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

Updated: June 21, 2026

	San Jose	Tucson
🚶 Cost of living one person	$1574	$1933
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$3920	$4502
🏠 One person rent	$747	$1119
🏘️ Family rent	$1276	$1848
🍽️ Food expenses	$579	$588
🚐 Transport expenses	$85.8	$87.3
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$1063	$3964
😷 Air quality	Excellent	Excellent
✈️ Airport proximity	7 km	7 km
🎓 Higher education	60	33
😀 Quality of life	73	84
🏙️ Population	335K	543K

The cost of living in San Jose, Costa Rica is 19% less expensive than in Tucson. Cities ranked 3714th and 2237th ($1574 vs $1933) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 2nd and 1697th 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 2.1 months in Tucson. San Jose, Costa Rica ranked 1st best city to live in Costa Rica vs Tucson ranked 153rd in the United States, while ranked 2425th and 460th among best cities to live in the world.

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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	$12.8	$16.3
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$49.5	$64.4
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$11.8	$12
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$3.36	$6.23
☕ Cappuccino	$5.2	$4.99
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$2.34	$2.86
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$821	$1195
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$585	$878
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1456	$2025
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1048	$1502
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$58.3	$116
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$89.7	$180
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$56.7	$61
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	9.32%	6.11%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$2299	$3427
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1800	$2557
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$1.09	$2.37
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$56.4	$38.8
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$16	$14
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.45	$0.97
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$2.43	$0.96
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$3.01	$2.91
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.56	$4.29
🥚 Eggs, x12	$3.5	$4.95
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$11.8	$12.5
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$9.83	$10.9
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$13.9	$17
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$5.01	$4.08
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.73	$1.91
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.77	$3.82
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.76	$3.85
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.11	$2.25
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.66	$2.97
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$2.1	$1.41
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$3.6	$2.44
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$23.3	$14
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.92	$3.29
🚬 Cigarette pack	$5.9	$10.3
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$9.27	$9.27
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$9.95	$3.94
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$3.95	$3.81
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$4.6	$1.72
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$68.5	$33
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$8.55	$12.3
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$104	$93.8
💇 Haircut, simple	$16	$16.7
👖 Brand Jeans	$70.9	$51.3
👟 Brand Sneakers	$140	$95
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$814	$1100
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$16872	$15759

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 Tucson

Distance	City	Cost of living
16 km or 9.9 mi	Casas Adobes	$2011
23 km or 14 mi	Oro Valley	$2060
26 km or 16 mi	Marana	$2089
33 km or 20 mi	Sahuarita	$2070
97 km or 60 mi	Nogales	$2153
97 km or 60 mi	Sierra Vista	$1654
100 km or 62 mi	Nogales	$771
101 km or 62 mi	Florence	$2454
106 km or 66 mi	Casa Grande	$2374
133 km or 83 mi	Queen Creek	$2988
140 km or 87 mi	Maricopa	$2243
145 km or 90 mi	Apache Junction	$2482
148 km or 92 mi	Chandler	$2367
149 km or 93 mi	Gilbert	$2378
157 km or 98 mi	Mesa	$2293
164 km or 102 mi	Agua Prieta	$863
164 km or 102 mi	Tempe	$2463
169 km or 105 mi	Scottsdale	$2509
171 km or 106 mi	Fountain Hills	$2373
181 km or 112 mi	Phoenix	$2423
189 km or 118 mi	Avondale	$2365
190 km or 118 mi	Goodyear	$2343
193 km or 120 mi	Glendale	$1974
195 km or 121 mi	Peoria	$2366
201 km or 125 mi	Buckeye	$2318
202 km or 126 mi	El Mirage	$2296
204 km or 126 mi	Caborca	$876
206 km or 128 mi	Surprise	$2346
295 km or 183 mi	Prescott Valley	$2312
295 km or 183 mi	Prescott	$2321
337 km or 210 mi	Flagstaff	$2573
347 km or 216 mi	Hermosillo	$1097
350 km or 217 mi	Nuevo Casas Grandes	$910
350 km or 217 mi	Yuma	$1767
361 km or 225 mi	San Luis Rio Colorado	$950
362 km or 225 mi	San Luis	$1924
376 km or 233 mi	Blythe	$2818
391 km or 243 mi	Las Cruces	$1665
403 km or 250 mi	Lake Havasu	$2011
419 km or 260 mi	Gallup	$2212