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

Updated: March 02, 2025

	San Jose	Willemstad
🚶 Cost of living one person	$1324	$1460
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$3344	$3763
🏠 One person rent	$606	$712
🏘️ Family rent	$1094	$1554
🍽️ Food expenses	$499	$517
🚐 Transport expenses	$78	$101
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$990	$994
😷 Air quality	Excellent	Excellent
✈️ Airport proximity	7 km	9 km
🎓 Higher education	60	9
😀 Quality of life	66	48
🏙️ Population	342K	150K

The cost of living in San Jose, Costa Rica is 9% less expensive than in Willemstad. Cities ranked 4143rd and 3589th ($1324 vs $1460) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 2nd and 1st in Costa Rica and Curacao, respectively. Check Costa Rica vs Curacao comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 0.7 months in San Jose, Costa Rica compared to 0.7 months in Willemstad. San Jose, Costa Rica ranked 1st best city to live in Costa Rica vs Willemstad ranked 1st in Curacao, while ranked 4085th and 6340th among best cities to live in the world.

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

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Prices in San Jose, Costa Rica vs Willemstad

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

	San Jose	Willemstad
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$11.2	$16.7
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$51.4	$70
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$9.6	$8.84
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.9	$3.36
☕ Cappuccino	$4.5	$3.59
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$1.97	$2.74
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$738	$652
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$444	$472
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1315	$1720
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$874	$1169
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$53.7	$139
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$82.5	$210
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$49.2	$65.5
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	10.31%	4.97%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$2883	$826
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1718	$168
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$0.98	$1.73
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$41.6	$39.6
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$16.2	$46
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.42	$1.29
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$2.07	$1.7
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$2.32	$2.3
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.94	$2.71
🥚 Eggs, x12	$3.34	$3.67
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$11.2	$9.54
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$8.97	$7.99
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$14.3	$9.58
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.92	$4.48
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.46	$2.92
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.91	$3.29
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.99	$4
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.99	$3.18
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.81	$2.42
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.85	$1.38
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$3.17	$1.9
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$18.6	$11.1
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.43	$2.61
🚬 Cigarette pack	$5.13	$8.4
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$8.09	$7.33
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$7.94	$3.41
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$3.22	$1.57
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$3.77	$2.09
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$65	$54.2
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$9.08	$9.5
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$72.3	$43.3
💇 Haircut, simple	$15.2	$9.55
👖 Brand Jeans	$68.8	$87.2
👟 Brand Sneakers	$125	$143
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$601	$226
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$12527	$9410

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 Willemstad

Distance	City	Cost of living
24 km or 15 mi	Barber	$1444
71 km or 44 mi	Kralendijk	$1962
114 km or 71 mi	Coro	$555
128 km or 79 mi	Oranjestad	$1580
143 km or 89 mi	Punto Fijo	$628
199 km or 124 mi	San Felipe	$739
209 km or 130 mi	Puerto Cabello	$781
228 km or 142 mi	Yaritagua	$685
232 km or 144 mi	Barquisimeto	$722
234 km or 146 mi	Cabudare	$666
239 km or 148 mi	Guacara	$795
240 km or 149 mi	Valencia	$769
241 km or 150 mi	Los Guayos	$728
243 km or 151 mi	Tocuyito	$724
247 km or 153 mi	El Limon	$745
250 km or 155 mi	Carora	$681
253 km or 157 mi	Quibor	$682
254 km or 158 mi	Maracay	$817
254 km or 158 mi	Tinaquillo	$738
261 km or 162 mi	Santa Rita	$780
263 km or 164 mi	Turmero	$857
264 km or 164 mi	Palo Negro	$775
267 km or 166 mi	Catia La Mar	$974
269 km or 167 mi	Cagua	$818
272 km or 169 mi	Maiquetia	$919
273 km or 170 mi	La Victoria	$858
276 km or 171 mi	La Guaira	$938
276 km or 172 mi	El Tocuyo	$693
277 km or 172 mi	San Carlos	$776
283 km or 176 mi	Caracas	$1075
285 km or 177 mi	Araure	$723
286 km or 177 mi	Los Teques	$960
286 km or 178 mi	Acarigua	$723
303 km or 188 mi	San Juan de los Morros	$807
307 km or 191 mi	Charallave	$904
311 km or 194 mi	Cua	$910
319 km or 198 mi	Guatire	$917
319 km or 198 mi	Guarenas	$918
322 km or 200 mi	Santa Lucia	$892
324 km or 201 mi	Ocumare del Tuy	$901