Cost of living comparison

San Jose, Costa Rica

compared to

Montevideo, Uruguay

Montevideo vs. San Jose Cost of Living Summary

Montevideo is 2.1% more expensive than San Jose.

Restaurants: pay 7.9% more in Montevideo
Groceries: pay 4.0% less in Montevideo
Transportation: pay 35.0% more in Montevideo
Housing: pay 1.9% more in Montevideo
Childcare: pay 30.0% less in Montevideo
Entertainment and Sports: pay 4.2% more in Montevideo
Clothing: pay 0.3% less in Montevideo

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

Montevideo vs. San Jose Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 7.9% more for restaurants

	San Jose	Montevideo
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$10.83 CRC5,411.93	$14.37 UYU606.07	+32.7%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$9.72 CRC4,855.71	$9.64 UYU406.57	-0.8%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.99 CRC996.28	$1.93 UYU81.36	-3.2%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$1.46 CRC730.05	$1.50 UYU63.33	+2.8%
Average			+7.9%

San Jose vs. Montevideo - Cost of restaurants

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pay 4.0% less for groceries

	San Jose	Montevideo
Bread 1 loaf	$2.60 CRC1,297.53	$2.66 UYU112.22	+2.5%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$4.26 CRC2,131.12	$6.01 UYU253.42	+40.9%
Milk (1 gallon)	$7.23 CRC3,614.14	$4.25 UYU179.01	-41.3%
Eggs 1 dozen	$3.26 CRC1,630.29	$4.43 UYU186.95	+35.9%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$4.41 CRC2,202.02	$4.29 UYU180.96	-2.6%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.95 CRC974.72	$1.24 UYU52.45	-36.2%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.63 CRC314.94	$1.01 UYU42.47	+59.8%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.59 CRC795.04	$0.64 UYU26.98	-59.8%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.35 CRC673.65	$1.66 UYU70.00	+23.1%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$1.30 CRC649.37	$0.84 UYU35.26	-35.6%
Onions (1 lb)	$1.19 CRC595.13	$0.82 UYU34.60	-31.1%
Average			-4.0%

San Jose vs. Montevideo - Cost of groceries

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pay 35.0% more for transportation

	San Jose	Montevideo
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$5.49 CRC2,742.30	$6.92 UYU291.69	+26.1%
Monthly public transit pass	$38.02 CRC19,000.61	$47.91 UYU2,020.22	+26.0%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$36,925.49 CRC18,451,701.73	$35,934.74 UYU1,515,166.22	-2.7%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$15.94 CRC7,965.79	$30.38 UYU1,280.82	+90.6%
Average			+35.0%

San Jose vs. Montevideo - Cost of transportation

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pay 1.9% more for housing

	San Jose	Montevideo
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$53.59 CRC26,781.29	$43.60 UYU1,838.21	-18.7%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$742.08 CRC370,817.73	$578.38 UYU24,386.96	-22.1%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$463.60 CRC231,662.02	$419.05 UYU17,669.15	-9.6%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$63.06 CRC31,508.95	$99.70 UYU4,203.64	+58.1%
Average			+1.9%

San Jose vs. Montevideo - Cost of housing

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pay 30.0% less for childcare

	San Jose	Montevideo
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$521.49 CRC260,589.82	$386.12 UYU16,280.66	-26.0%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$12,425.72 CRC6,209,142.52	$8,206.60 UYU346,026.19	-34.0%
Average			-30.0%

San Jose vs. Montevideo - Cost of childcare

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pay 4.2% more for entertainment and sports

	San Jose	Montevideo
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$2.92 CRC1,456.71	$3.42 UYU144.06	+17.2%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.69 CRC1,844.55	$3.79 UYU159.63	+2.6%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$5.05 CRC2,524.97	$5.03 UYU212.12	-0.4%
Monthly membership at local gym	$59.70 CRC29,832.68	$58.44 UYU2,464.07	-2.1%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$9.72 CRC4,855.71	$10.06 UYU424.25	+3.5%
Average			+4.2%

San Jose vs. Montevideo - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 0.3% less for clothing

	San Jose	Montevideo
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$73.59 CRC36,771.08	$93.83 UYU3,956.08	+27.5%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$50.81 CRC25,391.00	$44.64 UYU1,882.04	-12.2%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$125.98 CRC62,954.11	$109.94 UYU4,635.45	-12.7%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$117.31 CRC58,621.78	$113.02 UYU4,765.21	-3.7%
Average			-0.3%

San Jose vs. Montevideo - 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: April 2025

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