Quito vs San Jose, United States - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 02, 2025

	Quito	San Jose
🚶 Cost of living one person	$884	$3810
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$2179	$8485
🏠 One person rent	$367	$2688
🏘️ Family rent	$595	$4744
🍽️ Food expenses	$329	$759
🚐 Transport expenses	$88.8	$175
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$683	$6191
😷 Air quality	Excellent	Excellent
✈️ Airport proximity	20 km	8 km
🎓 Higher education	64	87
😀 Quality of life	55	92
🏙️ Population	1.76M	1.01M

The cost of living in Quito is 77% less expensive than in San Jose, United States. Cities ranked 6124th and 8th ($884 vs $3810) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 3rd and 6th in Ecuador and the United States, respectively. Check Ecuador vs the United States comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 0.8 months in Quito compared to 1.6 months in San Jose, United States. Quito ranked 1st best city to live in Ecuador vs San Jose, United States ranked 11th in the United States, while ranked 5845th and 82nd among best cities to live in the world.

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Cost of living in Quito vs San Jose, United States infographic

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Prices in Quito vs San Jose, United States

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	$21
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$32.1	$100
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$7.96	$10.8
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.79	$8.92
☕ Cappuccino	$3.14	$5.89
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$1.14	$3.1
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$410	$2643
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$291	$2388
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$719	$5083
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$482	$4230
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$24.8	$179
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$38.2	$274
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$27.3	$69.8
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	11.11%	6.54%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1517	$9512
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$971	$9578
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$0.35	$2.48
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$24.1	$90.5
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$11.3	$18.5
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$0.85	$1.28
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.13	$1.33
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$1.49	$4.73
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.64	$3.45
🥚 Eggs, x12	$2.42	$5.03
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$9.58	$19.1
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$8.26	$16.4
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$8.21	$19.9
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.88	$6.55
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.12	$2.32
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.17	$3.75
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.4	$6.42
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.34	$3.84
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.05	$3.44
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.65	$1.93
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$2.3	$2.38
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$11.3	$14.9
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.77	$2.24
🚬 Cigarette pack	$7.31	$11.2
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$8.17	$10.5
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$8.08	$6.98
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$2.62	$7.05
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$2.12	$2.51
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$39.9	$129
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$6.82	$14.9
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$41.9	$149
💇 Haircut, simple	$10.5	$20.9
👖 Brand Jeans	$51.6	$48.6
👟 Brand Sneakers	$101	$77.6
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$276	$1805
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$8036	$25839

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, United States

Distance	City	Cost of living
7.6 km or 4.7 mi	Campbell	$3362
9.7 km or 6.1 mi	Santa Clara	$3419
11 km or 6.8 mi	Los Gatos	$4167
13 km or 8.4 mi	Saratoga	$3287
15 km or 9.1 mi	Milpitas	$3131
15 km or 9.3 mi	Cupertino	$2828
16 km or 10 mi	Sunnyvale	$3448
18 km or 11 mi	Mountain View	$3295
21 km or 13 mi	Los Altos	$3159
27 km or 17 mi	Palo Alto	$3752
27 km or 17 mi	Morgan Hill	$3090
28 km or 18 mi	Fremont	$3187
29 km or 18 mi	Newark	$3060
29 km or 18 mi	East Palo Alto	$3286
32 km or 20 mi	Menlo Park	$3326
36 km or 22 mi	Union	$3002
38 km or 23 mi	Redwood	$3649
39 km or 24 mi	Santa Cruz	$3412
41 km or 25 mi	San Carlos	$3344
41 km or 25 mi	Pleasanton	$3448
42 km or 26 mi	Gilroy	$3006
43 km or 27 mi	Livermore	$3096
44 km or 27 mi	Watsonville	$3437
44 km or 27 mi	Belmont	$3657
44 km or 28 mi	Foster	$3466
45 km or 28 mi	Hayward	$2811
46 km or 28 mi	Dublin	$3059
47 km or 29 mi	San Lorenzo	$2747
48 km or 30 mi	San Mateo	$3678
48 km or 30 mi	Castro Valley	$3041
53 km or 33 mi	San Leandro	$2963
53 km or 33 mi	Burlingame	$3269
54 km or 33 mi	San Ramon	$3045
57 km or 36 mi	Millbrae	$3226
59 km or 36 mi	Danville	$3785
60 km or 38 mi	San Bruno	$3195
61 km or 38 mi	Alameda	$3364
62 km or 38 mi	Tracy	$2135
63 km or 39 mi	South San Francisco	$3185
64 km or 40 mi	Oakland	$2968