Cost of living comparison

Harare, Zimbabwe

compared to

San Jose, Costa Rica

San Jose vs. Harare Cost of Living Summary

San Jose is 79.5% more expensive than Harare.

Restaurants: pay 2.1 times more in San Jose
Groceries: pay 49.7% more in San Jose
Transportation: pay 0.8% more in San Jose
Housing: pay 37.5% more in San Jose
Childcare: pay 81.9% more in San Jose
Entertainment and Sports: pay 74.1% more in San Jose
Clothing: pay 3.0 times more in San Jose

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

San Jose vs. Harare Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 2.1 times more for restaurants

	Harare	San Jose
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$9.00 ZWL2,898.00	$10.83 CRC5,482.88	+20.3%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$5.50 ZWL1,771.00	$9.72 CRC4,919.37	+76.7%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.74 ZWL236.90	$1.99 CRC1,009.34	+171.0%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.52 ZWL167.52	$1.46 CRC739.62	+180.8%
Average			+112.2%

Harare vs. San Jose - Cost of restaurants

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pay 49.7% more for groceries

	Harare	San Jose
Bread 1 loaf	$1.01 ZWL324.64	$2.60 CRC1,314.54	+157.6%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$4.88 ZWL1,572.43	$4.26 CRC2,159.06	-12.7%
Milk (1 gallon)	$6.09 ZWL1,960.22	$7.23 CRC3,661.52	+18.8%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.18 ZWL700.35	$3.26 CRC1,651.66	+50.0%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.86 ZWL919.99	$4.41 CRC2,230.89	+54.2%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.35 ZWL435.59	$1.95 CRC987.49	+44.2%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.76 ZWL244.28	$0.63 CRC319.07	-16.9%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.01 ZWL325.75	$1.59 CRC805.46	+57.3%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.83 ZWL266.25	$1.35 CRC682.48	+63.0%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.64 ZWL204.77	$1.30 CRC657.88	+104.3%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.94 ZWL302.06	$1.19 CRC602.93	+27.0%
Average			+49.7%

Harare vs. San Jose - Cost of groceries

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pay 0.8% more for transportation

	Harare	San Jose
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$6.10 ZWL1,964.49	$5.49 CRC2,778.25	-10.0%
Monthly public transit pass	$42.50 ZWL13,685.00	$38.02 CRC19,249.70	-10.5%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$25,000.00 ZWL8,050,000.00	$36,925.49 CRC18,693,593.15	+47.7%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$21.00 ZWL6,762.00	$15.94 CRC8,070.22	-24.1%
Average			+0.8%

Harare vs. San Jose - Cost of transportation

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pay 37.5% more for housing

	Harare	San Jose
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$119.22 ZWL38,389.56	$53.59 CRC27,132.38	-55.0%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$367.86 ZWL118,450.00	$742.08 CRC375,678.94	+101.7%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$283.33 ZWL91,233.33	$463.60 CRC234,698.98	+63.6%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$45.12 ZWL14,527.88	$63.06 CRC31,922.01	+39.8%
Average			+37.5%

Harare vs. San Jose - Cost of housing

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pay 81.9% more for childcare

	Harare	San Jose
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$261.43 ZWL84,180.00	$521.49 CRC264,006.01	+99.5%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$7,562.50 ZWL2,435,125.00	$12,425.72 CRC6,290,540.88	+64.3%
Average			+81.9%

Harare vs. San Jose - Cost of childcare

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pay 74.1% more for entertainment and sports

	Harare	San Jose
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$1.50 ZWL483.00	$2.92 CRC1,475.81	+94.3%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.14 ZWL1,012.00	$3.69 CRC1,868.73	+17.5%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$1.38 ZWL442.75	$5.05 CRC2,558.07	+267.5%
Monthly membership at local gym	$63.64 ZWL20,490.91	$59.70 CRC30,223.77	-6.2%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$10.00 ZWL3,220.00	$9.72 CRC4,919.37	-2.8%
Average			+74.1%

Harare vs. San Jose - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 3.0 times more for clothing

	Harare	San Jose
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$18.89 ZWL6,082.22	$73.59 CRC37,253.13	+289.6%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$23.89 ZWL7,692.22	$50.81 CRC25,723.86	+112.7%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$36.67 ZWL11,806.67	$125.98 CRC63,779.40	+243.6%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$45.91 ZWL14,782.73	$117.31 CRC59,390.28	+155.5%
Average			+200.3%

Harare 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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See the cost of living in Zimbabwe vs. Costa Rica. This provides a comparison of the average cost of living from cities within Zimbabwe and Costa Rica.

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