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

Updated: March 02, 2025

	Quito	San Jose
🚶 Cost of living one person	$884	$1324
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$2179	$3344
🏠 One person rent	$367	$606
🏘️ Family rent	$595	$1094
🍽️ Food expenses	$329	$499
🚐 Transport expenses	$88.8	$78
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$683	$990
😷 Air quality	Excellent	Excellent
✈️ Airport proximity	20 km	7 km
🎓 Higher education	64	60
😀 Quality of life	55	66
🏙️ Population	1.76M	342K

The cost of living in Quito is 33% less expensive than in San Jose, Costa Rica. Cities ranked 6124th and 4143rd ($884 vs $1324) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 3rd and 2nd in Ecuador and Costa Rica, respectively. Check Ecuador vs Costa Rica comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 0.8 months in Quito compared to 0.7 months in San Jose, Costa Rica. Quito ranked 1st best city to live in Ecuador vs San Jose, Costa Rica ranked 1st in Costa Rica, while ranked 5845th and 4085th among best cities to live in the world.

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

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Prices in Quito vs San Jose, Costa Rica

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

	Quito	San Jose
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$5.31	$11.2
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$32.1	$51.4
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$7.96	$9.6
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.79	$2.9
☕ Cappuccino	$3.14	$4.5
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$1.14	$1.97
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$410	$738
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$291	$444
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$719	$1315
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$482	$874
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$24.8	$53.7
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$38.2	$82.5
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$27.3	$49.2
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	11.11%	10.31%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1517	$2883
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$971	$1718
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$0.35	$0.98
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$24.1	$41.6
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$11.3	$16.2
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$0.85	$1.42
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.13	$2.07
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$1.49	$2.32
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.64	$1.94
🥚 Eggs, x12	$2.42	$3.34
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$9.58	$11.2
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$8.26	$8.97
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$8.21	$14.3
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.88	$3.92
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.12	$1.46
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.17	$3.91
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.4	$2.99
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.34	$2.99
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.05	$2.81
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.65	$1.85
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$2.3	$3.17
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$11.3	$18.6
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.77	$2.43
🚬 Cigarette pack	$7.31	$5.13
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$8.17	$8.09
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$8.08	$7.94
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$2.62	$3.22
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$2.12	$3.77
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$39.9	$65
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$6.82	$9.08
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$41.9	$72.3
💇 Haircut, simple	$10.5	$15.2
👖 Brand Jeans	$51.6	$68.8
👟 Brand Sneakers	$101	$125
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$276	$601
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$8036	$12527

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

Cost of Living in the nearest cities

Cities near Quito

Distance	City	Cost of living
74 km or 46 mi	Santo Domingo	$532
77 km or 48 mi	Ibarra	$519
114 km or 71 mi	Ambato	$573
138 km or 86 mi	Quevedo	$651
151 km or 94 mi	Ipiales	$531
163 km or 101 mi	Riobamba	$538
183 km or 114 mi	Esmeraldas	$610
210 km or 130 mi	Pasto	$514
210 km or 130 mi	Babahoyo	$823
227 km or 141 mi	Tumaco	$571
235 km or 146 mi	Portoviejo	$716
244 km or 152 mi	Milagro	$697
258 km or 161 mi	Manta	$990
262 km or 163 mi	Duran	$806
267 km or 166 mi	Guayaquil	$925
303 km or 188 mi	Cuenca	$758
307 km or 191 mi	Montanita	$766
348 km or 216 mi	La Libertad	$816
364 km or 226 mi	Popayan	$477
376 km or 233 mi	Machala	$569
381 km or 237 mi	Florencia	$410
426 km or 265 mi	Loja	$600
430 km or 267 mi	Tumbes	$463
463 km or 288 mi	Cali	$748
484 km or 301 mi	Buenaventura	$742
484 km or 301 mi	Palmira	$666
501 km or 311 mi	Neiva	$557
516 km or 321 mi	Mancora	$505
543 km or 337 mi	Tulua	$513
574 km or 357 mi	Talara	$513
575 km or 357 mi	Sullana	$505
602 km or 374 mi	Piura	$565
610 km or 379 mi	Jaen	$548
611 km or 380 mi	Paita	$518
616 km or 383 mi	Armenia	$598
623 km or 387 mi	Cartago	$649
631 km or 392 mi	Salento	$605
635 km or 395 mi	Ibague	$529
641 km or 398 mi	Pereira	$680
650 km or 404 mi	Girardot	$493

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