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

Updated: October 14, 2025

	San Jose	Seoul
🚶 Cost of living one person	$1398	$1383
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$3421	$3421
🏠 One person rent	$662	$635
🏘️ Family rent	$1102	$1111
🍽️ Food expenses	$509	$484
🚐 Transport expenses	$78.6	$152
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$981	$1954
😷 Air quality	Excellent	Moderate
✈️ Airport proximity	7 km	18 km
🎓 Higher education	60	100
😀 Quality of life	74	93
🏙️ Population	342K	9.67M

The cost of living in San Jose, Costa Rica is 1% more expensive than in Seoul. Cities ranked 4260th and 4296th ($1398 vs $1383) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 2nd and 2nd 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 1.4 months in Seoul. San Jose, Costa Rica ranked 1st best city to live in Costa Rica vs Seoul ranked 2nd in South Korea, while ranked 2458th and 90th 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	$10.2	$7.28
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$51.6	$43.1
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$9.89	$5.99
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.74	$3.46
☕ Cappuccino	$4.55	$3.69
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$2.09	$1.66
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$804	$764
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$492	$460
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1349	$1372
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$868	$841
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$54.8	$97.1
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$84.9	$147
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$52.5	$16.8
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	10.54%	3.97%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$2935	$20727
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1711	$10845
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$1	$1.04
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$42.2	$44.6
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$16.2	$9.78
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.43	$1.15
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$2.08	$2.01
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$2.38	$2.68
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.16	$2.55
🥚 Eggs, x12	$3.11	$3.27
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$11.8	$14.9
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$8.68	$9.59
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$13.6	$33
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.14	$7.35
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.51	$3.34
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.29	$5.41
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.33	$5.24
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.53	$3.68
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.36	$2.95
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.94	$0.8
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$3.14	$1.8
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$19.2	$17.6
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.44	$1.97
🚬 Cigarette pack	$5.28	$3.12
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$8.15	$3.56
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$8.94	$3.98
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$3.05	$3.5
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$3.79	$1.3
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$56.8	$47.8
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$8.97	$10
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$94.6	$62.2
💇 Haircut, simple	$16.8	$16.7
👖 Brand Jeans	$60	$49.6
👟 Brand Sneakers	$126	$67.5
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$609	$357
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$12743	$21347

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	$1335
17 km or 11 mi	Alajuela	$1303
20 km or 12 mi	Cartago	$1241
82 km or 51 mi	Puntarenas	$821
115 km or 72 mi	Limon	$1288
124 km or 77 mi	Santa Teresa	$1236
167 km or 104 mi	Liberia	$953
197 km or 122 mi	Tamarindo	$1714
244 km or 151 mi	San Juan del Sur	$864
246 km or 153 mi	David	$925
279 km or 173 mi	Juigalpa	$768
302 km or 188 mi	Granada	$698
316 km or 196 mi	Masaya	$790
343 km or 213 mi	Managua	$760
387 km or 241 mi	Matagalpa	$673
398 km or 247 mi	Santiago de Veraguas	$1122
408 km or 253 mi	Jinotega	$467
413 km or 257 mi	Leon	$735
429 km or 266 mi	Esteli	$682
438 km or 272 mi	Penonome	$1150
447 km or 278 mi	Chinandega	$770
457 km or 284 mi	Chitre	$1150
463 km or 288 mi	Colon	$1188
486 km or 302 mi	La Chorrera	$981
508 km or 316 mi	Balboa	$1400
513 km or 319 mi	Panama City	$1560
524 km or 326 mi	Tocumen	$1377
535 km or 333 mi	Pacora	$1371
574 km or 357 mi	Tegucigalpa	$836
596 km or 370 mi	San Miguel	$1097
609 km or 378 mi	Usulutan	$1090
635 km or 395 mi	Comayagua	$739
666 km or 414 mi	Yoro	$729
696 km or 432 mi	San Salvador	$1362
697 km or 433 mi	Soyapango	$1273
701 km or 435 mi	Mejicanos	$1262
702 km or 436 mi	Apopa	$1238
703 km or 437 mi	Santa Tecla	$1182
713 km or 443 mi	La Ceiba	$627
729 km or 453 mi	El Progreso	$780

Cities near Seoul

Distance	City	Cost of living
13 km or 7.9 mi	Guri	$1134
17 km or 10 mi	Goyang	$1097
17 km or 10 mi	Gwangmyeong	$1090
17 km or 11 mi	Gwacheon	$1078
19 km or 12 mi	Uijeongbu	$918
20 km or 12 mi	Hanam	$1178
20 km or 12 mi	Namyangju	$1138
20 km or 13 mi	Seongnam	$1435
21 km or 13 mi	Siheung	$1307
21 km or 13 mi	Bucheon	$1175
22 km or 14 mi	Anyang	$1004
23 km or 14 mi	Yangju	$948
24 km or 15 mi	Gunpo	$1112
26 km or 16 mi	Gimpo	$1098
27 km or 17 mi	Uiwang	$1080
30 km or 19 mi	Gwangju	$1196
32 km or 20 mi	Paju	$1065
33 km or 20 mi	Ansan	$1049
33 km or 21 mi	Suwon	$1066
34 km or 21 mi	Incheon	$1088
37 km or 23 mi	Dongducheon	$1023
39 km or 24 mi	Pocheon	$1028
42 km or 26 mi	Yongin	$1120
47 km or 29 mi	Hwaseong	$1098
49 km or 31 mi	Osan	$1076
52 km or 32 mi	Icheon	$1171
58 km or 36 mi	Kaesong	$1568
65 km or 40 mi	Yeoju	$1079
66 km or 41 mi	Pyeongtaek	$1141
69 km or 43 mi	Anseong	$1078
72 km or 45 mi	Chuncheon	$874
83 km or 52 mi	Dangjin	$1059
86 km or 53 mi	Wonju	$1110
87 km or 54 mi	Cheonan	$1153
101 km or 63 mi	Seosan	$1068
107 km or 66 mi	Chungju	$920
114 km or 71 mi	Cheongju	$924
118 km or 73 mi	Jecheon	$1037
123 km or 77 mi	Haeju	$1565
124 km or 77 mi	Sejong	$1020