187 mi	Caborca	$890
316 km or 196 mi	Agua Prieta	$863
316 km or 196 mi	Bullhead	$1838
348 km or 216 mi	Brawley	$2777
349 km or 217 mi	Mexicali	$1004

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