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

Updated: March 02, 2025

	San Jose	Seoul
🚶 Cost of living one person	$1324	$1334
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$3344	$3862
🏠 One person rent	$606	$608
🏘️ Family rent	$1094	$1634
🍽️ Food expenses	$499	$488
🚐 Transport expenses	$78	$144
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$990	$2911
😷 Air quality	Excellent	Moderate
✈️ Airport proximity	7 km	18 km
🎓 Higher education	60	100
😀 Quality of life	66	95
🏙️ Population	342K	9.67M

The cost of living in San Jose, Costa Rica is 0.7% less expensive than in Seoul. Cities ranked 4143rd and 4104th ($1324 vs $1334) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 2nd and 3rd in Costa Rica and South Korea, respectively. Check Costa Rica vs South Korea 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 Seoul. San Jose, Costa Rica ranked 1st best city to live in Costa Rica vs Seoul ranked 1st in South Korea, while ranked 4085th and 30th among best cities to live in the world.

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

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

Prices in San Jose, Costa Rica vs Seoul

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

	San Jose	Seoul
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$11.2	$7.53
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$51.4	$40.1
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$9.6	$5.87
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.9	$3.5
☕ Cappuccino	$4.5	$3.57
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$1.97	$1.58
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$738	$754
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$444	$422
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1315	$2293
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$874	$1250
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$53.7	$99.6
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$82.5	$155
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$49.2	$20.3
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	10.31%	4.85%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$2883	$19682
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1718	$11168
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$0.98	$1.05
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$41.6	$44.5
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$16.2	$8.29
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.42	$1.17
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$2.07	$2.06
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$2.32	$3.08
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.94	$3.06
🥚 Eggs, x12	$3.34	$3.38
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$11.2	$12.7
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$8.97	$8.56
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$14.3	$32
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.92	$7.25
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.46	$3.37
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.91	$5.31
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.99	$5.9
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.99	$3.54
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.81	$2.82
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.85	$0.81
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$3.17	$2.18
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$18.6	$20.3
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.43	$2.46
🚬 Cigarette pack	$5.13	$3.17
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$8.09	$4.67
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$7.94	$5.75
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$3.22	$2.16
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$3.77	$2.86
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$65	$48.3
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$9.08	$10.5
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$72.3	$22.9
💇 Haircut, simple	$15.2	$9.53
👖 Brand Jeans	$68.8	$58.3
👟 Brand Sneakers	$125	$82.4
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$601	$420
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$12527	$20197

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 Seoul

Distance	City	Cost of living
13 km or 7.9 mi	Guri	$1122
17 km or 10 mi	Goyang	$1171
17 km or 10 mi	Gwangmyeong	$1089
17 km or 11 mi	Gwacheon	$1070
19 km or 12 mi	Uijeongbu	$955
20 km or 12 mi	Hanam	$1161
20 km or 12 mi	Namyangju	$1129
20 km or 13 mi	Seongnam	$1400
21 km or 13 mi	Siheung	$1283
21 km or 13 mi	Bucheon	$1163
22 km or 14 mi	Anyang	$1022
23 km or 14 mi	Yangju	$974
24 km or 15 mi	Gunpo	$1098
26 km or 16 mi	Gimpo	$1099
27 km or 17 mi	Uiwang	$1063
30 km or 19 mi	Gwangju	$1165
32 km or 20 mi	Paju	$1075
33 km or 20 mi	Ansan	$1070
33 km or 21 mi	Suwon	$1022
34 km or 21 mi	Incheon	$1092
37 km or 23 mi	Dongducheon	$1055
39 km or 24 mi	Pocheon	$1040
42 km or 26 mi	Yongin	$1127
47 km or 29 mi	Hwaseong	$1089
49 km or 31 mi	Osan	$1042
52 km or 32 mi	Icheon	$1020
58 km or 36 mi	Kaesong	$1565
65 km or 40 mi	Yeoju	$1026
66 km or 41 mi	Pyeongtaek	$984
69 km or 43 mi	Anseong	$1026
72 km or 45 mi	Chuncheon	$865
83 km or 52 mi	Dangjin	$1033
86 km or 53 mi	Wonju	$1074
87 km or 54 mi	Cheonan	$1151
101 km or 63 mi	Seosan	$1036
107 km or 66 mi	Chungju	$900
114 km or 71 mi	Cheongju	$936
118 km or 73 mi	Jecheon	$1016
123 km or 77 mi	Haeju	$1550
124 km or 77 mi	Sejong	$1019