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

Updated: March 02, 2025

	Raleigh	San Jose
🚶 Cost of living one person	$2388	$1324
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$5530	$3344
🏠 One person rent	$1484	$606
🏘️ Family rent	$2447	$1094
🍽️ Food expenses	$625	$499
🚐 Transport expenses	$94.8	$78
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$4749	$990
😷 Air quality	Good	Excellent
✈️ Airport proximity	14 km	7 km
🎓 Higher education	82	60
😀 Quality of life	88	66
🏙️ Population	468K	342K

The cost of living in Raleigh is 80% more expensive than in San Jose, Costa Rica. Cities ranked 972nd and 4143rd ($2388 vs $1324) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 892nd 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 2 months in Raleigh compared to 0.7 months in San Jose, Costa Rica. Raleigh ranked 51st best city to live in the United States vs San Jose, Costa Rica ranked 1st in Costa Rica, while ranked 221st and 4085th among best cities to live in the world.

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

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Prices in Raleigh vs San Jose, Costa Rica

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

	Raleigh	San Jose
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$17.1	$11.2
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$75.6	$51.4
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$9.74	$9.6
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$5.88	$2.9
☕ Cappuccino	$5.37	$4.5
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$2.31	$1.97
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1468	$738
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1216	$444
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$2614	$1315
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$2029	$874
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$149	$53.7
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$232	$82.5
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$68.4	$49.2
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	6.51%	10.31%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$6077	$2883
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$2879	$1718
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$2.01	$0.98
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$58.4	$41.6
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$14.9	$16.2
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$0.84	$1.42
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.96	$2.07
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$3.8	$2.32
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.45	$1.94
🥚 Eggs, x12	$3.83	$3.34
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$13.2	$11.2
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$11.1	$8.97
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$16.9	$14.3
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$6.48	$3.92
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.38	$1.46
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$7.38	$3.91
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$6.04	$2.99
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.1	$2.99
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.81	$2.81
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.5	$1.85
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$2.46	$3.17
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$14.9	$18.6
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.82	$2.43
🚬 Cigarette pack	$7.69	$5.13
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$8.17	$8.09
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$4	$7.94
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$3.38	$3.22
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$2.7	$3.77
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$39.1	$65
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$14.3	$9.08
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$158	$72.3
💇 Haircut, simple	$24.9	$15.2
👖 Brand Jeans	$52	$68.8
👟 Brand Sneakers	$93.2	$125
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$1481	$601
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$21914	$12527

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Cost of living

Cost of Living in the nearest cities

Cities near Raleigh

Distance	City	Cost of living
12 km or 7.6 mi	Garner	$2281
15 km or 9.1 mi	Cary	$2616
17 km or 10 mi	Morrisville	$1836
21 km or 13 mi	Wake Forest	$2229
21 km or 13 mi	Apex	$2335
25 km or 16 mi	Holly Springs	$2315
28 km or 18 mi	Fuquay-Varina	$2290
30 km or 19 mi	Durham	$2140
38 km or 23 mi	Chapel Hill	$2309
60 km or 37 mi	Henderson	$2169
61 km or 38 mi	Sanford	$2184
65 km or 41 mi	Wilson	$2073
77 km or 48 mi	Rocky Mount	$2052
77 km or 48 mi	Goldsboro	$1733
78 km or 49 mi	Burlington	$2144
87 km or 54 mi	Fayetteville	$2100
106 km or 66 mi	Asheboro	$2091
109 km or 68 mi	Danville	$1764
110 km or 68 mi	Greensboro	$2011
114 km or 71 mi	Roanoke Rapids	$2117
114 km or 71 mi	Kinston	$2076
117 km or 73 mi	Greenville	$2014
123 km or 76 mi	High Point	$1934
129 km or 80 mi	Thomasville	$2058
133 km or 83 mi	Kernersville	$2169
137 km or 85 mi	Lumberton	$2100
141 km or 87 mi	Rockingham	$2136
149 km or 92 mi	Winston-Salem	$2098
163 km or 101 mi	Jacksonville	$1952
165 km or 103 mi	New Bern	$1819
166 km or 103 mi	Salisbury	$2117
182 km or 113 mi	Kannapolis	$2136
182 km or 113 mi	Lynchburg	$1752
183 km or 114 mi	Concord	$2147
189 km or 117 mi	Havelock	$1976
190 km or 118 mi	Wilmington	$2144
191 km or 119 mi	Petersburg	$2332
196 km or 122 mi	Monroe	$2182
196 km or 122 mi	Mint Hill	$2269
198 km or 123 mi	Roanoke	$1682

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