Cost of living comparison

compared to

San Salvador vs. San Jose Cost of Living Summary

San Salvador is 18.3% cheaper than San Jose.

Restaurants: pay 29.6% less in San Salvador
Groceries: pay 15.2% less in San Salvador
Transportation: pay 0.6% more in San Salvador
Housing: pay 15.5% more in San Salvador
Childcare: pay 61.5% less in San Salvador
Entertainment and Sports: pay 31.3% less in San Salvador
Clothing: pay 6.6% less in San Salvador

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

San Salvador vs. San Jose Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 29.6% less for restaurants

	San Jose	San Salvador
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$10.83 CRC5,511.51	$10.00 SVC87.35	-7.7%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$9.72 CRC4,945.05	$7.00 SVC61.15	-28.0%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.99 CRC1,014.61	$1.09 SVC9.50	-45.4%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$1.46 CRC743.48	$0.91 SVC7.97	-37.5%
Average			-29.6%

San Jose vs. San Salvador - Cost of restaurants

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 15.2% less for groceries

	San Jose	San Salvador
Bread 1 loaf	$2.60 CRC1,321.41	$2.12 SVC18.52	-18.4%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$4.26 CRC2,170.33	$3.24 SVC28.27	-24.1%
Milk (1 gallon)	$7.23 CRC3,680.64	$7.39 SVC64.51	+2.1%
Eggs 1 dozen	$3.26 CRC1,660.28	$3.04 SVC26.52	-7.0%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$4.41 CRC2,242.54	$2.78 SVC24.25	-37.0%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.95 CRC992.65	$1.44 SVC12.60	-26.0%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.63 CRC320.74	$0.77 SVC6.71	+21.9%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.59 CRC809.67	$1.17 SVC10.18	-26.8%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.35 CRC686.05	$1.22 SVC10.62	-9.8%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$1.30 CRC661.31	$0.99 SVC8.68	-23.6%
Onions (1 lb)	$1.19 CRC606.08	$0.98 SVC8.52	-18.1%
Average			-15.2%

San Jose vs. San Salvador - Cost of groceries

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 0.6% more for transportation

	San Jose	San Salvador
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$5.49 CRC2,792.75	$3.97 SVC34.71	-27.6%
Monthly public transit pass	$38.02 CRC19,350.21	$20.00 SVC174.71	-47.4%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$36,925.49 CRC18,791,205.05	$25,000.00 SVC218,381.90	-32.3%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$15.94 CRC8,112.36	$33.43 SVC292.00	+109.7%
Average			+0.6%

San Jose vs. San Salvador - Cost of transportation

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 15.5% more for housing

	San Jose	San Salvador
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$53.59 CRC27,274.05	$42.14 SVC368.13	-21.4%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$742.08 CRC377,640.61	$858.33 SVC7,497.78	+15.7%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$463.60 CRC235,924.50	$641.67 SVC5,605.14	+38.4%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$63.06 CRC32,088.70	$81.52 SVC712.10	+29.3%
Average			+15.5%

San Jose vs. San Salvador - Cost of housing

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 61.5% less for childcare

	San Jose	San Salvador
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$521.49 CRC265,384.56	$160.29 SVC1,400.14	-69.3%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$12,425.72 CRC6,323,388.05	$5,740.67 SVC50,146.31	-53.8%
Average			-61.5%

San Jose vs. San Salvador - Cost of childcare

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 31.3% less for entertainment and sports

	San Jose	San Salvador
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$2.92 CRC1,483.52	$2.00 SVC17.47	-31.4%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.69 CRC1,878.49	$3.24 SVC28.29	-12.3%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$5.05 CRC2,571.43	$4.00 SVC34.94	-20.8%
Monthly membership at local gym	$59.70 CRC30,381.59	$30.67 SVC267.88	-48.6%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$9.72 CRC4,945.05	$5.50 SVC48.04	-43.4%
Average			-31.3%

San Jose vs. San Salvador - Cost of entertainment and sports

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 6.6% less for clothing

	San Jose	San Salvador
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$73.59 CRC37,447.65	$72.14 SVC630.19	-2.0%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$50.81 CRC25,858.18	$47.86 SVC418.05	-5.8%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$125.98 CRC64,112.44	$112.14 SVC979.60	-11.0%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$117.31 CRC59,700.39	$108.33 SVC946.32	-7.7%
Average			-6.6%

San Jose vs. San Salvador - 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: January 2025

More cost comparisons

San Jose vs.

Bangkok

San Jose vs.

Berlin

San Jose vs.

Washington

San Jose vs.

Canberra

San Jose vs.

Algiers

San Jose vs.

Dodoma

San Jose vs.

Nairobi

San Jose vs.

London

Share this

Compare countries by overall cost of living

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

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 San Salvador

ASK THE ELSEWHERE COMMUNITY

Join the Elsewhere community and ask a question about San Salvador 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.