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

Updated: March 11, 2026

	Sacramento	San Jose
🚶 Cost of living one person	$2846	$1454
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$6548	$3624
🏠 One person rent	$1798	$697
🏘️ Family rent	$3108	$1213
🍽️ Food expenses	$723	$527
🚐 Transport expenses	$146	$78.6
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$4529	$935
😷 Air quality	Excellent	Excellent
✈️ Airport proximity	7 km	7 km
🎓 Higher education	54	60
😀 Quality of life	87	72
🏙️ Population	525K	335K

The cost of living in Sacramento is 96% more expensive than in San Jose, Costa Rica. Cities ranked 346th and 4213th ($2846 vs $1454) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 285th 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 1.6 months in Sacramento compared to 0.6 months in San Jose, Costa Rica. Sacramento ranked 116th best city to live in the United States vs San Jose, Costa Rica ranked 1st in Costa Rica, while ranked 376th 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/sacramento/san-jose-cr.jpg" alt="Cost of living in Sacramento vs San Jose, Costa Rica infographic" style="max-width: 100%; height: auto;"><p>Source: <a href="https://livingcost.org/cost/sacramento/san-jose-cr" target="_blank">Sacramento vs San Jose, Costa Rica - Cost of Living Comparison</a></p>

Prices in Sacramento vs San Jose, Costa Rica

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

	Sacramento	San Jose
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$20.1	$11.2
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$80.6	$51
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$10.9	$10.4
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$8	$2.9
☕ Cappuccino	$5.6	$4.68
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$2.83	$2.14
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1821	$821
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1445	$531
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$3355	$1484
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$2567	$973
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$201	$54.9
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$306	$83.8
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$77.7	$53.3
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	6.5%	9.69%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$4818	$2465
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$3673	$1757
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$2.51	$1
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$99.2	$48.8
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$19.2	$15.1
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.24	$1.41
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.19	$2.26
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$4.23	$2.62
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.81	$2.38
🥚 Eggs, x12	$4.98	$3.03
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$15.4	$11.5
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$17.2	$8.94
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$19.4	$13.4
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$5.02	$4.34
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2	$1.57
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.32	$4.35
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$6.17	$3.48
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.94	$3.75
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.59	$3.18
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.8	$1.93
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$3.16	$3.28
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$15.2	$20.3
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.67	$2.64
🚬 Cigarette pack	$11.7	$5.46
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$9.27	$8.15
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$7.95	$9.92
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$4.19	$3.47
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$3.28	$4.31
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$48.2	$59.8
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$16.2	$7.93
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$132	$96.4
💇 Haircut, simple	$24.9	$15.9
👖 Brand Jeans	$58.5	$67.6
👟 Brand Sneakers	$95.3	$129
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$1458	$704
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$23546	$14663

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

Cost of Living in the nearest cities

Cities near Sacramento

Distance	City	Cost of living
4.6 km or 2.9 mi	West Sacramento	$2693
7.7 km or 4.8 mi	Parkway-South Sacramento	$2733
9.8 km or 6.1 mi	Arden-Arcade	$2691
16 km or 9.9 mi	Rancho Cordova	$2750
18 km or 11 mi	Elk Grove	$2807
21 km or 13 mi	Citrus Heights	$2786
22 km or 14 mi	Davis	$2962
26 km or 16 mi	Roseville	$2933
27 km or 17 mi	Woodland	$2781
30 km or 19 mi	Folsom	$2736
33 km or 20 mi	Rocklin	$2649
33 km or 20 mi	Dixon	$2906
38 km or 24 mi	Lincoln	$2687
38 km or 24 mi	Galt	$2813
49 km or 30 mi	Vacaville	$3187
53 km or 33 mi	Lodi	$2687
59 km or 37 mi	Suisun	$3097
61 km or 38 mi	Fairfield	$3339
62 km or 39 mi	Placerville	$2776
63 km or 39 mi	Yuba	$2162
67 km or 42 mi	Oakley	$2962
69 km or 43 mi	Stockton	$2280
69 km or 43 mi	Antioch	$3136
70 km or 44 mi	Pittsburg	$2939
74 km or 46 mi	Brentwood	$3004
77 km or 48 mi	Napa	$3454
82 km or 51 mi	Benicia	$2807
82 km or 51 mi	Concord	$2783
84 km or 52 mi	Martinez	$2929
85 km or 53 mi	Vallejo	$2380
85 km or 53 mi	Pleasant Hill	$2780
86 km or 53 mi	Lathrop	$2658
89 km or 55 mi	Manteca	$2651
90 km or 56 mi	Walnut Creek	$2984
91 km or 56 mi	Sonoma	$3064
93 km or 58 mi	Tracy	$2089
94 km or 58 mi	Hercules	$2893
94 km or 59 mi	Lafayette	$2929
95 km or 59 mi	Danville	$3778
98 km or 61 mi	San Ramon	$2859

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