Cost of living comparison

Bucharest, Romania

compared to

San Jose, Costa Rica

San Jose vs. Bucharest Cost of Living Summary

San Jose is 43.7% more expensive than Bucharest.

Restaurants: pay 3.4% less in San Jose
Groceries: pay 79.8% more in San Jose
Transportation: pay 81.7% more in San Jose
Housing: pay 2.2 times more in San Jose
Childcare: pay 7.8% more in San Jose
Entertainment and Sports: pay 4.7% more in San Jose
Clothing: pay 19.9% more in San Jose

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

San Jose vs. Bucharest Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 3.4% less for restaurants

	Bucharest	San Jose
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$11.85 RON51.56	$10.83 CRC5,463.44	-8.6%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$7.54 RON32.81	$9.72 CRC4,901.92	+28.9%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$2.00 RON8.69	$1.99 CRC1,005.76	-0.2%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$2.20 RON9.59	$1.46 CRC736.99	-33.7%
Average			-3.4%

Bucharest vs. San Jose - Cost of restaurants

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pay 79.8% more for groceries

	Bucharest	San Jose
Bread 1 loaf	$1.17 RON5.11	$2.60 CRC1,309.88	+121.0%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$4.52 RON19.68	$4.26 CRC2,151.40	-5.7%
Milk (1 gallon)	$6.34 RON27.59	$7.23 CRC3,648.54	+14.1%
Eggs 1 dozen	$3.28 RON14.26	$3.26 CRC1,645.80	-0.4%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$3.09 RON13.44	$4.41 CRC2,222.98	+42.7%
Apples (1 lb)	$0.59 RON2.55	$1.95 CRC983.99	+233.0%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.77 RON3.35	$0.63 CRC317.94	-18.0%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.75 RON3.27	$1.59 CRC802.61	+111.8%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.88 RON3.83	$1.35 CRC680.06	+53.0%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.51 RON2.21	$1.30 CRC655.55	+156.4%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.44 RON1.92	$1.19 CRC600.79	+170.3%
Average			+79.8%

Bucharest vs. San Jose - Cost of groceries

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pay 81.7% more for transportation

	Bucharest	San Jose
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$6.09 RON26.51	$5.49 CRC2,768.40	-9.9%
Monthly public transit pass	$17.24 RON74.99	$38.02 CRC19,181.44	+120.6%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$26,003.12 RON113,126.56	$36,925.49 CRC18,627,306.47	+42.0%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$5.82 RON25.31	$15.94 CRC8,041.60	+174.0%
Average			+81.7%

Bucharest vs. San Jose - Cost of transportation

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pay 2.2 times more for housing

	Bucharest	San Jose
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$9.35 RON40.70	$53.59 CRC27,036.17	+472.9%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$601.94 RON2,618.73	$742.08 CRC374,346.80	+23.3%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$397.23 RON1,728.15	$463.60 CRC233,866.75	+16.7%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$130.07 RON565.86	$63.06 CRC31,808.82	-51.5%
Average			+115.3%

Bucharest vs. San Jose - Cost of housing

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pay 7.8% more for childcare

	Bucharest	San Jose
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$527.95 RON2,296.85	$521.49 CRC263,069.85	-1.2%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$10,631.65 RON46,252.99	$12,425.72 CRC6,268,234.89	+16.9%
Average			+7.8%

Bucharest vs. San Jose - Cost of childcare

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pay 4.7% more for entertainment and sports

	Bucharest	San Jose
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$3.23 RON14.06	$2.92 CRC1,470.58	-9.8%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.17 RON13.78	$3.69 CRC1,862.10	+16.5%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$5.98 RON26.01	$5.05 CRC2,549.00	-15.5%
Monthly membership at local gym	$49.84 RON216.84	$59.70 CRC30,116.60	+19.8%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$8.62 RON37.50	$9.72 CRC4,901.92	+12.7%
Average			+4.7%

Bucharest vs. San Jose - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 19.9% more for clothing

	Bucharest	San Jose
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$78.42 RON341.14	$73.59 CRC37,121.03	-6.2%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$39.68 RON172.62	$50.81 CRC25,632.64	+28.1%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$85.94 RON373.90	$125.98 CRC63,553.24	+46.6%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$105.80 RON460.29	$117.31 CRC59,179.68	+10.9%
Average			+19.9%

Bucharest 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: June 2025

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