Cost of living comparison

Canberra, Australia

compared to

San Jose, Costa Rica

San Jose vs. Canberra Cost of Living Summary

San Jose is 27.9% cheaper than Canberra.

Restaurants: pay 27.9% less in San Jose
Groceries: pay 8.9% less in San Jose
Transportation: pay 10.8% less in San Jose
Housing: pay 52.3% less in San Jose
Childcare: pay 43.0% less in San Jose
Entertainment and Sports: pay 36.3% less in San Jose
Clothing: pay 15.8% less in San Jose

Expenses including housing, childcare, entertainment and sports, restaurants, clothing, and transportation are lower in San Jose.

San Jose vs. Canberra Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 27.9% less for restaurants

	Canberra	San Jose
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$19.77 A$31.52	$10.83 CRC5,401.48	-45.2%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$9.89 A$15.76	$9.72 CRC4,846.33	-1.7%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$2.76 A$4.41	$1.99 CRC994.36	-27.9%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$2.32 A$3.69	$1.46 CRC728.64	-36.9%
Average			-27.9%

Canberra vs. San Jose - Cost of restaurants

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pay 8.9% less for groceries

	Canberra	San Jose
Bread 1 loaf	$2.59 A$4.12	$2.60 CRC1,295.03	+0.4%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$5.39 A$8.59	$4.26 CRC2,127.00	-20.9%
Milk (1 gallon)	$6.59 A$10.51	$7.23 CRC3,607.16	+9.8%
Eggs 1 dozen	$4.63 A$7.38	$3.26 CRC1,627.14	-29.5%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$4.12 A$6.57	$4.41 CRC2,197.77	+7.0%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.62 A$2.58	$1.95 CRC972.83	+20.5%
Bananas (1 lb)	$1.34 A$2.14	$0.63 CRC314.33	-53.0%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.57 A$2.50	$1.59 CRC793.51	+1.5%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$2.46 A$3.93	$1.35 CRC672.35	-45.3%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$1.25 A$1.99	$1.30 CRC648.11	+4.1%
Onions (1 lb)	$1.11 A$1.77	$1.19 CRC593.98	+7.0%
Average			-8.9%

Canberra vs. San Jose - Cost of groceries

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pay 10.8% less for transportation

	Canberra	San Jose
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$5.07 A$8.09	$5.49 CRC2,737.00	+8.2%
Monthly public transit pass	$118.63 A$189.10	$38.02 CRC18,963.91	-67.9%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$29,276.08 A$46,670.00	$36,925.49 CRC18,416,068.23	+26.1%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$17.66 A$28.16	$15.94 CRC7,950.41	-9.7%
Average			-10.8%

Canberra vs. San Jose - Cost of transportation

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pay 52.3% less for housing

	Canberra	San Jose
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$65.39 A$104.24	$53.59 CRC26,729.57	-18.0%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$1,783.31 A$2,842.83	$742.08 CRC370,101.61	-58.4%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$1,413.05 A$2,252.58	$463.60 CRC231,214.64	-67.2%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$183.02 A$291.76	$63.06 CRC31,448.10	-65.5%
Average			-52.3%

Canberra vs. San Jose - Cost of housing

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pay 43.0% less for childcare

	Canberra	San Jose
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$1,847.17 A$2,944.63	$521.49 CRC260,086.58	-71.8%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$14,503.36 A$23,120.31	$12,425.72 CRC6,197,151.57	-14.3%
Average			-43.0%

Canberra vs. San Jose - Cost of childcare

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pay 36.3% less for entertainment and sports

	Canberra	San Jose
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$7.25 A$11.56	$2.92 CRC1,453.90	-59.8%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.68 A$5.87	$3.69 CRC1,840.99	+0.3%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$26.36 A$42.02	$5.05 CRC2,520.09	-80.8%
Monthly membership at local gym	$65.69 A$104.72	$59.70 CRC29,775.07	-9.1%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$14.33 A$22.85	$9.72 CRC4,846.33	-32.2%
Average			-36.3%

Canberra vs. San Jose - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 15.8% less for clothing

	Canberra	San Jose
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$86.77 A$138.32	$73.59 CRC36,700.07	-15.2%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$72.18 A$115.07	$50.81 CRC25,341.96	-29.6%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$119.51 A$190.52	$125.98 CRC62,832.54	+5.4%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$154.17 A$245.77	$117.31 CRC58,508.57	-23.9%
Average			-15.8%

Canberra 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: March 2025

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