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

Updated: June 21, 2026

	San Jose	Tenerife
🚶 Cost of living one person	$1574	$1739
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$3920	$3931
🏠 One person rent	$747	$1005
🏘️ Family rent	$1276	$1684
🍽️ Food expenses	$579	$456
🚐 Transport expenses	$85.8	$137
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$1063	$1591
😷 Air quality	Excellent	Excellent
✈️ Airport proximity	7 km	25 km
🎓 Higher education	60	19
😀 Quality of life	73	68
🏙️ Population	335K	955K

The cost of living in San Jose, Costa Rica is 10% less expensive than in Tenerife. Cities ranked 3714th and 3058th ($1574 vs $1739) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 2nd and 14th in Costa Rica and Spain, respectively. Check Costa Rica vs Spain comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 0.7 months in San Jose, Costa Rica compared to 0.9 months in Tenerife. San Jose, Costa Rica ranked 1st best city to live in Costa Rica vs Tenerife ranked 75th in Spain, while ranked 2425th and 4533rd among best cities to live in the world.

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

Prices in San Jose, Costa Rica vs Tenerife

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

	San Jose	Tenerife
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$12.8	$14.6
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$49.5	$60.8
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$11.8	$10.7
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$3.36	$3.08
☕ Cappuccino	$5.2	$2.54
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$2.34	$2.01
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$821	$1005
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$585	$873
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1456	$1809
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1048	$1472
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$58.3	$74.6
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$89.7	$114
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$56.7	$30.6
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	9.32%	3.16%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$2299	$3998
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1800	$3282
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$1.09	$1.62
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$56.4	$41
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$16	$20.5
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.45	$1.63
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$2.43	$1.21
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$3.01	$1.72
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.56	$1.65
🥚 Eggs, x12	$3.5	$3.75
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$11.8	$14.2
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$9.83	$9.86
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$13.9	$15
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$5.01	$2.63
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.73	$2.22
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.77	$1.77
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.76	$2.67
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.11	$2.29
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.66	$2.33
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$2.1	$0.56
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$3.6	$2.35
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$23.3	$6.21
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.92	$1.45
🚬 Cigarette pack	$5.9	$4.79
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$9.27	$8.24
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$9.95	$3.11
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$3.95	$2.19
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$4.6	$2.45
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$68.5	$49.7
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$8.55	$9.38
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$104	$88.8
💇 Haircut, simple	$16	$13.2
👖 Brand Jeans	$70.9	$88.2
👟 Brand Sneakers	$140	$94.1
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$814	$482
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$16872	$7249

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	$1471
17 km or 11 mi	Alajuela	$1362
20 km or 12 mi	Cartago	$1361
82 km or 51 mi	Puntarenas	$872
115 km or 72 mi	Limon	$1228
124 km or 77 mi	Santa Teresa	$1325
167 km or 104 mi	Liberia	$1024
197 km or 122 mi	Tamarindo	$1929
244 km or 151 mi	San Juan del Sur	$844
246 km or 153 mi	David	$909
279 km or 173 mi	Juigalpa	$796
302 km or 188 mi	Granada	$706
316 km or 196 mi	Masaya	$817
343 km or 213 mi	Managua	$788
387 km or 241 mi	Matagalpa	$665
398 km or 247 mi	Santiago de Veraguas	$1112
408 km or 253 mi	Jinotega	$503
413 km or 257 mi	Leon	$759
429 km or 266 mi	Esteli	$716
438 km or 272 mi	Penonome	$1147
447 km or 278 mi	Chinandega	$791
457 km or 284 mi	Chitre	$1144
463 km or 288 mi	Colon	$1185
486 km or 302 mi	La Chorrera	$982
508 km or 316 mi	Balboa	$1396
513 km or 319 mi	Panama City	$1590
524 km or 326 mi	Tocumen	$1373
535 km or 333 mi	Pacora	$1361
574 km or 357 mi	Tegucigalpa	$909
596 km or 370 mi	San Miguel	$1132
609 km or 378 mi	Usulutan	$1123
635 km or 395 mi	Comayagua	$678
666 km or 414 mi	Yoro	$756
696 km or 432 mi	San Salvador	$1291
697 km or 433 mi	Soyapango	$1261
701 km or 435 mi	Mejicanos	$1254
702 km or 436 mi	Apopa	$1231
703 km or 437 mi	Santa Tecla	$1183
713 km or 443 mi	La Ceiba	$619
729 km or 453 mi	El Progreso	$832

Cities near Tenerife

Distance	City	Cost of living
14 km or 8.7 mi	La Orotava	$1668
17 km or 11 mi	Puerto de la Cruz	$1727
37 km or 23 mi	San Cristobal de La Laguna	$1608
41 km or 26 mi	Santa Cruz de Tenerife	$1642
112 km or 69 mi	Santa Lucia de Tirajana	$1534
116 km or 72 mi	Las Palmas	$1508
269 km or 167 mi	Puerto del Rosario	$1332
272 km or 169 mi	Corralejo	$1653
308 km or 191 mi	Arrecife	$1354
358 km or 222 mi	Laayoune	$627
487 km or 302 mi	Canico	$1606
488 km or 303 mi	Funchal	$1662
488 km or 303 mi	Camara de Lobos	$1603
490 km or 305 mi	Santa Cruz	$1607
495 km or 307 mi	Machico	$1608
715 km or 444 mi	Taghazout	$619
721 km or 448 mi	Agadir	$648
726 km or 451 mi	Ait Melloul	$604
751 km or 467 mi	Essaouira	$649
837 km or 520 mi	Safi	$546
911 km or 566 mi	Marrakesh	$790
951 km or 591 mi	El Jadida	$555
1041 km or 647 mi	Casablanca	$953
1061 km or 659 mi	Khouribga	$526
1065 km or 662 mi	Mohammedia	$734
1082 km or 672 mi	Beni Mellal	$499
1116 km or 694 mi	Temara	$639
1128 km or 701 mi	Rabat	$797
1131 km or 703 mi	Sale	$579
1135 km or 705 mi	Nouakchott	$653
1161 km or 721 mi	Kenitra	$597
1223 km or 760 mi	Meknes	$586
1230 km or 764 mi	Lagos	$1752
1241 km or 771 mi	Portimao	$1388
1245 km or 774 mi	Lagoa	$1467
1251 km or 777 mi	Silves	$1492
1253 km or 779 mi	Albufeira	$1913
1266 km or 787 mi	Faro	$1455
1271 km or 790 mi	Loule	$1544
1272 km or 791 mi	Olhao	$1469