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

Updated: October 10, 2024

	San Jose	Seoul
🚶 Cost of living one person	$1239	$1461
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$3174	$4186
🏠 One person rent	$555	$677
🏘️ Family rent	$1038	$1788
🍽️ Food expenses	$479	$526
🚐 Transport expenses	$75	$155
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$923	$2981
😷 Air quality	Excellent	Moderate
✈️ Airport proximity	7 km	18 km
🎓 Higher education	60	100
😀 Quality of life	65	94
🏙️ Population	342K	9.67M

The cost of living in San Jose, Costa Rica is 15% less expensive than in Seoul. Cities ranked 4497th and 3861st ($1239 vs $1461) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 5th and 1st 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 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 4226th and 43rd 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	$10.6	$7.68
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$49.2	$40.5
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$9.49	$5.99
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$3.03	$3.79
☕ Cappuccino	$4.75	$3.91
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$1.91	$1.63
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$645	$827
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$417	$460
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1229	$2513
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$842	$1348
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$47.5	$120
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$73.6	$184
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$44.7	$23.4
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	11.24%	5.14%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1929	$21201
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1540	$11781
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$0.94	$1.14
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$40.8	$47.5
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$15.2	$9.05
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.41	$1.27
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.93	$2.29
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$2.27	$3.23
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.93	$3.3
🥚 Eggs, x12	$3.34	$3.68
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$10.2	$13.3
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$9.11	$9.23
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$14	$38.3
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.89	$7.91
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.37	$3.75
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.47	$5.86
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.75	$6.13
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.6	$4.03
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.6	$3.25
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.68	$0.9
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$3.05	$2.43
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$16.5	$22.4
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.28	$2.76
🚬 Cigarette pack	$4.96	$3.42
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$8.1	$5.05
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$6.99	$5.98
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$2.75	$2.35
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$3.91	$3.13
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$55.9	$54.1
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$8.01	$11.5
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$66.7	$25.1
💇 Haircut, simple	$12.8	$10.4
👖 Brand Jeans	$70.6	$62.6
👟 Brand Sneakers	$119	$91
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$501	$410
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$12846	$21834

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	$1246
17 km or 11 mi	Alajuela	$1233
20 km or 12 mi	Cartago	$961
82 km or 51 mi	Puntarenas	$1277
115 km or 72 mi	Limon	$1201
124 km or 77 mi	Santa Teresa	$1310
167 km or 104 mi	Liberia	$898
197 km or 122 mi	Tamarindo	$1687
244 km or 151 mi	San Juan del Sur	$890
246 km or 153 mi	David	$833
279 km or 173 mi	Juigalpa	$664
302 km or 188 mi	Granada	$697
316 km or 196 mi	Masaya	$712
343 km or 213 mi	Managua	$774
387 km or 241 mi	Matagalpa	$550
398 km or 247 mi	Santiago de Veraguas	$1056
408 km or 253 mi	Jinotega	$457
413 km or 257 mi	Leon	$639
429 km or 266 mi	Esteli	$593
438 km or 272 mi	Penonome	$1098
447 km or 278 mi	Chinandega	$638
457 km or 284 mi	Chitre	$1091
463 km or 288 mi	Colon	$1182
486 km or 302 mi	La Chorrera	$953
508 km or 316 mi	Balboa	$1249
513 km or 319 mi	Panama City	$1384
524 km or 326 mi	Tocumen	$1231
535 km or 333 mi	Pacora	$1249
574 km or 357 mi	Tegucigalpa	$829
596 km or 370 mi	San Miguel	$1081
609 km or 378 mi	Usulutan	$1088
635 km or 395 mi	Comayagua	$715
666 km or 414 mi	Yoro	$734
696 km or 432 mi	San Salvador	$1192
697 km or 433 mi	Soyapango	$1173
701 km or 435 mi	Mejicanos	$1161
702 km or 436 mi	Apopa	$1145
703 km or 437 mi	Santa Tecla	$1202
713 km or 443 mi	La Ceiba	$650
729 km or 453 mi	El Progreso	$883

Cities near Seoul

Distance	City	Cost of living
13 km or 7.9 mi	Guri	$1085
17 km or 10 mi	Goyang	$1008
17 km or 10 mi	Gwangmyeong	$1038
17 km or 11 mi	Gwacheon	$1005
19 km or 12 mi	Uijeongbu	$936
20 km or 12 mi	Hanam	$1074
20 km or 12 mi	Namyangju	$1084
20 km or 13 mi	Seongnam	$1127
21 km or 13 mi	Siheung	$1087
21 km or 13 mi	Bucheon	$1068
22 km or 14 mi	Anyang	$1025
23 km or 14 mi	Yangju	$941
24 km or 15 mi	Gunpo	$1003
26 km or 16 mi	Gimpo	$966
27 km or 17 mi	Uiwang	$988
30 km or 19 mi	Gwangju	$1057
32 km or 20 mi	Paju	$1020
33 km or 20 mi	Ansan	$990
33 km or 21 mi	Suwon	$970
34 km or 21 mi	Incheon	$1067
37 km or 23 mi	Dongducheon	$968
39 km or 24 mi	Pocheon	$989
42 km or 26 mi	Yongin	$1142
47 km or 29 mi	Hwaseong	$1049
49 km or 31 mi	Osan	$1025
52 km or 32 mi	Icheon	$1077
58 km or 36 mi	Kaesong	$1567
65 km or 40 mi	Yeoju	$1036
66 km or 41 mi	Pyeongtaek	$1053
69 km or 43 mi	Anseong	$1041
72 km or 45 mi	Chuncheon	$839
83 km or 52 mi	Dangjin	$1025
86 km or 53 mi	Wonju	$1140
87 km or 54 mi	Cheonan	$1222
101 km or 63 mi	Seosan	$1027
107 km or 66 mi	Chungju	$1098
114 km or 71 mi	Cheongju	$997
118 km or 73 mi	Jecheon	$1111
123 km or 77 mi	Haeju	$1562
124 km or 77 mi	Sejong	$1043