Cost of living comparison

Brasilia, Brazil

compared to

San Jose, Costa Rica

San Jose vs. Brasilia Cost of Living Summary

San Jose is 73.0% more expensive than Brasilia.

Restaurants: pay 70.3% more in San Jose
Groceries: pay 2.1 times more in San Jose
Transportation: pay 51.2% more in San Jose
Housing: pay 2.0 times more in San Jose
Childcare: pay 10.4% more in San Jose
Entertainment and Sports: pay 2.0 times more in San Jose
Clothing: pay 68.5% more in San Jose

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

San Jose vs. Brasilia Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 70.3% more for restaurants

	Brasilia	San Jose
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$6.97 R$40.13	$10.83 CRC5,411.93	+55.4%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$6.10 R$35.11	$9.72 CRC4,855.71	+59.4%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.14 R$6.56	$1.99 CRC996.28	+75.1%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.76 R$4.40	$1.46 CRC730.05	+91.3%
Average			+70.3%

Brasilia vs. San Jose - Cost of restaurants

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 2.1 times more for groceries

	Brasilia	San Jose
Bread 1 loaf	$1.57 R$9.04	$2.60 CRC1,297.53	+65.5%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$4.43 R$25.53	$4.26 CRC2,131.12	-3.8%
Milk (1 gallon)	$3.57 R$20.56	$7.23 CRC3,614.14	+102.6%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.10 R$12.11	$3.26 CRC1,630.29	+55.1%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$1.42 R$8.19	$4.41 CRC2,202.02	+210.0%
Apples (1 lb)	$0.87 R$4.99	$1.95 CRC974.72	+125.2%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.57 R$3.27	$0.63 CRC314.94	+10.9%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.50 R$2.87	$1.59 CRC795.04	+219.0%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.70 R$4.01	$1.35 CRC673.65	+93.8%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.51 R$2.93	$1.30 CRC649.37	+155.5%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.54 R$3.08	$1.19 CRC595.13	+122.5%
Average			+105.1%

Brasilia vs. San Jose - Cost of groceries

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 51.2% more for transportation

	Brasilia	San Jose
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$3.79 R$21.80	$5.49 CRC2,742.30	+45.0%
Monthly public transit pass	$43.46 R$250.29	$38.02 CRC19,000.61	-12.5%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$24,385.57 R$140,441.40	$36,925.49 CRC18,451,701.73	+51.4%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$7.21 R$41.53	$15.94 CRC7,965.79	+121.1%
Average			+51.2%

Brasilia vs. San Jose - Cost of transportation

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 2.0 times more for housing

	Brasilia	San Jose
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$19.32 R$111.24	$53.59 CRC26,781.29	+177.5%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$360.74 R$2,077.58	$742.08 CRC370,817.73	+105.7%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$223.88 R$1,289.35	$463.60 CRC231,662.02	+107.1%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$51.47 R$296.43	$63.06 CRC31,508.95	+22.5%
Average			+103.2%

Brasilia vs. San Jose - Cost of housing

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 10.4% more for childcare

	Brasilia	San Jose
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$461.58 R$2,658.36	$521.49 CRC260,589.82	+13.0%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$11,525.09 R$66,375.28	$12,425.72 CRC6,209,142.52	+7.8%
Average			+10.4%

Brasilia vs. San Jose - Cost of childcare

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 2.0 times more for entertainment and sports

	Brasilia	San Jose
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$1.74 R$10.03	$2.92 CRC1,456.71	+67.4%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$1.75 R$10.07	$3.69 CRC1,844.55	+111.1%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$2.09 R$12.04	$5.05 CRC2,524.97	+141.7%
Monthly membership at local gym	$23.80 R$137.07	$59.70 CRC29,832.68	+150.8%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$6.97 R$40.13	$9.72 CRC4,855.71	+39.5%
Average			+102.1%

Brasilia vs. San Jose - Cost of entertainment and sports

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 68.5% more for clothing

	Brasilia	San Jose
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$50.89 R$293.10	$73.59 CRC36,771.08	+44.6%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$41.19 R$237.21	$50.81 CRC25,391.00	+23.4%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$64.43 R$371.04	$125.98 CRC62,954.11	+95.5%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$55.71 R$320.83	$117.31 CRC58,621.78	+110.6%
Average			+68.5%

Brasilia vs. San Jose - Cost of clothing

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

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

More cost comparisons

Brasilia vs.

Hanoi

Brasilia vs.

Canberra

Brasilia vs.

Rome

Brasilia vs.

Manila

Brasilia vs.

Lima

Brasilia vs.

Phnom Penh

Brasilia vs.

Paris

Brasilia vs.

Berlin

Share this

Compare countries by overall cost of living

See the cost of living in Brazil vs. Costa Rica. This provides a comparison of the average cost of living from cities within Brazil and Costa Rica.

Help us improve these prices

MyLifeElsewhere is a collaborative project. Please enter price information for your location to help assist us in making these comparisons more accurate. Learn more

Add prices for Brasilia

Add prices for San Jose

ASK THE ELSEWHERE COMMUNITY

Join the Elsewhere community and ask a question about San Jose or Brasilia. It's a free, question-and-answer based forum to discuss what life is like in countries and cities around the world.