Cost of living comparison

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

compared to

San Jose, Costa Rica

San Jose vs. Addis Ababa Cost of Living Summary

San Jose is 95.5% more expensive than Addis Ababa.

Restaurants: pay 2.2 times more in San Jose
Groceries: pay 70.2% more in San Jose
Transportation: pay 2.7 times more in San Jose
Housing: pay 23.4% less in San Jose
Childcare: pay 3.3 times more in San Jose
Entertainment and Sports: pay 90.0% more in San Jose
Clothing: pay 8.5% more in San Jose

The cost of childcare, transportation, restaurants, entertainment and sports, groceries, and clothing in San Jose are more expensive than in Addis Ababa. Notably, childcare, transportation, and restaurants are significantly more expensive in San Jose.

San Jose vs. Addis Ababa Cost Breakdown

If you lived in San Jose instead of Addis Ababa, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 2.2 times more for restaurants

	Addis Ababa	San Jose
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$6.00 ETB778.02	$10.83 CRC5,545.54	+80.5%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$6.24 ETB808.54	$9.72 CRC4,975.59	+55.8%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.78 ETB101.79	$1.99 CRC1,020.88	+154.0%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.50 ETB65.11	$1.46 CRC748.07	+190.9%
Average			+120.3%

Addis Ababa vs. San Jose - Cost of restaurants

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pay 70.2% more for groceries

	Addis Ababa	San Jose
Bread 1 loaf	$1.20 ETB155.81	$2.60 CRC1,329.57	+116.1%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$4.85 ETB629.35	$4.26 CRC2,183.73	-12.1%
Milk (1 gallon)	$6.08 ETB788.22	$7.23 CRC3,703.37	+19.0%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.65 ETB343.52	$3.26 CRC1,670.54	+23.2%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$5.65 ETB732.15	$4.41 CRC2,256.39	-22.0%
Apples (1 lb)	$3.30 ETB428.09	$1.95 CRC998.78	-40.9%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.51 ETB65.66	$0.63 CRC322.72	+24.5%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.08 ETB139.82	$1.59 CRC814.67	+47.6%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.39 ETB50.12	$1.35 CRC690.28	+248.8%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.31 ETB40.36	$1.30 CRC665.40	+317.5%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.79 ETB102.98	$1.19 CRC609.82	+50.0%
Average			+70.2%

Addis Ababa vs. San Jose - Cost of groceries

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pay 2.7 times more for transportation

	Addis Ababa	San Jose
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$4.88 ETB632.76	$5.49 CRC2,810.00	+12.5%
Monthly public transit pass	$10.00 ETB1,296.71	$38.02 CRC19,469.71	+280.2%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$25,000.00 ETB3,241,769.58	$36,925.49 CRC18,907,249.89	+47.7%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$3.67 ETB475.24	$15.94 CRC8,162.46	+335.0%
Average			+168.8%

Addis Ababa vs. San Jose - Cost of transportation

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pay 23.4% less for housing

	Addis Ababa	San Jose
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$171.17 ETB22,195.32	$53.59 CRC27,442.49	-68.7%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$645.10 ETB83,650.62	$742.08 CRC379,972.73	+15.0%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$422.74 ETB54,817.32	$463.60 CRC237,381.45	+9.7%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$124.84 ETB16,187.87	$63.06 CRC32,286.86	-49.5%
Average			-23.4%

Addis Ababa vs. San Jose - Cost of housing

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pay 3.3 times more for childcare

	Addis Ababa	San Jose
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$81.47 ETB10,564.70	$521.49 CRC267,023.44	+540.1%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$43,916.67 ETB5,694,708.55	$12,425.72 CRC6,362,438.05	-71.7%
Average			+234.2%

Addis Ababa vs. San Jose - Cost of childcare

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pay 90.0% more for entertainment and sports

	Addis Ababa	San Jose
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$1.00 ETB129.67	$2.92 CRC1,492.68	+191.5%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$1.15 ETB149.08	$3.69 CRC1,890.09	+221.1%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$4.00 ETB518.68	$5.05 CRC2,587.31	+26.3%
Monthly membership at local gym	$90.59 ETB11,747.52	$59.70 CRC30,569.21	-34.1%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$6.70 ETB868.79	$9.72 CRC4,975.59	+45.0%
Average			+90.0%

Addis Ababa vs. San Jose - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 8.5% more for clothing

	Addis Ababa	San Jose
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$48.33 ETB6,267.42	$73.59 CRC37,678.91	+52.2%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$75.17 ETB9,746.92	$50.81 CRC26,017.87	-32.4%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$108.84 ETB14,113.72	$125.98 CRC64,508.36	+15.7%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$119.32 ETB15,472.54	$117.31 CRC60,069.07	-1.7%
Average			+8.5%

Addis Ababa vs. San Jose - Cost of clothing

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The statistics used to build this comparison are calculated using data from users just like you. We average the price of thousands of data points entered by users across the world. Learn more about our data sources. Page last updated: April 2025

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