Cost of living comparison

San Jose, Costa Rica

compared to

Beirut, Lebanon

Beirut vs. San Jose Cost of Living Summary

Beirut is 15.4% cheaper than San Jose.

Restaurants: pay 18.0% less in Beirut
Groceries: pay 39.1% less in Beirut
Transportation: pay 5.5% more in Beirut
Housing: pay 23.0% more in Beirut
Childcare: pay 56.3% less in Beirut
Entertainment and Sports: pay 22.0% less in Beirut
Clothing: pay 0.9% less in Beirut

The cost of housing and transportation in Beirut are more expensive than in San Jose. Expenses including childcare, groceries, entertainment and sports, restaurants, and clothing are lower in Beirut.

Beirut vs. San Jose Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 18.0% less for restaurants

	San Jose	Beirut
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$10.83 CRC5,499.19	$10.00 LBP895,566	-7.7%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$9.72 CRC4,934.00	$7.64 LBP684,123	-21.4%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.99 CRC1,012.34	$1.59 LBP142,331	-20.3%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$1.46 CRC741.82	$1.13 LBP101,199	-22.7%
Average			-18.0%

San Jose vs. Beirut - Cost of restaurants

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pay 39.1% less for groceries

	San Jose	Beirut
Bread 1 loaf	$2.60 CRC1,318.45	$0.91 LBP81,900	-64.8%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$4.26 CRC2,165.48	$5.48 LBP490,322	+28.4%
Milk (1 gallon)	$7.23 CRC3,672.41	$6.19 LBP554,149	-14.4%
Eggs 1 dozen	$3.26 CRC1,656.57	$2.72 LBP243,299	-16.7%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$4.41 CRC2,237.52	$3.84 LBP343,529	-13.0%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.95 CRC990.43	$0.69 LBP61,948	-64.5%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.63 CRC320.02	$0.56 LBP49,752	-11.9%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.59 CRC807.86	$0.41 LBP36,773	-74.2%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.35 CRC684.51	$0.47 LBP41,773	-65.4%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$1.30 CRC659.83	$0.39 LBP35,071	-69.9%
Onions (1 lb)	$1.19 CRC604.73	$0.44 LBP39,279	-63.2%
Average			-39.1%

San Jose vs. Beirut - Cost of groceries

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pay 5.5% more for transportation

	San Jose	Beirut
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$5.49 CRC2,786.51	$3.49 LBP312,614	-36.4%
Monthly public transit pass	$38.02 CRC19,306.95	$75.00 LBP6,716,746	+97.2%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$36,925.49 CRC18,749,195.70	$30,000.00 LBP2,686,698,522	-18.8%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$15.94 CRC8,094.23	$12.75 LBP1,141,847	-20.0%
Average			+5.5%

San Jose vs. Beirut - Cost of transportation

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pay 23.0% more for housing

	San Jose	Beirut
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$53.59 CRC27,213.08	$31.88 LBP2,854,617	-40.5%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$742.08 CRC376,796.37	$738.24 LBP66,113,856	-0.5%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$463.60 CRC235,397.07	$359.38 LBP32,184,409	-22.5%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$63.06 CRC32,016.96	$161.18 LBP14,435,005	+155.6%
Average			+23.0%

San Jose vs. Beirut - Cost of housing

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pay 56.3% less for childcare

	San Jose	Beirut
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$521.49 CRC264,791.27	$283.33 LBP25,374,375	-45.7%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$12,425.72 CRC6,309,251.58	$4,111.11 LBP368,177,205	-66.9%
Average			-56.3%

San Jose vs. Beirut - Cost of childcare

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pay 22.0% less for entertainment and sports

	San Jose	Beirut
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$2.92 CRC1,480.20	$3.00 LBP268,670	+2.9%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.69 CRC1,874.29	$2.80 LBP250,759	-24.1%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$5.05 CRC2,565.68	$2.00 LBP179,113	-60.4%
Monthly membership at local gym	$59.70 CRC30,313.67	$59.33 LBP5,313,693	-0.6%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$9.72 CRC4,934.00	$7.00 LBP626,896	-28.0%
Average			-22.0%

San Jose vs. Beirut - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 0.9% less for clothing

	San Jose	Beirut
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$73.59 CRC37,363.93	$78.12 LBP6,996,611	+6.2%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$50.81 CRC25,800.37	$57.86 LBP5,181,490	+13.9%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$125.98 CRC63,969.11	$103.12 LBP9,235,526	-18.1%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$117.31 CRC59,566.93	$110.71 LBP9,915,197	-5.6%
Average			-0.9%

San Jose vs. Beirut - 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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