Cost of living comparison

San Jose, Costa Rica

compared to

Guatemala City, Guatemala

Guatemala City vs. San Jose Cost of Living Summary

Guatemala City is 27.0% cheaper than San Jose.

Restaurants: pay 41.7% less in Guatemala City
Groceries: pay 10.2% less in Guatemala City
Transportation: pay 46.4% less in Guatemala City
Housing: pay 15.4% less in Guatemala City
Childcare: pay 56.6% less in Guatemala City
Entertainment and Sports: pay 11.2% less in Guatemala City
Clothing: pay 7.2% less in Guatemala City

Expenses including childcare, transportation, restaurants, housing, entertainment and sports, and groceries are lower in Guatemala City.

Guatemala City vs. San Jose Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Guatemala City instead of San Jose, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 41.7% less for restaurants

	San Jose	Guatemala City
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$10.83 CRC5,411.93	$5.15 GTQ39.69	-52.5%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$9.72 CRC4,855.71	$6.37 GTQ49.12	-34.5%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.99 CRC996.28	$1.16 GTQ8.93	-41.9%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$1.46 CRC730.05	$0.91 GTQ6.99	-38.0%
Average			-41.7%

San Jose vs. Guatemala City - Cost of restaurants

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 10.2% less for groceries

	San Jose	Guatemala City
Bread 1 loaf	$2.60 CRC1,297.53	$3.24 GTQ24.98	+24.7%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$4.26 CRC2,131.12	$3.39 GTQ26.11	-20.6%
Milk (1 gallon)	$7.23 CRC3,614.14	$7.37 GTQ56.86	+1.9%
Eggs 1 dozen	$3.26 CRC1,630.29	$2.57 GTQ19.82	-21.3%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$4.41 CRC2,202.02	$3.42 GTQ26.41	-22.3%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.95 CRC974.72	$1.67 GTQ12.85	-14.6%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.63 CRC314.94	$0.74 GTQ5.73	+17.8%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.59 CRC795.04	$1.55 GTQ11.93	-2.8%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.35 CRC673.65	$0.91 GTQ7.03	-32.4%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$1.30 CRC649.37	$0.84 GTQ6.45	-35.7%
Onions (1 lb)	$1.19 CRC595.13	$1.11 GTQ8.53	-7.1%
Average			-10.2%

San Jose vs. Guatemala City - Cost of groceries

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 46.4% less for transportation

	San Jose	Guatemala City
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$5.49 CRC2,742.30	$4.13 GTQ31.86	-24.7%
Monthly public transit pass	$38.02 CRC19,000.61	$13.42 GTQ103.55	-64.7%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$36,925.49 CRC18,451,701.73	$18,009.72 GTQ138,925.31	-51.2%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$15.94 CRC7,965.79	$8.75 GTQ67.48	-45.1%
Average			-46.4%

San Jose vs. Guatemala City - Cost of transportation

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 15.4% less for housing

	San Jose	Guatemala City
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$53.59 CRC26,781.29	$43.14 GTQ332.76	-19.5%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$742.08 CRC370,817.73	$647.65 GTQ4,995.88	-12.7%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$463.60 CRC231,662.02	$347.33 GTQ2,679.27	-25.1%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$63.06 CRC31,508.95	$60.31 GTQ465.20	-4.4%
Average			-15.4%

San Jose vs. Guatemala City - Cost of housing

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 56.6% less for childcare

	San Jose	Guatemala City
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$521.49 CRC260,589.82	$217.77 GTQ1,679.86	-58.2%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$12,425.72 CRC6,209,142.52	$5,593.73 GTQ43,149.54	-55.0%
Average			-56.6%

San Jose vs. Guatemala City - Cost of childcare

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 11.2% less for entertainment and sports

	San Jose	Guatemala City
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$2.92 CRC1,456.71	$3.22 GTQ24.81	+10.3%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.69 CRC1,844.55	$3.31 GTQ25.50	-10.5%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$5.05 CRC2,524.97	$3.60 GTQ27.79	-28.7%
Monthly membership at local gym	$59.70 CRC29,832.68	$55.94 GTQ431.54	-6.3%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$9.72 CRC4,855.71	$7.72 GTQ59.54	-20.6%
Average			-11.2%

San Jose vs. Guatemala City - Cost of entertainment and sports

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 7.2% less for clothing

	San Jose	Guatemala City
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$73.59 CRC36,771.08	$47.50 GTQ366.42	-35.4%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$50.81 CRC25,391.00	$55.74 GTQ430.01	+9.7%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$125.98 CRC62,954.11	$120.06 GTQ926.17	-4.7%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$117.31 CRC58,621.78	$118.99 GTQ917.90	+1.4%
Average			-7.2%

San Jose vs. Guatemala City - Cost of clothing

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

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

More cost comparisons

San Jose vs.

Ottawa

San Jose vs.

Vienna

San Jose vs.

Madrid

San Jose vs.

Quito

San Jose vs.

Beijing

San Jose vs.

Kiev

San Jose vs.

Athens

San Jose vs.

Algiers

Share this

Compare countries by overall cost of living

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

Help us improve these prices

MyLifeElsewhere is a collaborative project. Please enter price information for your location to help assist us in making these comparisons more accurate. Learn more

Add prices for San Jose

Add prices for Guatemala City

ASK THE ELSEWHERE COMMUNITY

Join the Elsewhere community and ask a question about Guatemala City or San Jose. It's a free, question-and-answer based forum to discuss what life is like in countries and cities around the world.