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

Updated: March 02, 2025

	San Jose	San Salvador
🚶 Cost of living one person	$1324	$1204
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$3344	$2687
🏠 One person rent	$606	$656
🏘️ Family rent	$1094	$1067
🍽️ Food expenses	$499	$363
🚐 Transport expenses	$78	$85.4
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$990	$418
😷 Air quality	Excellent	Moderate
✈️ Airport proximity	7 km	8 km
🎓 Higher education	60	42
😀 Quality of life	66	50
🏙️ Population	342K	316K

The cost of living in San Jose, Costa Rica is 10% more expensive than in San Salvador. Cities ranked 4143rd and 4469th ($1324 vs $1204) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 2nd and 2nd in Costa Rica and El Salvador, respectively. Check Costa Rica vs El Salvador comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 0.7 months in San Jose, Costa Rica compared to 0.3 months in San Salvador. San Jose, Costa Rica ranked 1st best city to live in Costa Rica vs San Salvador ranked 1st in El Salvador, while ranked 4085th and 6219th among best cities to live in the world.

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

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

Prices in San Jose, Costa Rica vs San Salvador

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

	San Jose	San Salvador
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$11.2	$9.72
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$51.4	$27.7
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$9.6	$7.4
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.9	$2.12
☕ Cappuccino	$4.5	$3.79
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$1.97	$1.16
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$738	$736
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$444	$512
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1315	$1236
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$874	$860
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$53.7	$62.9
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$82.5	$95.7
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$49.2	$36
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	10.31%	9.37%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$2883	$2408
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1718	$1341
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$0.98	$0.35
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$41.6	$22.2
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$16.2	$26.7
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.42	$1.14
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$2.07	$2.07
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$2.32	$1.67
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.94	$1.37
🥚 Eggs, x12	$3.34	$3.1
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$11.2	$7.63
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$8.97	$6.38
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$14.3	$10.4
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.92	$3.12
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.46	$1.68
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.91	$2.57
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.99	$2.52
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.99	$2.18
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.81	$2.16
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.85	$0.69
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$3.17	$2.23
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$18.6	$15.9
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.43	$1.56
🚬 Cigarette pack	$5.13	$4.03
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$8.09	$6.95
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$7.94	$6
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$3.22	$2.33
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$3.77	$1.68
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$65	$32.5
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$9.08	$5.88
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$72.3	$38.7
💇 Haircut, simple	$15.2	$8.88
👖 Brand Jeans	$68.8	$63
👟 Brand Sneakers	$125	$115
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$601	$161
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$12527	$5642

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

$349

$907

$6.64K

Cost of Living in the nearest cities

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

Cities near San Salvador

Distance	City	Cost of living
5.2 km or 3.2 mi	Mejicanos	$1175
6.1 km or 3.8 mi	Soyapango	$1182
11 km or 6.8 mi	Santa Tecla	$1194
11 km or 7 mi	Apopa	$1160
49 km or 30 mi	Santa Ana	$698
57 km or 35 mi	Sonsonate	$884
75 km or 46 mi	Ahuachapan	$1449
89 km or 55 mi	Usulutan	$1083
112 km or 69 mi	San Miguel	$1088
135 km or 84 mi	Jalapa	$936
172 km or 107 mi	San Miguel Petapa	$941
176 km or 109 mi	Guatemala City	$1070
185 km or 115 mi	Mixco	$653
187 km or 116 mi	Comayagua	$753
219 km or 136 mi	Tegucigalpa	$863
220 km or 137 mi	Villanueva	$897
235 km or 146 mi	Coban	$916
236 km or 147 mi	San Pedro Sula	$1047
237 km or 147 mi	La Lima	$897
241 km or 150 mi	Panajachel	$819
241 km or 150 mi	El Progreso	$903
250 km or 156 mi	Choloma	$719
253 km or 157 mi	Chinandega	$638
266 km or 165 mi	Mazatenango	$886
273 km or 170 mi	Yoro	$755
277 km or 172 mi	Puerto Cortes	$788
281 km or 174 mi	Quetzaltenango	$784
282 km or 175 mi	Momostenango	$881
287 km or 178 mi	Leon	$632
315 km or 196 mi	Esteli	$598
347 km or 216 mi	La Ceiba	$626
352 km or 219 mi	Jinotega	$455
357 km or 222 mi	Tapachula	$632
361 km or 224 mi	Managua	$738
365 km or 227 mi	Matagalpa	$624
367 km or 228 mi	Flores	$878
385 km or 239 mi	San Ignacio	$1034
387 km or 240 mi	Masaya	$710
397 km or 247 mi	Belmopan	$973
402 km or 250 mi	Granada	$701