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:

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
Fast food combo meal
McDonalds, or similar
$5.50
ZWL1,771.00
$9.72
CRC4,919.37
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz) $0.74
ZWL236.90
$1.99
CRC1,009.34

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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
Local cheese (8 oz) $4.88
ZWL1,572.43
$4.26
CRC2,159.06
Milk (1 gallon) $6.09
ZWL1,960.22
$7.23
CRC3,661.52

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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
Monthly public transit pass $42.50
ZWL13,685.00
$38.02
CRC19,249.70
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition) $25,000.00
ZWL8,050,000.00
$36,925.49
CRC18,693,593.15

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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
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area $367.86
ZWL118,450.00
$742.08
CRC375,678.94
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center $283.33
ZWL91,233.33
$463.60
CRC234,698.98

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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
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters $7,562.50
ZWL2,435,125.00
$12,425.72
CRC6,290,540.88

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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
Cappuccino in mid-range area $3.14
ZWL1,012.00
$3.69
CRC1,868.73
Pack of cigarettes
Marlboro or similar
$1.38
ZWL442.75
$5.05
CRC2,558.07

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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
Regular dress
from H&M or similar store
$23.89
ZWL7,692.22
$50.81
CRC25,723.86
Running shoes
Nike or Adidas
$36.67
ZWL11,806.67
$125.98
CRC63,779.40

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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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