Cost of living comparison

Budapest, Hungary

compared to

San Jose, Costa Rica

San Jose vs. Budapest Cost of Living Summary

San Jose is 33.2% more expensive than Budapest.

Restaurants: pay 20.1% more in San Jose
Groceries: pay 73.5% more in San Jose
Transportation: pay 29.6% more in San Jose
Housing: pay 42.5% more in San Jose
Childcare: pay 20.4% more in San Jose
Entertainment and Sports: pay 19.8% more in San Jose
Clothing: pay 26.8% more in San Jose

The cost of groceries, housing, transportation, clothing, childcare, and restaurants in San Jose are more expensive than in Budapest.

San Jose vs. Budapest Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 20.1% more for restaurants

	Budapest	San Jose
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$10.52 HUF3,667.58	$10.83 CRC5,463.44	+2.9%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$7.89 HUF2,750.68	$9.72 CRC4,901.92	+23.1%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.53 HUF531.78	$1.99 CRC1,005.76	+30.7%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$1.18 HUF412.30	$1.46 CRC736.99	+23.5%
Average			+20.1%

Budapest vs. San Jose - Cost of restaurants

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pay 73.5% more for groceries

	Budapest	San Jose
Bread 1 loaf	$1.48 HUF516.01	$2.60 CRC1,309.88	+75.4%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$4.42 HUF1,539.24	$4.26 CRC2,151.40	-3.4%
Milk (1 gallon)	$3.98 HUF1,387.06	$7.23 CRC3,648.54	+81.8%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.43 HUF847.82	$3.26 CRC1,645.80	+34.1%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.44 HUF850.61	$4.41 CRC2,222.98	+80.6%
Apples (1 lb)	$0.71 HUF246.50	$1.95 CRC983.99	+175.8%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.80 HUF277.93	$0.63 CRC317.94	-21.0%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.81 HUF281.37	$1.59 CRC802.61	+97.1%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.17 HUF408.74	$1.35 CRC680.06	+15.0%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.51 HUF177.45	$1.30 CRC655.55	+155.3%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.55 HUF190.73	$1.19 CRC600.79	+117.6%
Average			+73.5%

Budapest vs. San Jose - Cost of groceries

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pay 29.6% more for transportation

	Budapest	San Jose
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$6.17 HUF2,151.42	$5.49 CRC2,768.40	-11.1%
Monthly public transit pass	$23.54 HUF8,206.21	$38.02 CRC19,181.44	+61.5%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$26,962.74 HUF9,398,169.82	$36,925.49 CRC18,627,306.47	+37.0%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$12.15 HUF4,236.05	$15.94 CRC8,041.60	+31.2%
Average			+29.6%

Budapest vs. San Jose - Cost of transportation

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pay 42.5% more for housing

	Budapest	San Jose
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$17.98 HUF6,268.66	$53.59 CRC27,036.17	+198.0%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$642.83 HUF224,065.82	$742.08 CRC374,346.80	+15.4%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$478.04 HUF166,626.44	$463.60 CRC233,866.75	-3.0%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$105.42 HUF36,745.27	$63.06 CRC31,808.82	-40.2%
Average			+42.5%

Budapest vs. San Jose - Cost of housing

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pay 20.4% more for childcare

	Budapest	San Jose
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$423.92 HUF147,761.09	$521.49 CRC263,069.85	+23.0%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$10,554.11 HUF3,678,756.10	$12,425.72 CRC6,268,234.89	+17.7%
Average			+20.4%

Budapest vs. San Jose - Cost of childcare

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pay 19.8% more for entertainment and sports

	Budapest	San Jose
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$2.63 HUF916.89	$2.92 CRC1,470.58	+10.8%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.37 HUF827.30	$3.69 CRC1,862.10	+55.5%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$5.98 HUF2,085.94	$5.05 CRC2,549.00	-15.6%
Monthly membership at local gym	$49.31 HUF17,188.44	$59.70 CRC30,116.60	+21.1%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$7.63 HUF2,658.99	$9.72 CRC4,901.92	+27.4%
Average			+19.8%

Budapest vs. San Jose - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 26.8% more for clothing

	Budapest	San Jose
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$74.81 HUF26,075.90	$73.59 CRC37,121.03	-1.6%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$36.73 HUF12,802.06	$50.81 CRC25,632.64	+38.3%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$86.74 HUF30,232.49	$125.98 CRC63,553.24	+45.3%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$93.52 HUF32,597.18	$117.31 CRC59,179.68	+25.4%
Average			+26.8%

Budapest 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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