Cost of living comparison

Guatemala City, Guatemala

compared to

San Jose, Costa Rica

San Jose vs. Guatemala City Cost of Living Summary

San Jose is 52.6% more expensive than Guatemala City.

Restaurants: pay 74.2% more in San Jose
Groceries: pay 16.0% more in San Jose
Transportation: pay 2.0 times more in San Jose
Housing: pay 19.2% more in San Jose
Childcare: pay 2.3 times more in San Jose
Entertainment and Sports: pay 15.0% more in San Jose
Clothing: pay 12.4% more in San Jose

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

San Jose vs. Guatemala City Cost Breakdown

If you lived in San Jose instead of Guatemala City, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 74.2% more for restaurants

	Guatemala City	San Jose
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$5.15 GTQ39.54	$10.83 CRC5,520.16	+110.5%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$6.37 GTQ48.94	$9.72 CRC4,952.82	+52.6%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.16 GTQ8.90	$1.99 CRC1,016.20	+72.2%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.91 GTQ6.96	$1.46 CRC744.65	+61.3%
Average			+74.2%

Guatemala City vs. San Jose - Cost of restaurants

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pay 16.0% more for groceries

	Guatemala City	San Jose
Bread 1 loaf	$3.24 GTQ24.89	$2.60 CRC1,323.48	-19.8%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$3.39 GTQ26.01	$4.26 CRC2,173.74	+26.0%
Milk (1 gallon)	$7.37 GTQ56.65	$7.23 CRC3,686.42	-1.9%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.57 GTQ19.74	$3.26 CRC1,662.89	+27.0%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$3.42 GTQ26.31	$4.41 CRC2,246.06	+28.7%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.67 GTQ12.80	$1.95 CRC994.21	+17.1%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.74 GTQ5.70	$0.63 CRC321.24	-15.1%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.55 GTQ11.89	$1.59 CRC810.94	+2.8%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.91 GTQ7.00	$1.35 CRC687.12	+48.0%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.84 GTQ6.43	$1.30 CRC662.35	+55.4%
Onions (1 lb)	$1.11 GTQ8.50	$1.19 CRC607.03	+7.7%
Average			+16.0%

Guatemala City vs. San Jose - Cost of groceries

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pay 2.0 times more for transportation

	Guatemala City	San Jose
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$4.13 GTQ31.74	$5.49 CRC2,797.14	+32.9%
Monthly public transit pass	$13.42 GTQ103.16	$38.02 CRC19,380.59	+183.3%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$18,009.72 GTQ138,404.09	$36,925.49 CRC18,820,706.48	+105.0%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$8.75 GTQ67.22	$15.94 CRC8,125.10	+82.2%
Average			+100.9%

Guatemala City vs. San Jose - Cost of transportation

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pay 19.2% more for housing

	Guatemala City	San Jose
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$43.14 GTQ331.51	$53.59 CRC27,316.87	+24.2%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$647.65 GTQ4,977.14	$742.08 CRC378,233.49	+14.6%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$347.33 GTQ2,669.22	$463.60 CRC236,294.89	+33.5%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$60.31 GTQ463.46	$63.06 CRC32,139.07	+4.6%
Average			+19.2%

Guatemala City vs. San Jose - Cost of housing

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pay 2.3 times more for childcare

	Guatemala City	San Jose
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$217.77 GTQ1,673.56	$521.49 CRC265,801.21	+139.5%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$5,593.73 GTQ42,987.65	$12,425.72 CRC6,333,315.52	+122.1%
Average			+130.8%

Guatemala City vs. San Jose - Cost of childcare

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pay 15.0% more for entertainment and sports

	Guatemala City	San Jose
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$3.22 GTQ24.72	$2.92 CRC1,485.85	-9.4%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.31 GTQ25.40	$3.69 CRC1,881.44	+11.7%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$3.60 GTQ27.68	$5.05 CRC2,575.47	+40.3%
Monthly membership at local gym	$55.94 GTQ429.92	$59.70 CRC30,429.29	+6.7%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$7.72 GTQ59.32	$9.72 CRC4,952.82	+25.9%
Average			+15.0%

Guatemala City vs. San Jose - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 12.4% more for clothing

	Guatemala City	San Jose
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$47.50 GTQ365.04	$73.59 CRC37,506.44	+54.9%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$55.74 GTQ428.39	$50.81 CRC25,898.78	-8.8%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$120.06 GTQ922.69	$125.98 CRC64,213.09	+4.9%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$118.99 GTQ914.46	$117.31 CRC59,794.12	-1.4%
Average			+12.4%

Guatemala City 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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