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

Updated: October 14, 2025

	San Jose	Zurich
🚶 Cost of living one person	$1398	$3691
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$3421	$8778
🏠 One person rent	$662	$2299
🏘️ Family rent	$1102	$4069
🍽️ Food expenses	$509	$919
🚐 Transport expenses	$78.6	$198
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$981	$8151
😷 Air quality	Excellent	Excellent
✈️ Airport proximity	7 km	8 km
🎓 Higher education	60	81
😀 Quality of life	74	100
🏙️ Population	342K	449K

The cost of living in San Jose, Costa Rica is 62% less expensive than in Zurich. Cities ranked 4260th and 23rd ($1398 vs $3691) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 2nd and 3rd 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 2458th and 2nd 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	$10.2	$27.9
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$51.6	$90.1
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$9.89	$20.1
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.74	$9.69
☕ Cappuccino	$4.55	$7.32
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$2.09	$5.52
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$804	$2543
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$492	$1977
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1349	$4563
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$868	$3579
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$54.8	$157
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$84.9	$240
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$52.5	$52.4
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	10.54%	2.08%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$2935	$24740
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1711	$9963
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$1	$4.35
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$42.2	$109
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$16.2	$33.5
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.43	$2.26
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$2.08	$2.29
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$2.38	$3.29
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.16	$3.54
🥚 Eggs, x12	$3.11	$8.34
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$11.8	$24.8
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$8.68	$23.9
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$13.6	$53.7
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.14	$4.29
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.51	$2.89
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.29	$3.33
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.33	$5.27
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.53	$2.97
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.36	$2.27
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.94	$1.11
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$3.14	$3.93
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$19.2	$18.1
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.44	$2.74
🚬 Cigarette pack	$5.28	$11.2
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$8.15	$20.8
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$8.94	$5.39
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$3.05	$4.88
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$3.79	$3.84
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$56.8	$83.2
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$8.97	$23.3
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$94.6	$138
💇 Haircut, simple	$16.8	$55.6
👖 Brand Jeans	$60	$138
👟 Brand Sneakers	$126	$150
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$609	$2616
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$12743	$22875

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	$1335
17 km or 11 mi	Alajuela	$1303
20 km or 12 mi	Cartago	$1241
82 km or 51 mi	Puntarenas	$821
115 km or 72 mi	Limon	$1288
124 km or 77 mi	Santa Teresa	$1236
167 km or 104 mi	Liberia	$953
197 km or 122 mi	Tamarindo	$1714
244 km or 151 mi	San Juan del Sur	$864
246 km or 153 mi	David	$925
279 km or 173 mi	Juigalpa	$768
302 km or 188 mi	Granada	$698
316 km or 196 mi	Masaya	$790
343 km or 213 mi	Managua	$760
387 km or 241 mi	Matagalpa	$673
398 km or 247 mi	Santiago de Veraguas	$1122
408 km or 253 mi	Jinotega	$467
413 km or 257 mi	Leon	$735
429 km or 266 mi	Esteli	$682
438 km or 272 mi	Penonome	$1150
447 km or 278 mi	Chinandega	$770
457 km or 284 mi	Chitre	$1150
463 km or 288 mi	Colon	$1188
486 km or 302 mi	La Chorrera	$981
508 km or 316 mi	Balboa	$1400
513 km or 319 mi	Panama City	$1560
524 km or 326 mi	Tocumen	$1377
535 km or 333 mi	Pacora	$1371
574 km or 357 mi	Tegucigalpa	$836
596 km or 370 mi	San Miguel	$1097
609 km or 378 mi	Usulutan	$1090
635 km or 395 mi	Comayagua	$739
666 km or 414 mi	Yoro	$729
696 km or 432 mi	San Salvador	$1362
697 km or 433 mi	Soyapango	$1273
701 km or 435 mi	Mejicanos	$1262
702 km or 436 mi	Apopa	$1238
703 km or 437 mi	Santa Tecla	$1182
713 km or 443 mi	La Ceiba	$627
729 km or 453 mi	El Progreso	$780

Cities near Zurich

Distance	City	Cost of living
4.2 km or 2.6 mi	Altstetten	$3392
6.4 km or 4 mi	Dubendorf	$3276
11 km or 6.6 mi	Dietikon	$3239
14 km or 8.6 mi	Horgen	$3282
14 km or 8.6 mi	Uster	$3249
16 km or 9.7 mi	Bulach	$3153
19 km or 12 mi	Wettingen	$3207
19 km or 12 mi	Wadenswil	$3225
19 km or 12 mi	Winterthur	$3207
20 km or 13 mi	Wetzikon	$3180
20 km or 13 mi	Baden	$3240
20 km or 13 mi	Baar	$3381
23 km or 15 mi	Zug	$3836
28 km or 17 mi	Rapperswil-Jona	$3169
33 km or 21 mi	Frauenfeld	$2747
36 km or 22 mi	Schaffhausen	$2699
37 km or 23 mi	Waldshut-Tiengen	$1684
37 km or 23 mi	Aarau	$2489
38 km or 24 mi	Emmen	$3197
40 km or 25 mi	Wil	$2650
40 km or 25 mi	Lucerne	$3231
43 km or 27 mi	Kriens	$3175
48 km or 30 mi	Singen	$1705
51 km or 32 mi	Radolfzell	$1766
56 km or 35 mi	Kreuzlingen	$2924
57 km or 36 mi	Konstanz	$1887
60 km or 37 mi	Rheinfelden	$1690
63 km or 39 mi	St. Gallen	$2694
63 km or 39 mi	Uberlingen	$1810
64 km or 40 mi	Donaueschingen	$1537
70 km or 44 mi	Riehen	$3565
71 km or 44 mi	Tuttlingen	$1593
71 km or 44 mi	Lorrach	$1694
74 km or 46 mi	Weil am Rhein	$1698
74 km or 46 mi	Basel	$2964
76 km or 47 mi	Villingen-Schwenningen	$1397
77 km or 48 mi	Saint-Louis	$1447
77 km or 48 mi	Friedrichshafen	$1839
77 km or 48 mi	Schaan	$2443
78 km or 48 mi	Allschwil	$3041