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

Updated: March 11, 2026

	San Jose	Stockholm
🚶 Cost of living one person	$1454	$2524
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$3624	$5606
🏠 One person rent	$697	$1416
🏘️ Family rent	$1213	$2368
🍽️ Food expenses	$527	$670
🚐 Transport expenses	$78.6	$253
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$935	$3839
😷 Air quality	Excellent	Excellent
✈️ Airport proximity	7 km	8 km
🎓 Higher education	60	95
😀 Quality of life	72	95
🏙️ Population	335K	985K

The cost of living in San Jose, Costa Rica is 42% less expensive than in Stockholm. Cities ranked 4213th and 849th ($1454 vs $2524) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 2nd and 1st in Costa Rica and Sweden, respectively. Check Costa Rica vs Sweden comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 0.6 months in San Jose, Costa Rica compared to 1.5 months in Stockholm. San Jose, Costa Rica ranked 1st best city to live in Costa Rica vs Stockholm ranked 1st in Sweden, while ranked 3173rd and 23rd among best cities to live in the world.

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the estimated difference in money purchasing power

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

Prices in San Jose, Costa Rica vs Stockholm

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

	San Jose	Stockholm
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$11.2	$15.4
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$51	$98.2
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$10.4	$12.6
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.9	$8.23
☕ Cappuccino	$4.68	$5.73
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$2.14	$3.68
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$821	$1704
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$531	$1084
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1484	$2705
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$973	$1909
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$54.9	$169
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$83.8	$260
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$53.3	$40
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	9.69%	3.63%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$2465	$12627
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1757	$6907
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$1	$4.77
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$48.8	$119
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$15.1	$28.6
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.41	$1.89
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$2.26	$1.86
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$2.62	$3.35
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.38	$3.47
🥚 Eggs, x12	$3.03	$5.37
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$11.5	$15.8
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$8.94	$15.2
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$13.4	$22.1
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.34	$3.88
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.57	$3.2
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.35	$3.52
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.48	$4.91
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.75	$2.1
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.18	$2.09
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.93	$1.25
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$3.28	$2.83
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$20.3	$14.7
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.64	$2.36
🚬 Cigarette pack	$5.46	$8.86
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$8.15	$11.6
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$9.92	$4.41
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$3.47	$3.39
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$4.31	$2.56
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$59.8	$51
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$7.93	$20.1
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$96.4	$43.1
💇 Haircut, simple	$15.9	$36.8
👖 Brand Jeans	$67.6	$115
👟 Brand Sneakers	$129	$137
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$704	$178
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$14663	$17693

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	$1378
17 km or 11 mi	Alajuela	$1323
20 km or 12 mi	Cartago	$1290
82 km or 51 mi	Puntarenas	$825
115 km or 72 mi	Limon	$1332
124 km or 77 mi	Santa Teresa	$1273
167 km or 104 mi	Liberia	$957
197 km or 122 mi	Tamarindo	$1832
244 km or 151 mi	San Juan del Sur	$840
246 km or 153 mi	David	$922
279 km or 173 mi	Juigalpa	$782
302 km or 188 mi	Granada	$699
316 km or 196 mi	Masaya	$812
343 km or 213 mi	Managua	$796
387 km or 241 mi	Matagalpa	$679
398 km or 247 mi	Santiago de Veraguas	$1122
408 km or 253 mi	Jinotega	$470
413 km or 257 mi	Leon	$754
429 km or 266 mi	Esteli	$687
438 km or 272 mi	Penonome	$1153
447 km or 278 mi	Chinandega	$787
457 km or 284 mi	Chitre	$1154
463 km or 288 mi	Colon	$1179
486 km or 302 mi	La Chorrera	$977
508 km or 316 mi	Balboa	$1425
513 km or 319 mi	Panama City	$1583
524 km or 326 mi	Tocumen	$1403
535 km or 333 mi	Pacora	$1395
574 km or 357 mi	Tegucigalpa	$863
596 km or 370 mi	San Miguel	$1120
609 km or 378 mi	Usulutan	$1109
635 km or 395 mi	Comayagua	$705
666 km or 414 mi	Yoro	$737
696 km or 432 mi	San Salvador	$1274
697 km or 433 mi	Soyapango	$1246
701 km or 435 mi	Mejicanos	$1237
702 km or 436 mi	Apopa	$1221
703 km or 437 mi	Santa Tecla	$1178
713 km or 443 mi	La Ceiba	$626
729 km or 453 mi	El Progreso	$804

Cities near Stockholm

Distance	City	Cost of living
5.1 km or 3.2 mi	Solna	$2118
5.2 km or 3.3 mi	Lidingo	$1214
13 km or 7.9 mi	Taby	$1853
16 km or 9.9 mi	Sollentuna	$2065
21 km or 13 mi	Tumba	$1827
21 km or 13 mi	Akersberga	$1840
31 km or 19 mi	Sodertalje	$1914
35 km or 22 mi	Marsta	$1702
35 km or 22 mi	Sigtuna	$1741
63 km or 39 mi	Uppsala	$1831
87 km or 54 mi	Nykoping	$1651
92 km or 57 mi	Eskilstuna	$1547
92 km or 57 mi	Vasteras	$1603
105 km or 65 mi	Sala	$1398
138 km or 86 mi	Norrkoping	$1337
158 km or 98 mi	Gavle	$1423
163 km or 101 mi	Orebro	$1311
174 km or 108 mi	Linkoping	$1631
185 km or 115 mi	Ludvika	$1397
190 km or 118 mi	Visby	$1579
195 km or 121 mi	Borlange	$1370
195 km or 121 mi	Falun	$1884
253 km or 157 mi	Mariestad	$1594
258 km or 161 mi	Karlstad	$1562
262 km or 163 mi	Raisio	$1567
264 km or 164 mi	Skovde	$1656
265 km or 165 mi	Turku	$1597
268 km or 167 mi	Kaarina	$1568
271 km or 168 mi	Mora	$1691
274 km or 170 mi	Vetlanda	$1641
275 km or 171 mi	Rauma	$1383
281 km or 175 mi	Kuressaare	$1230
284 km or 177 mi	Jonkoping	$1581
297 km or 184 mi	Ventspils	$994
306 km or 190 mi	Salo	$1583
310 km or 193 mi	Raseborg	$1606
312 km or 194 mi	Arvika	$1481
313 km or 195 mi	Kalmar	$1701
315 km or 196 mi	Pori	$1375
332 km or 206 mi	Vaxjo	$1516