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

Updated: June 21, 2026

	Sacramento	San Jose
🚶 Cost of living one person	$2682	$1574
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$6170	$3920
🏠 One person rent	$1646	$747
🏘️ Family rent	$2782	$1276
🍽️ Food expenses	$710	$579
🚐 Transport expenses	$150	$85.8
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$4542	$1063
😷 Air quality	Excellent	Excellent
✈️ Airport proximity	7 km	7 km
🎓 Higher education	54	60
😀 Quality of life	87	73
🏙️ Population	525K	335K

The cost of living in Sacramento is 70% more expensive than in San Jose, Costa Rica. Cities ranked 605th and 3714th ($2682 vs $1574) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 533rd 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 1.7 months in Sacramento compared to 0.7 months in San Jose, Costa Rica. Sacramento ranked 109th best city to live in the United States vs San Jose, Costa Rica ranked 1st in Costa Rica, while ranked 347th and 2425th among best cities to live in the world.

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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	$19.1	$12.8
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$75.1	$49.5
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$12.1	$11.8
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$8.04	$3.36
☕ Cappuccino	$5.87	$5.2
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$2.91	$2.34
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1781	$821
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1302	$585
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$2832	$1456
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$2335	$1048
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$182	$58.3
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$282	$89.7
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$66	$56.7
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	6.22%	9.32%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$4948	$2299
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$3517	$1800
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$2.48	$1.09
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$103	$56.4
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$19.6	$16
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.34	$1.45
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.32	$2.43
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$3.55	$3.01
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.06	$2.56
🥚 Eggs, x12	$5.78	$3.5
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$16.1	$11.8
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$16.7	$9.83
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$18.4	$13.9
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.73	$5.01
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2	$1.73
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.32	$4.77
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$5.79	$3.76
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.39	$4.11
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.24	$3.66
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.79	$2.1
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$3.19	$3.6
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$16.9	$23.3
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.79	$2.92
🚬 Cigarette pack	$11.9	$5.9
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$10.7	$9.27
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$7.97	$9.95
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$4.63	$3.95
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$3.21	$4.6
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$43.3	$68.5
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$17	$8.55
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$119	$104
💇 Haircut, simple	$24.9	$16
👖 Brand Jeans	$61.1	$70.9
👟 Brand Sneakers	$102	$140
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$1488	$814
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$20438	$16872

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	$2600
7.7 km or 4.8 mi	Parkway-South Sacramento	$2631
9.8 km or 6.1 mi	Arden-Arcade	$2671
16 km or 9.9 mi	Rancho Cordova	$2722
18 km or 11 mi	Elk Grove	$2775
21 km or 13 mi	Citrus Heights	$2793
22 km or 14 mi	Davis	$2978
26 km or 16 mi	Roseville	$2918
27 km or 17 mi	Woodland	$2768
30 km or 19 mi	Folsom	$2732
33 km or 20 mi	Rocklin	$2660
33 km or 20 mi	Dixon	$2911
38 km or 24 mi	Lincoln	$2667
38 km or 24 mi	Galt	$2815
49 km or 30 mi	Vacaville	$3204
53 km or 33 mi	Lodi	$2710
59 km or 37 mi	Suisun	$3091
61 km or 38 mi	Fairfield	$3318
62 km or 39 mi	Placerville	$2771
63 km or 39 mi	Yuba	$2161
67 km or 42 mi	Oakley	$2980
69 km or 43 mi	Stockton	$2374
69 km or 43 mi	Antioch	$3179
70 km or 44 mi	Pittsburg	$2962
74 km or 46 mi	Brentwood	$3017
77 km or 48 mi	Napa	$3431
82 km or 51 mi	Benicia	$2804
82 km or 51 mi	Concord	$2748
84 km or 52 mi	Martinez	$2905
85 km or 53 mi	Vallejo	$2393
85 km or 53 mi	Pleasant Hill	$2796
86 km or 53 mi	Lathrop	$2677
89 km or 55 mi	Manteca	$2668
90 km or 56 mi	Walnut Creek	$2900
91 km or 56 mi	Sonoma	$3050
93 km or 58 mi	Tracy	$2088
94 km or 58 mi	Hercules	$2893
94 km or 59 mi	Lafayette	$2906
95 km or 59 mi	Danville	$3873
98 km or 61 mi	San Ramon	$2848

Cities near San Jose, Costa Rica

Distance	City	Cost of living
7.9 km or 4.9 mi	Heredia	$1471
17 km or 11 mi	Alajuela	$1362
20 km or 12 mi	Cartago	$1361
82 km or 51 mi	Puntarenas	$872
115 km or 72 mi	Limon	$1228
124 km or 77 mi	Santa Teresa	$1325
167 km or 104 mi	Liberia	$1024
197 km or 122 mi	Tamarindo	$1929
244 km or 151 mi	San Juan del Sur	$844
246 km or 153 mi	David	$909
279 km or 173 mi	Juigalpa	$796
302 km or 188 mi	Granada	$706
316 km or 196 mi	Masaya	$817
343 km or 213 mi	Managua	$788
387 km or 241 mi	Matagalpa	$665
398 km or 247 mi	Santiago de Veraguas	$1112
408 km or 253 mi	Jinotega	$503
413 km or 257 mi	Leon	$759
429 km or 266 mi	Esteli	$716
438 km or 272 mi	Penonome	$1147
447 km or 278 mi	Chinandega	$791
457 km or 284 mi	Chitre	$1144
463 km or 288 mi	Colon	$1185
486 km or 302 mi	La Chorrera	$982
508 km or 316 mi	Balboa	$1396
513 km or 319 mi	Panama City	$1590
524 km or 326 mi	Tocumen	$1373
535 km or 333 mi	Pacora	$1361
574 km or 357 mi	Tegucigalpa	$909
596 km or 370 mi	San Miguel	$1132
609 km or 378 mi	Usulutan	$1123
635 km or 395 mi	Comayagua	$678
666 km or 414 mi	Yoro	$756
696 km or 432 mi	San Salvador	$1291
697 km or 433 mi	Soyapango	$1261
701 km or 435 mi	Mejicanos	$1254
702 km or 436 mi	Apopa	$1231
703 km or 437 mi	Santa Tecla	$1183
713 km or 443 mi	La Ceiba	$619
729 km or 453 mi	El Progreso	$832