Cost of living comparison

Gaborone, Botswana

compared to

San Jose, Costa Rica

San Jose vs. Gaborone Cost of Living Summary

San Jose is 94.2% more expensive than Gaborone.

Restaurants: pay 2.1 times more in San Jose
Groceries: pay 91.2% more in San Jose
Transportation: pay 27.3% more in San Jose
Housing: pay 97.0% more in San Jose
Childcare: pay 3.1 times more in San Jose
Entertainment and Sports: pay 49.9% more in San Jose
Clothing: pay 71.8% more in San Jose

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

San Jose vs. Gaborone Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 2.1 times more for restaurants

	Gaborone	San Jose
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$7.50 BWP103.31	$10.83 CRC5,481.76	+44.5%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$6.00 BWP82.65	$9.72 CRC4,918.36	+62.1%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.83 BWP11.48	$1.99 CRC1,009.13	+139.5%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.49 BWP6.73	$1.46 CRC739.46	+199.4%
Average			+111.4%

Gaborone vs. San Jose - Cost of restaurants

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pay 91.2% more for groceries

	Gaborone	San Jose
Bread 1 loaf	$0.81 BWP11.20	$2.60 CRC1,314.27	+219.6%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$3.37 BWP46.42	$4.26 CRC2,158.61	+26.6%
Milk (1 gallon)	$5.06 BWP69.75	$7.23 CRC3,660.77	+42.9%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.29 BWP31.57	$3.26 CRC1,651.32	+42.4%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.27 BWP31.34	$4.41 CRC2,230.43	+93.8%
Apples (1 lb)	$0.77 BWP10.67	$1.95 CRC987.29	+152.0%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.62 BWP8.53	$0.63 CRC319.01	+1.8%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.88 BWP12.18	$1.59 CRC805.30	+80.0%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.65 BWP8.90	$1.35 CRC682.34	+108.9%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.60 BWP8.23	$1.30 CRC657.74	+117.6%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.55 BWP7.55	$1.19 CRC602.81	+117.5%
Average			+91.2%

Gaborone vs. San Jose - Cost of groceries

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pay 27.3% more for transportation

	Gaborone	San Jose
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$4.27 BWP58.90	$5.49 CRC2,777.68	+28.4%
Monthly public transit pass	$28.18 BWP388.46	$38.02 CRC19,245.76	+34.9%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$22,486.26 BWP309,938.88	$36,925.49 CRC18,689,769.59	+64.2%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$19.49 BWP268.61	$15.94 CRC8,068.57	-18.2%
Average			+27.3%

Gaborone vs. San Jose - Cost of transportation

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pay 97.0% more for housing

	Gaborone	San Jose
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$90.60 BWP1,248.80	$53.59 CRC27,126.83	-40.8%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$254.84 BWP3,512.64	$742.08 CRC375,602.10	+191.2%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$149.91 BWP2,066.26	$463.60 CRC234,650.97	+209.3%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$49.21 BWP678.31	$63.06 CRC31,915.48	+28.1%
Average			+97.0%

Gaborone vs. San Jose - Cost of housing

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pay 3.1 times more for childcare

	Gaborone	San Jose
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$180.24 BWP2,484.35	$521.49 CRC263,952.01	+189.3%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$3,740.68 BWP51,559.62	$12,425.72 CRC6,289,254.22	+232.2%
Average			+210.8%

Gaborone vs. San Jose - Cost of childcare

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pay 49.9% more for entertainment and sports

	Gaborone	San Jose
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$2.25 BWP30.99	$2.92 CRC1,475.51	+29.6%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.37 BWP32.66	$3.69 CRC1,868.35	+55.8%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$3.75 BWP51.66	$5.05 CRC2,557.55	+34.8%
Monthly membership at local gym	$32.19 BWP443.67	$59.70 CRC30,217.59	+85.5%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$6.75 BWP92.98	$9.72 CRC4,918.36	+44.0%
Average			+49.9%

Gaborone vs. San Jose - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 71.8% more for clothing

	Gaborone	San Jose
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$44.14 BWP608.40	$73.59 CRC37,245.51	+66.7%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$22.17 BWP305.51	$50.81 CRC25,718.60	+129.2%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$76.20 BWP1,050.35	$125.98 CRC63,766.36	+65.3%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$93.16 BWP1,284.03	$117.31 CRC59,378.13	+25.9%
Average			+71.8%

Gaborone 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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