Cost of living comparison

San Jose, Costa Rica

compared to

Kathmandu, Nepal

Kathmandu vs. San Jose Cost of Living Summary

Kathmandu is 58.8% cheaper than San Jose.

Restaurants: pay 69.2% less in Kathmandu
Groceries: pay 55.6% less in Kathmandu
Transportation: pay 31.6% less in Kathmandu
Housing: pay 72.7% less in Kathmandu
Childcare: pay 77.2% less in Kathmandu
Entertainment and Sports: pay 47.2% less in Kathmandu
Clothing: pay 57.9% less in Kathmandu

Expenses including childcare, housing, restaurants, clothing, groceries, and entertainment and sports are lower in Kathmandu.

Kathmandu vs. San Jose Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 69.2% less for restaurants

	San Jose	Kathmandu
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$10.83 CRC5,411.93	$1.47 NPR201.37	-86.4%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$9.72 CRC4,855.71	$7.36 NPR1,005.86	-24.3%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.99 CRC996.28	$0.46 NPR62.35	-77.1%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$1.46 CRC730.05	$0.16 NPR22.11	-88.9%
Average			-69.2%

San Jose vs. Kathmandu - Cost of restaurants

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pay 55.6% less for groceries

	San Jose	Kathmandu
Bread 1 loaf	$2.60 CRC1,297.53	$0.57 NPR77.36	-78.2%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$4.26 CRC2,131.12	$4.70 NPR641.95	+10.1%
Milk (1 gallon)	$7.23 CRC3,614.14	$3.17 NPR433.74	-56.1%
Eggs 1 dozen	$3.26 CRC1,630.29	$1.62 NPR222.09	-50.2%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$4.41 CRC2,202.02	$1.48 NPR202.09	-66.5%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.95 CRC974.72	$1.09 NPR148.66	-44.3%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.63 CRC314.94	$0.47 NPR64.34	-25.3%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.59 CRC795.04	$0.52 NPR71.40	-67.2%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.35 CRC673.65	$0.33 NPR44.77	-75.7%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$1.30 CRC649.37	$0.22 NPR29.72	-83.3%
Onions (1 lb)	$1.19 CRC595.13	$0.29 NPR40.04	-75.4%
Average			-55.6%

San Jose vs. Kathmandu - Cost of groceries

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pay 31.6% less for transportation

	San Jose	Kathmandu
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$5.49 CRC2,742.30	$4.85 NPR663.47	-11.6%
Monthly public transit pass	$38.02 CRC19,000.61	$9.94 NPR1,359.28	-73.9%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$36,925.49 CRC18,451,701.73	$33,138.99 NPR4,530,919.64	-10.3%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$15.94 CRC7,965.79	$11.05 NPR1,510.31	-30.7%
Average			-31.6%

San Jose vs. Kathmandu - Cost of transportation

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pay 72.7% less for housing

	San Jose	Kathmandu
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$53.59 CRC26,781.29	$10.42 NPR1,425.11	-80.6%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$742.08 CRC370,817.73	$191.60 NPR26,197.11	-74.2%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$463.60 CRC231,662.02	$102.03 NPR13,949.36	-78.0%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$63.06 CRC31,508.95	$26.40 NPR3,609.19	-58.1%
Average			-72.7%

San Jose vs. Kathmandu - Cost of housing

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pay 77.2% less for childcare

	San Jose	Kathmandu
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$521.49 CRC260,589.82	$91.89 NPR12,563.00	-82.4%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$12,425.72 CRC6,209,142.52	$3,479.59 NPR475,746.56	-72.0%
Average			-77.2%

San Jose vs. Kathmandu - Cost of childcare

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pay 47.2% less for entertainment and sports

	San Jose	Kathmandu
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$2.92 CRC1,456.71	$2.58 NPR352.40	-11.6%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.69 CRC1,844.55	$1.66 NPR226.93	-55.0%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$5.05 CRC2,524.97	$2.95 NPR402.75	-41.7%
Monthly membership at local gym	$59.70 CRC29,832.68	$22.71 NPR3,104.52	-62.0%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$9.72 CRC4,855.71	$3.31 NPR453.09	-65.9%
Average			-47.2%

San Jose vs. Kathmandu - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 57.9% less for clothing

	San Jose	Kathmandu
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$73.59 CRC36,771.08	$24.02 NPR3,283.95	-67.4%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$50.81 CRC25,391.00	$31.19 NPR4,264.39	-38.6%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$125.98 CRC62,954.11	$53.29 NPR7,286.57	-57.7%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$117.31 CRC58,621.78	$37.76 NPR5,162.50	-67.8%
Average			-57.9%

San Jose vs. Kathmandu - 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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