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

Updated: March 11, 2026

	Portland	San Jose
🚶 Cost of living one person	$2738	$1454
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$6436	$3624
🏠 One person rent	$1646	$697
🏘️ Family rent	$2741	$1213
🍽️ Food expenses	$705	$527
🚐 Transport expenses	$170	$78.6
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$4867	$935
😷 Air quality	Excellent	Excellent
✈️ Airport proximity	10 km	7 km
🎓 Higher education	88	60
😀 Quality of life	90	72
🏙️ Population	653K	335K

The cost of living in Portland is 88% more expensive than in San Jose, Costa Rica. Cities ranked 512th and 4213th ($2738 vs $1454) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 441st 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 Portland compared to 0.6 months in San Jose, Costa Rica. Portland ranked 52nd best city to live in the United States vs San Jose, Costa Rica ranked 1st in Costa Rica, while ranked 208th 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/portland/san-jose-cr.jpg" alt="Cost of living in Portland vs San Jose, Costa Rica infographic" style="max-width: 100%; height: auto;"><p>Source: <a href="https://livingcost.org/cost/portland/san-jose-cr" target="_blank">Portland vs San Jose, Costa Rica - Cost of Living Comparison</a></p>

Prices in Portland vs San Jose, Costa Rica

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

	Portland	San Jose
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$18.7	$11.2
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$75.2	$51
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$12.4	$10.4
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$7	$2.9
☕ Cappuccino	$5.72	$4.68
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$2.47	$2.14
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1733	$821
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1369	$531
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$3059	$1484
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$2314	$973
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$136	$54.9
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$209	$83.8
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$68.4	$53.3
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	6.38%	9.69%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$4035	$2465
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$3320	$1757
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$2.8	$1
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$99.8	$48.8
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$22.9	$15.1
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.05	$1.41
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.13	$2.26
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$3.91	$2.62
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.94	$2.38
🥚 Eggs, x12	$6.42	$3.03
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$16	$11.5
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$14.4	$8.94
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$20.5	$13.4
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.89	$4.34
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.96	$1.57
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$5.03	$4.35
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$5.88	$3.48
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.59	$3.75
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.07	$3.18
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.81	$1.93
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$3.17	$3.28
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$17.4	$20.3
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$3.99	$2.64
🚬 Cigarette pack	$11.1	$5.46
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$11.7	$8.15
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$7.98	$9.92
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$8.07	$3.47
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$2.71	$4.31
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$40	$59.8
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$13.9	$7.93
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$187	$96.4
💇 Haircut, simple	$35	$15.9
👖 Brand Jeans	$66	$67.6
👟 Brand Sneakers	$110	$129
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$1842	$704
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$21868	$14663

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

Cost of Living in the nearest cities

Cities near Portland

Distance	City	Cost of living
8.1 km or 5.1 mi	Milwaukie	$2372
11 km or 6.7 mi	Lake Oswego	$2397
11 km or 6.9 mi	Beaverton	$2502
13 km or 8.2 mi	Tigard	$2428
14 km or 8.7 mi	Vancouver	$2471
17 km or 11 mi	West Linn	$2401
18 km or 11 mi	Tualatin	$2420
18 km or 11 mi	Gresham	$2459
18 km or 11 mi	Oregon City	$2411
25 km or 16 mi	Hillsboro	$2401
33 km or 21 mi	Newberg	$2382
35 km or 21 mi	Forest Grove	$2388
44 km or 27 mi	Woodburn	$2293
54 km or 33 mi	McMinnville	$2269
64 km or 40 mi	Keizer	$2336
71 km or 44 mi	Salem	$2391
72 km or 45 mi	Longview	$2092
104 km or 65 mi	Albany	$2251
116 km or 72 mi	Corvallis	$2083
116 km or 72 mi	The Dalles	$2279
136 km or 84 mi	Centralia	$2747
165 km or 102 mi	Springfield	$1985
166 km or 103 mi	Eugene	$2232
168 km or 105 mi	Lacey	$2584
171 km or 106 mi	Olympia	$2558
177 km or 110 mi	Spanaway	$2362
181 km or 113 mi	Redmond	$2635
184 km or 114 mi	Lakewood	$2582
185 km or 115 mi	Aberdeen	$1707
187 km or 116 mi	Puyallup	$2828
190 km or 118 mi	University Place	$2720
192 km or 120 mi	Tacoma	$2519
195 km or 121 mi	Bend	$2792
201 km or 125 mi	Federal Way	$2587
202 km or 125 mi	Auburn	$2325
206 km or 128 mi	Yakima	$1924
210 km or 131 mi	Kent	$2814
210 km or 131 mi	Des Moines	$2677
211 km or 131 mi	Maple Valley	$2656
216 km or 134 mi	SeaTac	$2807

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