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

Updated: March 02, 2025

	Mesa	San Jose
🚶 Cost of living one person	$2413	$1324
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$5513	$3344
🏠 One person rent	$1527	$606
🏘️ Family rent	$2684	$1094
🍽️ Food expenses	$647	$499
🚐 Transport expenses	$86.6	$78
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$4154	$990
😷 Air quality	Excellent	Excellent
✈️ Airport proximity	16 km	7 km
🎓 Higher education	67	60
😀 Quality of life	73	66
🏙️ Population	504K	342K

The cost of living in Mesa is 82% more expensive than in San Jose, Costa Rica. Cities ranked 933rd and 4143rd ($2413 vs $1324) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 854th 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 0.7 months in San Jose, Costa Rica. Mesa ranked 422nd best city to live in the United States vs San Jose, Costa Rica ranked 1st in Costa Rica, while ranked 1561st and 4085th among best cities to live in the world.

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

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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	$20.1	$11.2
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$74.5	$51.4
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$12	$9.6
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$5.99	$2.9
☕ Cappuccino	$5.74	$4.5
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$2.67	$1.97
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1564	$738
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1217	$444
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$2503	$1315
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$2321	$874
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$156	$53.7
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$243	$82.5
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$84	$49.2
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	6.5%	10.31%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$2947	$2883
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$3478	$1718
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$2.01	$0.98
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$44.9	$41.6
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$13.7	$16.2
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$0.97	$1.42
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.92	$2.07
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$4.18	$2.32
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$5.08	$1.94
🥚 Eggs, x12	$4.22	$3.34
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$10.9	$11.2
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$13.5	$8.97
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$15	$14.3
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.68	$3.92
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.67	$1.46
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.94	$3.91
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.58	$2.99
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.03	$2.99
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.5	$2.81
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.48	$1.85
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$2.41	$3.17
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$13.6	$18.6
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.13	$2.43
🚬 Cigarette pack	$9.48	$5.13
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$9.79	$8.09
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$5.21	$7.94
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$4.14	$3.22
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$2.09	$3.77
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$42	$65
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$11.9	$9.08
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$112	$72.3
💇 Haircut, simple	$20.8	$15.2
👖 Brand Jeans	$49.3	$68.8
👟 Brand Sneakers	$94.3	$125
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$1121	$601
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$12523	$12527

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

$349

$907

$6.64K

Cost of Living in the nearest cities

Cities near Mesa

Distance	City	Cost of living
8.2 km or 5.1 mi	Gilbert	$2417
10 km or 6.5 mi	Tempe	$2423
12 km or 7.7 mi	Scottsdale	$2524
12 km or 7.7 mi	Chandler	$2306
23 km or 14 mi	Fountain Hills	$2353
25 km or 15 mi	Queen Creek	$2353
26 km or 16 mi	Phoenix	$2395
26 km or 16 mi	Apache Junction	$2342
39 km or 24 mi	Glendale	$1979
42 km or 26 mi	Peoria	$2342
45 km or 28 mi	Maricopa	$2281
48 km or 30 mi	Avondale	$2525
49 km or 30 mi	Goodyear	$2468
51 km or 31 mi	El Mirage	$2304
55 km or 34 mi	Surprise	$2328
59 km or 37 mi	Florence	$2319
59 km or 37 mi	Casa Grande	$2296
71 km or 44 mi	Buckeye	$2388
132 km or 82 mi	Marana	$2073
136 km or 85 mi	Oro Valley	$2056
138 km or 86 mi	Prescott	$2466
140 km or 87 mi	Prescott Valley	$2423
141 km or 88 mi	Casas Adobes	$2027
157 km or 98 mi	Tucson	$1957
183 km or 114 mi	Sahuarita	$2037
199 km or 124 mi	Flagstaff	$2543
244 km or 152 mi	Nogales	$2077
247 km or 154 mi	Nogales	$830
254 km or 158 mi	Sierra Vista	$1638
257 km or 160 mi	Blythe	$2763
258 km or 160 mi	Lake Havasu	$2013
272 km or 169 mi	Yuma	$1815
283 km or 176 mi	Kingman	$1926
292 km or 182 mi	San Luis	$1947
293 km or 182 mi	San Luis Rio Colorado	$823
301 km or 187 mi	Caborca	$788
316 km or 196 mi	Agua Prieta	$791
316 km or 196 mi	Bullhead	$1852
348 km or 216 mi	Brawley	$2729
349 km or 217 mi	Mexicali	$913

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