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

Updated: October 10, 2024

	San Jose	Tucson
🚶 Cost of living one person	$1239	$1954
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$3174	$4634
🏠 One person rent	$555	$1160
🏘️ Family rent	$1038	$2033
🍽️ Food expenses	$479	$589
🚐 Transport expenses	$75	$67.9
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$923	$3612
😷 Air quality	Excellent	Excellent
✈️ Airport proximity	7 km	7 km
🎓 Higher education	60	33
😀 Quality of life	65	80
🏙️ Population	342K	543K

The cost of living in San Jose, Costa Rica is 37% less expensive than in Tucson. Cities ranked 4497th and 2005th ($1239 vs $1954) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 5th and 1656th 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 1.8 months in Tucson. San Jose, Costa Rica ranked 1st best city to live in Costa Rica vs Tucson ranked 133rd in the United States, while ranked 4226th and 528th among best cities to live in the world.

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

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

Prices in San Jose, Costa Rica vs Tucson

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

	San Jose	Tucson
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$10.6	$16.9
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$49.2	$64.4
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$9.49	$11.2
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$3.03	$6.05
☕ Cappuccino	$4.75	$5.2
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$1.91	$2.85
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$645	$1056
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$417	$896
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1229	$1998
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$842	$1646
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$47.5	$159
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$73.6	$244
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$44.7	$72.8
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	11.24%	6.55%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1929	$2540
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1540	$2461
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$0.94	$0.62
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$40.8	$19.8
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$15.2	$14.1
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.41	$1.03
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.93	$0.9
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$2.27	$2.99
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.93	$4.59
🥚 Eggs, x12	$3.34	$3.92
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$10.2	$11.4
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$9.11	$13.5
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$14	$15.2
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.89	$4.22
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.37	$1.38
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.47	$3.91
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.75	$3.62
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.6	$2.1
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.6	$2.48
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.68	$1.43
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$3.05	$2.12
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$16.5	$14.8
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.28	$2.08
🚬 Cigarette pack	$4.96	$9.72
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$8.1	$9.23
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$6.99	$3.98
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$2.75	$3.36
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$3.91	$1.72
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$55.9	$30
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$8.01	$11.7
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$66.7	$92.3
💇 Haircut, simple	$12.8	$16.7
👖 Brand Jeans	$70.6	$54.1
👟 Brand Sneakers	$119	$93.8
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$501	$1080
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$12846	$15724

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 Tucson

Distance	City	Cost of living
16 km or 9.9 mi	Casas Adobes	$2016
23 km or 14 mi	Oro Valley	$2040
26 km or 16 mi	Marana	$2052
33 km or 20 mi	Sahuarita	$2026
97 km or 60 mi	Nogales	$1986
97 km or 60 mi	Sierra Vista	$1665
100 km or 62 mi	Nogales	$786
101 km or 62 mi	Florence	$2324
106 km or 66 mi	Casa Grande	$2313
133 km or 83 mi	Queen Creek	$2338
140 km or 87 mi	Maricopa	$2291
145 km or 90 mi	Apache Junction	$2342
148 km or 92 mi	Chandler	$2414
149 km or 93 mi	Gilbert	$2372
157 km or 98 mi	Mesa	$2416
164 km or 102 mi	Agua Prieta	$778
164 km or 102 mi	Tempe	$2430
169 km or 105 mi	Scottsdale	$2588
171 km or 106 mi	Fountain Hills	$2352
181 km or 112 mi	Phoenix	$2369
189 km or 118 mi	Avondale	$2518
190 km or 118 mi	Goodyear	$2446
193 km or 120 mi	Glendale	$1989
195 km or 121 mi	Peoria	$2201
201 km or 125 mi	Buckeye	$2422
202 km or 126 mi	El Mirage	$2287
204 km or 126 mi	Caborca	$758
206 km or 128 mi	Surprise	$2339
295 km or 183 mi	Prescott Valley	$2415
295 km or 183 mi	Prescott	$2484
337 km or 210 mi	Flagstaff	$2268
347 km or 216 mi	Hermosillo	$854
350 km or 217 mi	Nuevo Casas Grandes	$813
350 km or 217 mi	Yuma	$1792
361 km or 225 mi	San Luis Rio Colorado	$840
362 km or 225 mi	San Luis	$1928
376 km or 233 mi	Blythe	$2638
391 km or 243 mi	Las Cruces	$1613
403 km or 250 mi	Lake Havasu	$1999
419 km or 260 mi	Gallup	$2618