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

Updated: March 02, 2025

	San Jose	Zurich
🚶 Cost of living one person	$1324	$3296
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$3344	$8076
🏠 One person rent	$606	$1966
🏘️ Family rent	$1094	$3466
🍽️ Food expenses	$499	$863
🚐 Transport expenses	$78	$211
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$990	$7242
😷 Air quality	Excellent	Excellent
✈️ Airport proximity	7 km	8 km
🎓 Higher education	60	81
😀 Quality of life	66	98
🏙️ Population	342K	449K

The cost of living in San Jose, Costa Rica is 60% less expensive than in Zurich. Cities ranked 4143rd and 59th ($1324 vs $3296) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 2nd and 2nd in Costa Rica and Switzerland, respectively. Check Costa Rica vs Switzerland comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 0.7 months in San Jose, Costa Rica compared to 2.2 months in Zurich. San Jose, Costa Rica ranked 1st best city to live in Costa Rica vs Zurich ranked 1st in Switzerland, while ranked 4085th and 5th among best cities to live in the world.

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

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

Prices in San Jose, Costa Rica vs Zurich

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

	San Jose	Zurich
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$11.2	$26
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$51.4	$111
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$9.6	$17.8
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.9	$8.89
☕ Cappuccino	$4.5	$6.48
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$1.97	$5.47
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$738	$2155
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$444	$1671
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1315	$4080
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$874	$2967
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$53.7	$148
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$82.5	$226
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$49.2	$50.4
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	10.31%	2.17%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$2883	$24070
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1718	$5867
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$0.98	$4.88
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$41.6	$94.2
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$16.2	$41.4
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.42	$2.08
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$2.07	$1.99
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$2.32	$2.98
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.94	$3.45
🥚 Eggs, x12	$3.34	$7.49
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$11.2	$22
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$8.97	$22.1
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$14.3	$45.4
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.92	$3.52
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.46	$2.34
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.91	$2.81
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.99	$5.08
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.99	$2.6
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.81	$2.32
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.85	$0.79
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$3.17	$3.38
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$18.6	$14.8
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.43	$2.32
🚬 Cigarette pack	$5.13	$10
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$8.09	$21.1
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$7.94	$5.47
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$3.22	$3.9
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$3.77	$4.01
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$65	$72.4
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$9.08	$21.8
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$72.3	$138
💇 Haircut, simple	$15.2	$54.9
👖 Brand Jeans	$68.8	$120
👟 Brand Sneakers	$125	$124
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$601	$2498
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$12527	$29610

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 Zurich

Distance	City	Cost of living
4.2 km or 2.6 mi	Altstetten	$3037
6.4 km or 4 mi	Dubendorf	$2988
11 km or 6.6 mi	Dietikon	$2934
14 km or 8.6 mi	Horgen	$2976
14 km or 8.6 mi	Uster	$2974
16 km or 9.7 mi	Bulach	$2873
19 km or 12 mi	Wettingen	$2970
19 km or 12 mi	Wadenswil	$2960
19 km or 12 mi	Winterthur	$3032
20 km or 13 mi	Wetzikon	$2893
20 km or 13 mi	Baden	$3059
20 km or 13 mi	Baar	$3099
23 km or 15 mi	Zug	$3426
28 km or 17 mi	Rapperswil-Jona	$2861
33 km or 21 mi	Frauenfeld	$2379
36 km or 22 mi	Schaffhausen	$2419
37 km or 23 mi	Waldshut-Tiengen	$1472
37 km or 23 mi	Aarau	$2252
38 km or 24 mi	Emmen	$2897
40 km or 25 mi	Wil	$2262
40 km or 25 mi	Lucerne	$2931
43 km or 27 mi	Kriens	$2891
48 km or 30 mi	Singen	$1555
51 km or 32 mi	Radolfzell	$1609
56 km or 35 mi	Kreuzlingen	$2614
57 km or 36 mi	Konstanz	$1731
60 km or 37 mi	Rheinfelden	$1447
63 km or 39 mi	St. Gallen	$2464
63 km or 39 mi	Uberlingen	$1641
64 km or 40 mi	Donaueschingen	$1382
70 km or 44 mi	Riehen	$3234
71 km or 44 mi	Tuttlingen	$1453
71 km or 44 mi	Lorrach	$1434
74 km or 46 mi	Weil am Rhein	$1442
74 km or 46 mi	Basel	$2643
76 km or 47 mi	Villingen-Schwenningen	$1267
77 km or 48 mi	Saint-Louis	$1286
77 km or 48 mi	Friedrichshafen	$1656
77 km or 48 mi	Schaan	$2352
78 km or 48 mi	Allschwil	$2717