Cost of living comparison

San Jose, Costa Rica

compared to

Nairobi, Kenya

Nairobi vs. San Jose Cost of Living Summary

Nairobi is 44.3% cheaper than San Jose.

Restaurants: pay 57.9% less in Nairobi
Groceries: pay 42.8% less in Nairobi
Transportation: pay 16.8% less in Nairobi
Housing: pay 49.3% less in Nairobi
Childcare: pay 51.8% less in Nairobi
Entertainment and Sports: pay 32.3% less in Nairobi
Clothing: pay 59.5% less in Nairobi

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

Nairobi vs. San Jose Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 57.9% less for restaurants

	San Jose	Nairobi
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$10.83 CRC5,439.75	$3.85 KES499.63	-64.4%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$9.72 CRC4,880.67	$6.17 KES799.40	-36.6%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.99 CRC1,001.40	$0.66 KES85.93	-66.8%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$1.46 CRC733.80	$0.53 KES69.04	-63.6%
Average			-57.9%

San Jose vs. Nairobi - Cost of restaurants

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 42.8% less for groceries

	San Jose	Nairobi
Bread 1 loaf	$2.60 CRC1,304.20	$0.56 KES72.36	-78.5%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$4.26 CRC2,142.07	$5.59 KES724.78	+31.1%
Milk (1 gallon)	$7.23 CRC3,632.72	$3.35 KES434.56	-53.7%
Eggs 1 dozen	$3.26 CRC1,638.67	$1.70 KES220.77	-47.8%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$4.41 CRC2,213.34	$2.71 KES351.32	-38.5%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.95 CRC979.73	$1.26 KES163.85	-35.2%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.63 CRC316.56	$0.50 KES64.78	-20.7%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.59 CRC799.13	$0.87 KES113.29	-45.1%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.35 CRC677.11	$0.46 KES59.27	-66.1%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$1.30 CRC652.70	$0.48 KES62.56	-62.9%
Onions (1 lb)	$1.19 CRC598.19	$0.56 KES72.13	-53.3%
Average			-42.8%

San Jose vs. Nairobi - Cost of groceries

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 16.8% less for transportation

	San Jose	Nairobi
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$5.49 CRC2,756.39	$6.17 KES800.58	+12.5%
Monthly public transit pass	$38.02 CRC19,098.29	$30.83 KES3,997.01	-18.9%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$36,925.49 CRC18,546,556.93	$19,266.80 KES2,498,133.37	-47.8%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$15.94 CRC8,006.74	$13.87 KES1,798.66	-13.0%
Average			-16.8%

San Jose vs. Nairobi - Cost of transportation

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 49.3% less for housing

	San Jose	Nairobi
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$53.59 CRC26,918.97	$39.39 KES5,107.66	-26.5%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$742.08 CRC372,724.00	$428.53 KES55,562.95	-42.3%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$463.60 CRC232,852.93	$166.44 KES21,580.03	-64.1%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$63.06 CRC31,670.92	$22.39 KES2,903.41	-64.5%
Average			-49.3%

San Jose vs. Nairobi - Cost of housing

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 51.8% less for childcare

	San Jose	Nairobi
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$521.49 CRC261,929.44	$166.67 KES21,611.05	-68.0%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$12,425.72 CRC6,241,062.04	$8,008.06 KES1,038,324.64	-35.6%
Average			-51.8%

San Jose vs. Nairobi - Cost of childcare

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 32.3% less for entertainment and sports

	San Jose	Nairobi
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$2.92 CRC1,464.20	$2.31 KES299.78	-20.7%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.69 CRC1,854.03	$2.24 KES290.55	-39.3%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$5.05 CRC2,537.95	$3.08 KES399.70	-39.0%
Monthly membership at local gym	$59.70 CRC29,986.04	$44.12 KES5,720.22	-26.1%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$9.72 CRC4,880.67	$6.17 KES799.40	-36.6%
Average			-32.3%

San Jose vs. Nairobi - Cost of entertainment and sports

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 59.5% less for clothing

	San Jose	Nairobi
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$73.59 CRC36,960.11	$16.84 KES2,183.84	-77.1%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$50.81 CRC25,521.52	$22.95 KES2,975.55	-54.8%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$125.98 CRC63,277.74	$61.84 KES8,017.82	-50.9%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$117.31 CRC58,923.14	$52.50 KES6,807.37	-55.2%
Average			-59.5%

San Jose vs. Nairobi - 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.

Prague

San Jose vs.

Paris

San Jose vs.

Hanoi

San Jose vs.

Algiers

San Jose vs.

Singapore

San Jose vs.

Delhi

San Jose vs.

Hong Kong

San Jose vs.

Quito

Share this

Compare countries by overall cost of living

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

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 Nairobi

ASK THE ELSEWHERE COMMUNITY

Join the Elsewhere community and ask a question about Nairobi 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.