Cost of living comparison

Kigali, Rwanda

compared to

San Jose, Costa Rica

San Jose vs. Kigali Cost of Living Summary

San Jose is 2.4 times more expensive than Kigali.

Restaurants: pay 2.6 times more in San Jose
Groceries: pay 2.5 times more in San Jose
Transportation: pay 46.2% more in San Jose
Housing: pay 84.2% more in San Jose
Childcare: pay 2.4 times more in San Jose
Entertainment and Sports: pay 2.2 times more in San Jose
Clothing: pay 3.8 times more in San Jose

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

San Jose vs. Kigali Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 2.6 times more for restaurants

	Kigali	San Jose
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$3.26 RWF4,700	$10.83 CRC5,411.93	+231.9%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$6.16 RWF8,879	$9.72 CRC4,855.71	+57.6%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.89 RWF1,288	$1.99 CRC996.28	+122.9%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.47 RWF679	$1.46 CRC730.05	+209.9%
Average			+155.6%

Kigali vs. San Jose - Cost of restaurants

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pay 2.5 times more for groceries

	Kigali	San Jose
Bread 1 loaf	$1.01 RWF1,453	$2.60 CRC1,297.53	+157.4%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$2.26 RWF3,252	$4.26 CRC2,131.12	+88.9%
Milk (1 gallon)	$2.66 RWF3,826	$7.23 CRC3,614.14	+172.3%
Eggs 1 dozen	$1.67 RWF2,402	$3.26 CRC1,630.29	+95.6%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.19 RWF3,159	$4.41 CRC2,202.02	+100.9%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.38 RWF1,984	$1.95 CRC974.72	+41.6%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.52 RWF751	$0.63 CRC314.94	+20.8%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.86 RWF1,237	$1.59 CRC795.04	+85.2%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.48 RWF696	$1.35 CRC673.65	+178.9%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.22 RWF324	$1.30 CRC649.37	+478.1%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.33 RWF468	$1.19 CRC595.13	+266.3%
Average			+153.3%

Kigali vs. San Jose - Cost of groceries

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pay 46.2% more for transportation

	Kigali	San Jose
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$4.48 RWF6,452	$5.49 CRC2,742.30	+22.5%
Monthly public transit pass	$24.66 RWF35,515	$38.02 CRC19,000.61	+54.2%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$20,668.41 RWF29,769,562	$36,925.49 CRC18,451,701.73	+78.7%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$12.33 RWF17,757	$15.94 CRC7,965.79	+29.3%
Average			+46.2%

Kigali vs. San Jose - Cost of transportation

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pay 84.2% more for housing

	Kigali	San Jose
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$26.20 RWF37,734	$53.59 CRC26,781.29	+104.6%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$489.52 RWF705,069	$742.08 CRC370,817.73	+51.6%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$271.95 RWF391,705	$463.60 CRC231,662.02	+70.5%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$30.04 RWF43,267	$63.06 CRC31,508.95	+109.9%
Average			+84.2%

Kigali vs. San Jose - Cost of housing

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pay 2.4 times more for childcare

	Kigali	San Jose
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$149.39 RWF215,176	$521.49 CRC260,589.82	+249.1%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$9,609.00 RWF13,840,235	$12,425.72 CRC6,209,142.52	+29.3%
Average			+139.2%

Kigali vs. San Jose - Cost of childcare

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pay 2.2 times more for entertainment and sports

	Kigali	San Jose
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$1.09 RWF1,567	$2.92 CRC1,456.71	+168.0%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.22 RWF3,192	$3.69 CRC1,844.55	+66.6%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$2.36 RWF3,395	$5.05 CRC2,524.97	+114.4%
Monthly membership at local gym	$31.83 RWF45,844	$59.70 CRC29,832.68	+87.6%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$3.63 RWF5,223	$9.72 CRC4,855.71	+168.0%
Average			+120.9%

Kigali vs. San Jose - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 3.8 times more for clothing

	Kigali	San Jose
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$16.68 RWF24,025	$73.59 CRC36,771.08	+341.2%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$21.76 RWF31,336	$50.81 CRC25,391.00	+133.6%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$26.59 RWF38,300	$125.98 CRC62,954.11	+373.8%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$31.43 RWF45,264	$117.31 CRC58,621.78	+273.3%
Average			+280.5%

Kigali 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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