Cost of living comparison

Podgorica, Montenegro

compared to

San Jose, Costa Rica

San Jose vs. Podgorica Cost of Living Summary

San Jose is 45.9% more expensive than Podgorica.

Restaurants: pay 9.4% more in San Jose
Groceries: pay 86.6% more in San Jose
Transportation: pay 45.4% more in San Jose
Housing: pay 22.0% more in San Jose
Childcare: pay 87.4% more in San Jose
Entertainment and Sports: pay 55.2% more in San Jose
Clothing: pay 15.6% more in San Jose

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

San Jose vs. Podgorica Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 9.4% more for restaurants

	Podgorica	San Jose
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$8.57 €7.56	$10.83 CRC5,499.19	+26.3%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$8.04 €7.08	$9.72 CRC4,934.00	+20.9%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$2.13 €1.88	$1.99 CRC1,012.34	-6.4%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$1.51 €1.33	$1.46 CRC741.82	-3.2%
Average			+9.4%

Podgorica vs. San Jose - Cost of restaurants

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pay 86.6% more for groceries

	Podgorica	San Jose
Bread 1 loaf	$0.93 €0.82	$2.60 CRC1,318.45	+180.5%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$3.98 €3.51	$4.26 CRC2,165.48	+7.1%
Milk (1 gallon)	$4.94 €4.36	$7.23 CRC3,672.41	+46.3%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.96 €2.61	$3.26 CRC1,656.57	+10.3%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$3.59 €3.16	$4.41 CRC2,237.52	+22.7%
Apples (1 lb)	$0.61 €0.53	$1.95 CRC990.43	+222.3%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.85 €0.75	$0.63 CRC320.02	-25.6%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.67 €0.59	$1.59 CRC807.86	+138.6%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.06 €0.93	$1.35 CRC684.51	+27.1%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.44 €0.39	$1.30 CRC659.83	+195.0%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.52 €0.46	$1.19 CRC604.73	+128.8%
Average			+86.6%

Podgorica vs. San Jose - Cost of groceries

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pay 45.4% more for transportation

	Podgorica	San Jose
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$6.02 €5.31	$5.49 CRC2,786.51	-8.9%
Monthly public transit pass	$32.15 €28.33	$38.02 CRC19,306.95	+18.3%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$27,933.36 €24,616.00	$36,925.49 CRC18,749,195.70	+32.2%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$6.64 €5.86	$15.94 CRC8,094.23	+139.9%
Average			+45.4%

Podgorica vs. San Jose - Cost of transportation

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pay 22.0% more for housing

	Podgorica	San Jose
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$29.29 €25.81	$53.59 CRC27,213.08	+83.0%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$586.17 €516.56	$742.08 CRC376,796.37	+26.6%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$453.87 €399.97	$463.60 CRC235,397.07	+2.1%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$82.62 €72.81	$63.06 CRC32,016.96	-23.7%
Average			+22.0%

Podgorica vs. San Jose - Cost of housing

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pay 87.4% more for childcare

	Podgorica	San Jose
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$265.47 €233.94	$521.49 CRC264,791.27	+96.4%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$6,966.46 €6,139.12	$12,425.72 CRC6,309,251.58	+78.4%
Average			+87.4%

Podgorica vs. San Jose - Cost of childcare

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pay 55.2% more for entertainment and sports

	Podgorica	San Jose
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$2.36 €2.08	$2.92 CRC1,480.20	+23.6%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$1.95 €1.71	$3.69 CRC1,874.29	+89.7%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$3.86 €3.40	$5.05 CRC2,565.68	+31.0%
Monthly membership at local gym	$39.72 €35.00	$59.70 CRC30,313.67	+50.3%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$5.36 €4.72	$9.72 CRC4,934.00	+81.3%
Average			+55.2%

Podgorica vs. San Jose - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 15.6% more for clothing

	Podgorica	San Jose
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$76.10 €67.06	$73.59 CRC37,363.93	-3.3%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$41.90 €36.92	$50.81 CRC25,800.37	+21.3%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$93.78 €82.64	$125.98 CRC63,969.11	+34.3%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$106.69 €94.02	$117.31 CRC59,566.93	+10.0%
Average			+15.6%

Podgorica 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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