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

Updated: March 02, 2025

	San Jose	Seattle
🚶 Cost of living one person	$1324	$3015
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$3344	$7449
🏠 One person rent	$606	$1896
🏘️ Family rent	$1094	$3549
🍽️ Food expenses	$499	$746
🚐 Transport expenses	$78	$160
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$990	$6742
😷 Air quality	Excellent	Excellent
✈️ Airport proximity	7 km	9 km
🎓 Higher education	60	80
😀 Quality of life	66	91
🏙️ Population	342K	737K

The cost of living in San Jose, Costa Rica is 56% less expensive than in Seattle. Cities ranked 4143rd and 158th ($1324 vs $3015) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 2nd and 140th in Costa Rica and the United States, respectively. Check Costa Rica vs the United States comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 0.7 months in San Jose, Costa Rica compared to 2.2 months in Seattle. San Jose, Costa Rica ranked 1st best city to live in Costa Rica vs Seattle ranked 15th in the United States, while ranked 4085th and 98th among best cities to live in the world.

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

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Prices in San Jose, Costa Rica vs Seattle

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

	San Jose	Seattle
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$11.2	$21.9
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$51.4	$90.4
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$9.6	$13.6
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.9	$7.98
☕ Cappuccino	$4.5	$5.55
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$1.97	$2.97
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$738	$2086
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$444	$1567
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1315	$3947
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$874	$3067
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$53.7	$157
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$82.5	$237
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$49.2	$68.8
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	10.31%	6.44%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$2883	$6966
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1718	$5351
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$0.98	$2.73
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$41.6	$96.7
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$16.2	$18
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.42	$1.16
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$2.07	$1.18
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$2.32	$4.03
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.94	$4.44
🥚 Eggs, x12	$3.34	$4.89
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$11.2	$20.3
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$8.97	$14.6
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$14.3	$20.4
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.92	$5.19
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.46	$2.38
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.91	$5.37
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.99	$5.76
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.99	$2.64
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.81	$3.47
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.85	$1.56
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$3.17	$2.91
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$18.6	$17.8
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.43	$3.15
🚬 Cigarette pack	$5.13	$12
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$8.09	$10.4
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$7.94	$5.95
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$3.22	$6.98
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$3.77	$2.49
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$65	$65.6
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$9.08	$16
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$72.3	$183
💇 Haircut, simple	$15.2	$25.9
👖 Brand Jeans	$68.8	$68.9
👟 Brand Sneakers	$125	$101
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$601	$2185
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$12527	$29407

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

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 Seattle

Distance	City	Cost of living
9.1 km or 5.7 mi	Mercer Island	$2826
11 km or 6.5 mi	Bellevue	$3273
14 km or 8.5 mi	Kirkland	$2882
15 km or 9.2 mi	Tukwila	$2624
15 km or 9.5 mi	Burien	$2642
16 km or 10 mi	Bainbridge Island	$2810
17 km or 10 mi	Shoreline	$2973
17 km or 10 mi	Renton	$2595
17 km or 11 mi	Redmond	$3239
17 km or 11 mi	Kenmore	$2718
19 km or 12 mi	SeaTac	$2741
21 km or 13 mi	Bothell	$2625
22 km or 14 mi	Sammamish	$2759
22 km or 14 mi	Edmonds	$2785
23 km or 14 mi	Issaquah	$2606
24 km or 15 mi	Des Moines	$2623
24 km or 15 mi	Lynnwood	$2726
24 km or 15 mi	Bremerton	$2462
26 km or 16 mi	Kent	$2784
30 km or 19 mi	Mill Creek	$2642
33 km or 20 mi	Federal Way	$2532
34 km or 21 mi	Maple Valley	$2579
35 km or 21 mi	Mukilteo	$2637
35 km or 22 mi	Auburn	$2338
41 km or 25 mi	Everett	$2589
42 km or 26 mi	Tacoma	$2517
46 km or 28 mi	University Place	$2604
48 km or 30 mi	Puyallup	$2644
50 km or 31 mi	Lake Stevens	$2604
51 km or 32 mi	Lakewood	$2449
52 km or 33 mi	Marysville	$2598
57 km or 35 mi	Spanaway	$2460
74 km or 46 mi	Lacey	$2571
76 km or 47 mi	Olympia	$2406
78 km or 48 mi	Sequim	$2692
80 km or 50 mi	Oak Harbor	$2751
90 km or 56 mi	Mount Vernon	$2542
100 km or 62 mi	Port Angeles	$2527
109 km or 68 mi	Centralia	$2523
119 km or 74 mi	Victoria	$2093