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

Updated: June 21, 2026

	Oakland	San Jose
🚶 Cost of living one person	$3273	$1574
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$7799	$3920
🏠 One person rent	$2094	$747
🏘️ Family rent	$3648	$1276
🍽️ Food expenses	$836	$579
🚐 Transport expenses	$138	$85.8
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$5290	$1063
😷 Air quality	Excellent	Excellent
✈️ Airport proximity	9 km	7 km
🎓 Higher education	97	60
😀 Quality of life	93	73
🏙️ Population	441K	335K

The cost of living in Oakland is 108% more expensive than in San Jose, Costa Rica. Cities ranked 95th and 3714th ($3273 vs $1574) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 70th 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 1.6 months in Oakland compared to 0.7 months in San Jose, Costa Rica. Oakland ranked 13th best city to live in the United States vs San Jose, Costa Rica ranked 1st in Costa Rica, while ranked 70th and 2425th among best cities to live in the world.

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

Prices in Oakland vs San Jose, Costa Rica

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

	Oakland	San Jose
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$24.9	$12.8
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$120	$49.5
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$11.9	$11.8
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$7.96	$3.36
☕ Cappuccino	$5.35	$5.2
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$3.35	$2.34
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$2145	$821
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1854	$585
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$3859	$1456
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$3291	$1048
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$114	$58.3
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$176	$89.7
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$67.6	$56.7
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	6.08%	9.32%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$7921	$2299
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$5888	$1800
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$2.75	$1.09
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$85.6	$56.4
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$22.5	$16
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.4	$1.45
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.41	$2.43
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$4.91	$3.01
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$7.05	$2.56
🥚 Eggs, x12	$6.97	$3.5
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$20.6	$11.8
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$16.7	$9.83
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$17	$13.9
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$6.64	$5.01
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.19	$1.73
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$6.4	$4.77
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$6.19	$3.76
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.53	$4.11
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.44	$3.66
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$2.01	$2.1
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$3.09	$3.6
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$12.1	$23.3
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.74	$2.92
🚬 Cigarette pack	$11.8	$5.9
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$11.7	$9.27
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$5.98	$9.95
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$5.31	$3.95
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$1.93	$4.6
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$39.2	$68.5
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$15	$8.55
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$179	$104
💇 Haircut, simple	$22.3	$16
👖 Brand Jeans	$75.3	$70.9
👟 Brand Sneakers	$109	$140
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$2824	$814
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$20453	$16872

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

Cost of Living in the nearest cities

Cities near Oakland

Distance	City	Cost of living
4.1 km or 2.5 mi	Alameda	$3559
8 km or 5 mi	Berkeley	$3204
11 km or 6.5 mi	Albany	$3049
12 km or 7.3 mi	San Leandro	$3043
14 km or 8.7 mi	El Cerrito	$3070
15 km or 9.2 mi	San Francisco	$4110
15 km or 9.3 mi	Lafayette	$2906
17 km or 11 mi	San Lorenzo	$2822
17 km or 11 mi	Richmond	$3102
19 km or 12 mi	Castro Valley	$2968
20 km or 12 mi	San Pablo	$3086
20 km or 12 mi	Walnut Creek	$2900
21 km or 13 mi	Hayward	$2822
22 km or 14 mi	Danville	$3873
22 km or 14 mi	South San Francisco	$3252
23 km or 14 mi	Daly	$3264
24 km or 15 mi	Pleasant Hill	$2796
24 km or 15 mi	San Ramon	$2848
24 km or 15 mi	Hercules	$2893
25 km or 15 mi	San Bruno	$3261
26 km or 16 mi	Millbrae	$3276
26 km or 16 mi	Burlingame	$3310
26 km or 16 mi	Martinez	$2905
28 km or 17 mi	Concord	$2748
28 km or 17 mi	Foster	$3588
28 km or 17 mi	San Mateo	$3797
29 km or 18 mi	Pacifica	$3245
29 km or 18 mi	Union	$3075
30 km or 19 mi	Benicia	$2804
31 km or 19 mi	Dublin	$3088
31 km or 19 mi	San Rafael	$4178
32 km or 20 mi	Belmont	$3577
33 km or 21 mi	San Carlos	$3357
34 km or 21 mi	Vallejo	$2393
35 km or 22 mi	Newark	$3234
35 km or 22 mi	Pleasanton	$3486
35 km or 22 mi	Redwood	$3728
37 km or 23 mi	Fremont	$3616
38 km or 24 mi	East Palo Alto	$3356
39 km or 24 mi	Menlo Park	$3357

Cities near San Jose, Costa Rica

Distance	City	Cost of living
7.9 km or 4.9 mi	Heredia	$1471
17 km or 11 mi	Alajuela	$1362
20 km or 12 mi	Cartago	$1361
82 km or 51 mi	Puntarenas	$872
115 km or 72 mi	Limon	$1228
124 km or 77 mi	Santa Teresa	$1325
167 km or 104 mi	Liberia	$1024
197 km or 122 mi	Tamarindo	$1929
244 km or 151 mi	San Juan del Sur	$844
246 km or 153 mi	David	$909
279 km or 173 mi	Juigalpa	$796
302 km or 188 mi	Granada	$706
316 km or 196 mi	Masaya	$817
343 km or 213 mi	Managua	$788
387 km or 241 mi	Matagalpa	$665
398 km or 247 mi	Santiago de Veraguas	$1112
408 km or 253 mi	Jinotega	$503
413 km or 257 mi	Leon	$759
429 km or 266 mi	Esteli	$716
438 km or 272 mi	Penonome	$1147
447 km or 278 mi	Chinandega	$791
457 km or 284 mi	Chitre	$1144
463 km or 288 mi	Colon	$1185
486 km or 302 mi	La Chorrera	$982
508 km or 316 mi	Balboa	$1396
513 km or 319 mi	Panama City	$1590
524 km or 326 mi	Tocumen	$1373
535 km or 333 mi	Pacora	$1361
574 km or 357 mi	Tegucigalpa	$909
596 km or 370 mi	San Miguel	$1132
609 km or 378 mi	Usulutan	$1123
635 km or 395 mi	Comayagua	$678
666 km or 414 mi	Yoro	$756
696 km or 432 mi	San Salvador	$1291
697 km or 433 mi	Soyapango	$1261
701 km or 435 mi	Mejicanos	$1254
702 km or 436 mi	Apopa	$1231
703 km or 437 mi	Santa Tecla	$1183
713 km or 443 mi	La Ceiba	$619
729 km or 453 mi	El Progreso	$832