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

Updated: March 02, 2025

	San Jose	Tampa
🚶 Cost of living one person	$1324	$2560
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$3344	$6044
🏠 One person rent	$606	$1641
🏘️ Family rent	$1094	$3059
🍽️ Food expenses	$499	$671
🚐 Transport expenses	$78	$91.7
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$990	$4880
😷 Air quality	Excellent	Excellent
✈️ Airport proximity	7 km	7 km
🎓 Higher education	60	68
😀 Quality of life	66	89
🏙️ Population	342K	385K

The cost of living in San Jose, Costa Rica is 48% less expensive than in Tampa. Cities ranked 4143rd and 718th ($1324 vs $2560) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 2nd and 664th 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 1.9 months in Tampa. San Jose, Costa Rica ranked 1st best city to live in Costa Rica vs Tampa ranked 41st in the United States, while ranked 4085th and 174th among best cities to live in the world.

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

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Prices in San Jose, Costa Rica vs Tampa

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

	San Jose	Tampa
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$11.2	$20.2
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$51.4	$80.2
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$9.6	$11.2
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.9	$6.28
☕ Cappuccino	$4.5	$4.97
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$1.97	$2.6
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$738	$1745
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$444	$1342
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1315	$3421
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$874	$2594
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$53.7	$148
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$82.5	$229
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$49.2	$70.3
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	10.31%	6.53%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$2883	$3843
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1718	$2418
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$0.98	$2.02
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$41.6	$65.9
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$16.2	$14.5
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.42	$0.91
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$2.07	$1.17
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$2.32	$3.93
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.94	$5.07
🥚 Eggs, x12	$3.34	$4.51
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$11.2	$18.1
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$8.97	$11.7
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$14.3	$16.8
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.92	$6.54
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.46	$1.69
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.91	$4.99
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.99	$5.01
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.99	$3.86
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.81	$3.15
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.85	$1.71
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$3.17	$2.54
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$18.6	$14.9
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.43	$2.38
🚬 Cigarette pack	$5.13	$8.01
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$8.09	$9.27
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$7.94	$5.54
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$3.22	$3.61
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$3.77	$1.69
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$65	$35.2
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$9.08	$16
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$72.3	$101
💇 Haircut, simple	$15.2	$20.7
👖 Brand Jeans	$68.8	$55.5
👟 Brand Sneakers	$125	$97.9
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$601	$1387
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$12527	$14045

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 Tampa

Distance	City	Cost of living
6.5 km or 4 mi	Egypt Lake-Leto	$2429
9 km or 5.6 mi	East Lake-Orient Park	$2413
9.7 km or 6 mi	Palm River-Clair Mel	$2419
10 km or 6.4 mi	Temple Terrace	$2402
11 km or 7 mi	University	$2401
27 km or 17 mi	Pinellas Park	$2123
28 km or 17 mi	St. Petersburg	$2605
29 km or 18 mi	Clearwater	$2618
31 km or 19 mi	Dunedin	$2436
32 km or 20 mi	Largo	$2079
33 km or 20 mi	Plant	$2328
34 km or 21 mi	Tarpon Springs	$2373
41 km or 25 mi	Zephyrhills	$2104
50 km or 31 mi	Lakeland	$2467
55 km or 34 mi	Bradenton	$2458
65 km or 41 mi	Brooksville	$2280
71 km or 44 mi	Sarasota	$2811
74 km or 46 mi	Winter Haven	$2038
84 km or 52 mi	Haines	$2194
95 km or 59 mi	Clermont	$2316
97 km or 60 mi	Venice	$2732
105 km or 65 mi	North Port	$2516
108 km or 67 mi	Winter Garden	$2366
109 km or 68 mi	Leesburg	$2269
110 km or 68 mi	Kissimmee	$2295
113 km or 70 mi	Ocoee	$2392
113 km or 71 mi	Sebring	$1748
119 km or 74 mi	St. Cloud	$2289
122 km or 76 mi	Apopka	$2371
123 km or 76 mi	Orlando	$2576
124 km or 77 mi	Eustis	$2286
130 km or 81 mi	Winter Park	$2440
130 km or 81 mi	Altamonte Springs	$2384
136 km or 84 mi	Casselberry	$2373
139 km or 86 mi	Ocala	$1957
141 km or 88 mi	Winter Springs	$2336
146 km or 91 mi	Oviedo	$2336
148 km or 92 mi	Sanford	$2294
156 km or 97 mi	Cape Coral	$2363
161 km or 100 mi	Deltona	$2265