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

Updated: March 02, 2025

	Salvador	San Jose
🚶 Cost of living one person	$705	$1324
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$1737	$3344
🏠 One person rent	$293	$606
🏘️ Family rent	$447	$1094
🍽️ Food expenses	$232	$499
🚐 Transport expenses	$111	$78
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$374	$990
😷 Air quality	Moderate	Excellent
✈️ Airport proximity	22 km	7 km
🎓 Higher education	56	60
😀 Quality of life	57	66
🏙️ Population	2.42M	342K

The cost of living in Salvador is 47% less expensive than in San Jose, Costa Rica. Cities ranked 6861st and 4143rd ($705 vs $1324) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 25th 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 0.5 months in Salvador compared to 0.7 months in San Jose, Costa Rica. Salvador ranked 7th best city to live in Brazil vs San Jose, Costa Rica ranked 1st in Costa Rica, while ranked 5641st and 4085th among best cities to live in the world.

Salary adjustment calculator
the estimated difference in money purchasing power

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

Share this infographic!

Use the link below to embed the infographic from our site and automatically keep the data layer up to date.

If you prefer to download the image, please credit us as a source.

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

Prices in Salvador vs San Jose, Costa Rica

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

	Salvador	San Jose
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$5.22	$11.2
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$23.5	$51.4
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$6.02	$9.6
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.75	$2.9
☕ Cappuccino	$1.94	$4.5
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$0.74	$1.97
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$301	$738
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$198	$444
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$485	$1315
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$304	$874
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$59.7	$53.7
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$91.9	$82.5
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$15.1	$49.2
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	10.29%	10.31%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1103	$2883
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$610	$1718
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$0.9	$0.98
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$42.9	$41.6
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$8.5	$16.2
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.04	$1.42
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.12	$2.07
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$1.25	$2.32
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.96	$1.94
🥚 Eggs, x12	$1.85	$3.34
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$8.43	$11.2
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.85	$8.97
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$6.22	$14.3
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.87	$3.92
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.37	$1.46
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.83	$3.91
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.23	$2.99
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.05	$2.99
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.23	$2.81
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.44	$1.85
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.46	$3.17
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$6.13	$18.6
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.17	$2.43
🚬 Cigarette pack	$1.88	$5.13
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$5.48	$8.09
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$4.26	$7.94
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$1.18	$3.22
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$0.74	$3.77
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$19.9	$65
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$5.28	$9.08
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$28.1	$72.3
💇 Haircut, simple	$7.14	$15.2
👖 Brand Jeans	$46.3	$68.8
👟 Brand Sneakers	$64.1	$125
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$217	$601
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$10392	$12527

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

Cost of Living in the nearest cities

Cities near Salvador

Distance	City	Cost of living
75 km or 47 mi	Valenca	$565
81 km or 51 mi	Santo Antonio de Jesus	$564
93 km or 58 mi	Feira de Santana	$538
93 km or 58 mi	Alagoinhas	$554
155 km or 96 mi	Serrinha	$540
197 km or 122 mi	Jequie	$530
201 km or 125 mi	Itaberaba	$542
210 km or 131 mi	Ilheus	$490
218 km or 136 mi	Itabuna	$444
222 km or 138 mi	Estancia	$565
278 km or 173 mi	Aracaju	$527
315 km or 196 mi	Itapetinga	$510
328 km or 204 mi	Vitoria da Conquista	$512
334 km or 207 mi	Senhor do Bonfim	$509
364 km or 226 mi	Penedo	$560
367 km or 228 mi	Brumado	$522
391 km or 243 mi	Porto Seguro	$567
397 km or 247 mi	Paulo Afonso	$412
408 km or 254 mi	Irece	$517
412 km or 256 mi	Arapiraca	$591
446 km or 277 mi	Palmeira dos Indios	$571
451 km or 280 mi	Juazeiro	$428
454 km or 282 mi	Petrolina	$531
465 km or 289 mi	Itamaraju	$551
476 km or 296 mi	Maceio	$667
482 km or 300 mi	Guanambi	$531
485 km or 301 mi	Rio Largo	$610
504 km or 313 mi	Garanhuns	$572
524 km or 326 mi	Teixeira de Freitas	$547
531 km or 330 mi	Arcoverde	$547
532 km or 331 mi	Bom Jesus da Lapa	$529
549 km or 341 mi	Salgueiro	$534
590 km or 367 mi	Caruaru	$503
605 km or 376 mi	Janauba	$548
631 km or 392 mi	Teofilo Otoni	$529
645 km or 401 mi	Cabo de Santo Agostinho	$607
645 km or 401 mi	Crato	$545
646 km or 402 mi	Juazeiro do Norte	$553
655 km or 407 mi	Sao Mateus	$554
662 km or 411 mi	Jaboatao dos Guararapes	$677

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