Cost of living comparison

San Jose, Costa Rica

compared to

Harare, Zimbabwe

Harare vs. San Jose Cost of Living Summary

Harare is 28.7% cheaper than San Jose.

Restaurants: pay 47.0% less in Harare
Groceries: pay 26.2% less in Harare
Transportation: pay 5.6% more in Harare
Housing: pay 1.2% more in Harare
Childcare: pay 44.5% less in Harare
Entertainment and Sports: pay 25.3% less in Harare
Clothing: pay 64.8% less in Harare

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

Harare vs. San Jose Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 47.0% less for restaurants

	San Jose	Harare
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$10.83 CRC5,482.88	$9.00 ZWL2,898.00	-16.9%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$9.72 CRC4,919.37	$5.50 ZWL1,771.00	-43.4%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.99 CRC1,009.34	$0.74 ZWL236.90	-63.1%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$1.46 CRC739.62	$0.52 ZWL167.52	-64.4%
Average			-47.0%

San Jose vs. Harare - Cost of restaurants

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pay 26.2% less for groceries

	San Jose	Harare
Bread 1 loaf	$2.60 CRC1,314.54	$1.01 ZWL324.64	-61.2%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$4.26 CRC2,159.06	$4.88 ZWL1,572.43	+14.5%
Milk (1 gallon)	$7.23 CRC3,661.52	$6.09 ZWL1,960.22	-15.8%
Eggs 1 dozen	$3.26 CRC1,651.66	$2.18 ZWL700.35	-33.3%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$4.41 CRC2,230.89	$2.86 ZWL919.99	-35.2%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.95 CRC987.49	$1.35 ZWL435.59	-30.6%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.63 CRC319.07	$0.76 ZWL244.28	+20.4%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.59 CRC805.46	$1.01 ZWL325.75	-36.4%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.35 CRC682.48	$0.83 ZWL266.25	-38.7%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$1.30 CRC657.88	$0.64 ZWL204.77	-51.1%
Onions (1 lb)	$1.19 CRC602.93	$0.94 ZWL302.06	-21.2%
Average			-26.2%

San Jose vs. Harare - Cost of groceries

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pay 5.6% more for transportation

	San Jose	Harare
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$5.49 CRC2,778.25	$6.10 ZWL1,964.49	+11.2%
Monthly public transit pass	$38.02 CRC19,249.70	$42.50 ZWL13,685.00	+11.8%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$36,925.49 CRC18,693,593.15	$25,000.00 ZWL8,050,000.00	-32.3%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$15.94 CRC8,070.22	$21.00 ZWL6,762.00	+31.7%
Average			+5.6%

San Jose vs. Harare - Cost of transportation

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pay 1.2% more for housing

	San Jose	Harare
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$53.59 CRC27,132.38	$119.22 ZWL38,389.56	+122.5%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$742.08 CRC375,678.94	$367.86 ZWL118,450.00	-50.4%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$463.60 CRC234,698.98	$283.33 ZWL91,233.33	-38.9%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$63.06 CRC31,922.01	$45.12 ZWL14,527.88	-28.4%
Average			+1.2%

San Jose vs. Harare - Cost of housing

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pay 44.5% less for childcare

	San Jose	Harare
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$521.49 CRC264,006.01	$261.43 ZWL84,180.00	-49.9%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$12,425.72 CRC6,290,540.88	$7,562.50 ZWL2,435,125.00	-39.1%
Average			-44.5%

San Jose vs. Harare - Cost of childcare

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pay 25.3% less for entertainment and sports

	San Jose	Harare
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$2.92 CRC1,475.81	$1.50 ZWL483.00	-48.5%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.69 CRC1,868.73	$3.14 ZWL1,012.00	-14.9%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$5.05 CRC2,558.07	$1.38 ZWL442.75	-72.8%
Monthly membership at local gym	$59.70 CRC30,223.77	$63.64 ZWL20,490.91	+6.6%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$9.72 CRC4,919.37	$10.00 ZWL3,220.00	+2.9%
Average			-25.3%

San Jose vs. Harare - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 64.8% less for clothing

	San Jose	Harare
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$73.59 CRC37,253.13	$18.89 ZWL6,082.22	-74.3%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$50.81 CRC25,723.86	$23.89 ZWL7,692.22	-53.0%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$125.98 CRC63,779.40	$36.67 ZWL11,806.67	-70.9%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$117.31 CRC59,390.28	$45.91 ZWL14,782.73	-60.9%
Average			-64.8%

San Jose vs. Harare - 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: March 2025

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