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

Updated: March 02, 2025

	Recife	San Jose
🚶 Cost of living one person	$671	$1324
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$1826	$3344
🏠 One person rent	$285	$606
🏘️ Family rent	$541	$1094
🍽️ Food expenses	$222	$499
🚐 Transport expenses	$79.8	$78
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$413	$990
😷 Air quality	Good	Excellent
✈️ Airport proximity	9 km	7 km
🎓 Higher education	54	60
😀 Quality of life	54	66
🏙️ Population	1.49M	342K

The cost of living in Recife is 49% less expensive than in San Jose, Costa Rica. Cities ranked 7055th and 4143rd ($671 vs $1324) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 43rd and 2nd in Brazil and Costa Rica, respectively. Check Brazil vs Costa Rica comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 0.6 months in Recife compared to 0.7 months in San Jose, Costa Rica. Recife ranked 19th best city to live in Brazil vs San Jose, Costa Rica ranked 1st in Costa Rica, while ranked 5998th and 4085th among best cities to live in the world.

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

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

Prices in Recife vs San Jose, Costa Rica

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

	Recife	San Jose
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$4.01	$11.2
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$22.5	$51.4
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$6.33	$9.6
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.38	$2.9
☕ Cappuccino	$1.91	$4.5
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$0.86	$1.97
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$316	$738
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$198	$444
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$549	$1315
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$427	$874
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$47.4	$53.7
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$73.7	$82.5
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$16.3	$49.2
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	13.97%	10.31%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1247	$2883
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$723	$1718
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$0.72	$0.98
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$35.1	$41.6
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$6.49	$16.2
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.04	$1.42
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.16	$2.07
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$1.13	$2.32
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.02	$1.94
🥚 Eggs, x12	$2.16	$3.34
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$7.04	$11.2
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.86	$8.97
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$6.96	$14.3
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.13	$3.92
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.18	$1.46
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.06	$3.91
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.2	$2.99
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.25	$2.99
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.01	$2.81
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.45	$1.85
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.64	$3.17
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$6.95	$18.6
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.05	$2.43
🚬 Cigarette pack	$1.66	$5.13
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$3.89	$8.09
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$3.41	$7.94
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$1.1	$3.22
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$1.04	$3.77
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$17.5	$65
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$6.24	$9.08
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$52	$72.3
💇 Haircut, simple	$7.15	$15.2
👖 Brand Jeans	$45	$68.8
👟 Brand Sneakers	$71.5	$125
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$269	$601
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$14050	$12527

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

$349

$907

$6.64K

Cost of Living in the nearest cities

Cities near Recife

Distance	City	Cost of living
5.8 km or 3.6 mi	Olinda	$588
12 km or 7.2 mi	Camaragibe	$567
13 km or 7.8 mi	Paulista	$446
16 km or 10 mi	Jaboatao dos Guararapes	$677
31 km or 19 mi	Cabo de Santo Agostinho	$607
47 km or 29 mi	Carpina	$563
56 km or 35 mi	Goiana	$551
108 km or 67 mi	Joao Pessoa	$615
123 km or 77 mi	Caruaru	$503
143 km or 89 mi	Campina Grande	$538
191 km or 119 mi	Rio Largo	$610
200 km or 124 mi	Garanhuns	$572
202 km or 126 mi	Maceio	$667
243 km or 151 mi	Arcoverde	$547
244 km or 152 mi	Palmeira dos Indios	$571
254 km or 158 mi	Natal	$563
271 km or 168 mi	Arapiraca	$591
288 km or 179 mi	Patos	$569
302 km or 188 mi	Caico	$561
311 km or 193 mi	Penedo	$560
397 km or 247 mi	Paulo Afonso	$412
397 km or 247 mi	Aracaju	$527
419 km or 260 mi	Mossoro	$550
454 km or 282 mi	Estancia	$565
467 km or 290 mi	Salgueiro	$534
476 km or 296 mi	Ico	$563
487 km or 302 mi	Russas	$597
498 km or 309 mi	Juazeiro do Norte	$553
503 km or 312 mi	Aracati	$603
507 km or 315 mi	Crato	$545
523 km or 325 mi	Iguatu	$561
571 km or 355 mi	Quixada	$604
597 km or 371 mi	Alagoinhas	$554
605 km or 376 mi	Serrinha	$540
628 km or 390 mi	Fortaleza	$745
636 km or 395 mi	Petrolina	$531
636 km or 395 mi	Juazeiro	$428
636 km or 395 mi	Caucaia	$685
639 km or 397 mi	Caninde	$595
641 km or 398 mi	Senhor do Bonfim	$509

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