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

Updated: October 14, 2025

	Miami	San Jose
🚶 Cost of living one person	$3178	$1398
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$7315	$3421
🏠 One person rent	$2092	$662
🏘️ Family rent	$3715	$1102
🍽️ Food expenses	$767	$509
🚐 Transport expenses	$131	$78.6
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$4255	$981
😷 Air quality	Excellent	Excellent
✈️ Airport proximity	7 km	7 km
🎓 Higher education	84	60
😀 Quality of life	92	74
🏙️ Population	442K	342K

The cost of living in Miami is 127% more expensive than in San Jose, Costa Rica. Cities ranked 118th and 4260th ($3178 vs $1398) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 88th 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 1.3 months in Miami compared to 0.7 months in San Jose, Costa Rica. Miami ranked 33rd best city to live in the United States vs San Jose, Costa Rica ranked 1st in Costa Rica, while ranked 119th and 2458th among best cities to live in the world.

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

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Prices in Miami vs San Jose, Costa Rica

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

	Miami	San Jose
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$27	$10.2
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$104	$51.6
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$13.1	$9.89
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$8.04	$2.74
☕ Cappuccino	$5.64	$4.55
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$3.43	$2.09
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$2504	$804
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1788	$492
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$4582	$1349
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$3236	$868
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$95.8	$54.8
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$145	$84.9
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$65.3	$52.5
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	6.51%	10.54%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$6063	$2935
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$3867	$1711
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$2.27	$1
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$103	$42.2
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$18.2	$16.2
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$0.85	$1.43
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.23	$2.08
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$4.01	$2.38
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.96	$2.16
🥚 Eggs, x12	$5.73	$3.11
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$14.2	$11.8
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$14.5	$8.68
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$22.4	$13.6
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.91	$4.14
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.75	$1.51
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.66	$4.29
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.42	$3.33
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.54	$3.53
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.31	$3.36
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.24	$1.94
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$3.54	$3.14
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$15.6	$19.2
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.8	$2.44
🚬 Cigarette pack	$10.2	$5.28
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$13.9	$8.15
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$8.03	$8.94
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$7.01	$3.05
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$3.34	$3.79
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$62.2	$56.8
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$15.5	$8.97
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$132	$94.6
💇 Haircut, simple	$34.6	$16.8
👖 Brand Jeans	$51.1	$60
👟 Brand Sneakers	$95.8	$126
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$1514	$609
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$25246	$12743

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

Cost of Living in the nearest cities

Cities near Miami

Distance	City	Cost of living
6.6 km or 4.1 mi	Coral Gables	$2846
8.9 km or 5.5 mi	Miami Beach	$2839
12 km or 7.2 mi	Hialeah	$2471
13 km or 8 mi	North Miami	$2726
14 km or 8.7 mi	Doral	$2622
16 km or 9.8 mi	Sweetwater	$2649
17 km or 10 mi	Hialeah Gardens	$2543
17 km or 11 mi	North Miami Beach	$2773
18 km or 11 mi	Miami Lakes	$2588
18 km or 11 mi	Miami Gardens	$2705
20 km or 12 mi	Sunny Isles Beach	$2813
20 km or 13 mi	Palmetto Bay	$2818
22 km or 13 mi	Aventura	$2794
23 km or 14 mi	Miramar	$2788
24 km or 15 mi	Hallandale Beach	$2845
24 km or 15 mi	Kendall West	$2774
26 km or 16 mi	Cutler Bay	$2885
27 km or 17 mi	Hollywood	$3076
27 km or 17 mi	Pembroke Pines	$2977
29 km or 18 mi	Richmond West	$2905
30 km or 19 mi	Cooper	$2795
31 km or 19 mi	Dania Beach	$2847
34 km or 21 mi	Davie	$2741
38 km or 24 mi	Plantation	$2716
40 km or 25 mi	Fort Lauderdale	$2781
40 km or 25 mi	Weston	$2598
42 km or 26 mi	Sunrise	$2661
43 km or 26 mi	Lauderhill	$2751
43 km or 27 mi	Lauderdale Lakes	$2707
44 km or 27 mi	Homestead	$3343
44 km or 28 mi	Oakland Park	$2704
48 km or 30 mi	Tamarac	$2836
48 km or 30 mi	North Lauderdale	$2814
51 km or 32 mi	Pompano Beach	$2709
51 km or 32 mi	Margate	$2848
54 km or 34 mi	Coral Springs	$3224
55 km or 34 mi	Coconut Creek	$2794
59 km or 37 mi	Parkland	$2971
61 km or 38 mi	Deerfield Beach	$2450
66 km or 41 mi	Boca Raton	$3101

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