Cost of living comparison

Beirut, Lebanon

compared to

San Jose, Costa Rica

San Jose vs. Beirut Cost of Living Summary

San Jose is 50.4% more expensive than Beirut.

Restaurants: pay 22.6% more in San Jose
Groceries: pay 2.2 times more in San Jose
Transportation: pay 14.0% more in San Jose
Housing: pay 9.2% more in San Jose
Childcare: pay 2.4 times more in San Jose
Entertainment and Sports: pay 44.2% more in San Jose
Clothing: pay 2.5% more in San Jose

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

San Jose vs. Beirut Cost Breakdown

If you lived in San Jose instead of Beirut, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 22.6% more for restaurants

	Beirut	San Jose
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$10.00 LBP894,096	$10.83 CRC5,545.54	+8.3%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$7.64 LBP683,000	$9.72 CRC4,975.59	+27.2%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.59 LBP142,097	$1.99 CRC1,020.88	+25.4%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$1.13 LBP101,033	$1.46 CRC748.07	+29.3%
Average			+22.6%

Beirut vs. San Jose - Cost of restaurants

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pay 2.2 times more for groceries

	Beirut	San Jose
Bread 1 loaf	$0.91 LBP81,766	$2.60 CRC1,329.57	+183.9%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$5.48 LBP489,517	$4.26 CRC2,183.73	-22.1%
Milk (1 gallon)	$6.19 LBP553,239	$7.23 CRC3,703.37	+16.9%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.72 LBP242,900	$3.26 CRC1,670.54	+20.1%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$3.84 LBP342,965	$4.41 CRC2,256.39	+14.9%
Apples (1 lb)	$0.69 LBP61,846	$1.95 CRC998.78	+182.0%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.56 LBP49,671	$0.63 CRC322.72	+13.5%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.41 LBP36,712	$1.59 CRC814.67	+287.5%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.47 LBP41,705	$1.35 CRC690.28	+189.0%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.39 LBP35,013	$1.30 CRC665.40	+231.8%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.44 LBP39,214	$1.19 CRC609.82	+171.5%
Average			+117.2%

Beirut vs. San Jose - Cost of groceries

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pay 14.0% more for transportation

	Beirut	San Jose
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$3.49 LBP312,101	$5.49 CRC2,810.00	+57.2%
Monthly public transit pass	$75.00 LBP6,705,718	$38.02 CRC19,469.71	-49.3%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$30,000.00 LBP2,682,287,124	$36,925.49 CRC18,907,249.89	+23.1%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$12.75 LBP1,139,972	$15.94 CRC8,162.46	+25.0%
Average			+14.0%

Beirut vs. San Jose - Cost of transportation

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pay 9.2% more for housing

	Beirut	San Jose
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$31.88 LBP2,849,930	$53.59 CRC27,442.49	+68.1%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$738.24 LBP66,005,301	$742.08 CRC379,972.73	+0.5%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$359.38 LBP32,131,565	$463.60 CRC237,381.45	+29.0%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$161.18 LBP14,411,303	$63.06 CRC32,286.86	-60.9%
Average			+9.2%

Beirut vs. San Jose - Cost of housing

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pay 2.4 times more for childcare

	Beirut	San Jose
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$283.33 LBP25,332,712	$521.49 CRC267,023.44	+84.1%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$4,111.11 LBP367,572,680	$12,425.72 CRC6,362,438.05	+202.2%
Average			+143.1%

Beirut vs. San Jose - Cost of childcare

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pay 44.2% more for entertainment and sports

	Beirut	San Jose
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$3.00 LBP268,229	$2.92 CRC1,492.68	-2.8%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.80 LBP250,347	$3.69 CRC1,890.09	+31.8%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$2.00 LBP178,819	$5.05 CRC2,587.31	+152.6%
Monthly membership at local gym	$59.33 LBP5,304,968	$59.70 CRC30,569.21	+0.6%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$7.00 LBP625,867	$9.72 CRC4,975.59	+38.8%
Average			+44.2%

Beirut vs. San Jose - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 2.5% more for clothing

	Beirut	San Jose
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$78.12 LBP6,985,123	$73.59 CRC37,678.91	-5.8%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$57.86 LBP5,172,982	$50.81 CRC26,017.87	-12.2%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$103.12 LBP9,220,362	$125.98 CRC64,508.36	+22.2%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$110.71 LBP9,898,917	$117.31 CRC60,069.07	+6.0%
Average			+2.5%

Beirut 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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