Cost of living comparison

San Salvador, El Salvador

compared to

San Jose, Costa Rica

San Jose vs. San Salvador Cost of Living Summary

San Jose is 45.8% more expensive than San Salvador.

Restaurants: pay 47.6% more in San Jose
Groceries: pay 21.5% more in San Jose
Transportation: pay 30.9% more in San Jose
Housing: pay 9.2% less in San Jose
Childcare: pay 2.7 times more in San Jose
Entertainment and Sports: pay 51.5% more in San Jose
Clothing: pay 7.2% more in San Jose

The cost of childcare, entertainment and sports, restaurants, transportation, groceries, and clothing in San Jose are more expensive than in San Salvador. Notably, childcare is significantly more expensive in San Jose.

San Jose vs. San Salvador Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 47.6% more for restaurants

	San Salvador	San Jose
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$10.00 SVC87.45	$10.83 CRC5,499.19	+8.3%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$7.00 SVC61.22	$9.72 CRC4,934.00	+38.8%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.09 SVC9.51	$1.99 CRC1,012.34	+83.3%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.91 SVC7.98	$1.46 CRC741.82	+60.1%
Average			+47.6%

San Salvador vs. San Jose - Cost of restaurants

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pay 21.5% more for groceries

	San Salvador	San Jose
Bread 1 loaf	$2.12 SVC18.54	$2.60 CRC1,318.45	+22.5%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$3.24 SVC28.30	$4.26 CRC2,165.48	+31.8%
Milk (1 gallon)	$7.39 SVC64.59	$7.23 CRC3,672.41	-2.1%
Eggs 1 dozen	$3.04 SVC26.55	$3.26 CRC1,656.57	+7.5%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.78 SVC24.28	$4.41 CRC2,237.52	+58.7%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.44 SVC12.62	$1.95 CRC990.43	+35.2%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.77 SVC6.72	$0.63 CRC320.02	-18.0%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.17 SVC10.19	$1.59 CRC807.86	+36.5%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.22 SVC10.63	$1.35 CRC684.51	+10.9%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.99 SVC8.69	$1.30 CRC659.83	+30.9%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.98 SVC8.53	$1.19 CRC604.73	+22.1%
Average			+21.5%

San Salvador vs. San Jose - Cost of groceries

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pay 30.9% more for transportation

	San Salvador	San Jose
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$3.97 SVC34.74	$5.49 CRC2,786.51	+38.1%
Monthly public transit pass	$20.00 SVC174.91	$38.02 CRC19,306.95	+90.1%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$25,000.00 SVC218,631.30	$36,925.49 CRC18,749,195.70	+47.7%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$33.43 SVC292.33	$15.94 CRC8,094.23	-52.3%
Average			+30.9%

San Salvador vs. San Jose - Cost of transportation

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pay 9.2% less for housing

	San Salvador	San Jose
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$42.14 SVC368.55	$53.59 CRC27,213.08	+27.2%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$858.33 SVC7,506.34	$742.08 CRC376,796.37	-13.5%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$641.67 SVC5,611.54	$463.60 CRC235,397.07	-27.8%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$81.52 SVC712.91	$63.06 CRC32,016.96	-22.6%
Average			-9.2%

San Salvador vs. San Jose - Cost of housing

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pay 2.7 times more for childcare

	San Salvador	San Jose
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$160.29 SVC1,401.74	$521.49 CRC264,791.27	+225.4%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$5,740.67 SVC50,203.58	$12,425.72 CRC6,309,251.58	+116.5%
Average			+170.9%

San Salvador vs. San Jose - Cost of childcare

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pay 51.5% more for entertainment and sports

	San Salvador	San Jose
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$2.00 SVC17.49	$2.92 CRC1,480.20	+45.8%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.24 SVC28.32	$3.69 CRC1,874.29	+14.0%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$4.00 SVC34.98	$5.05 CRC2,565.68	+26.3%
Monthly membership at local gym	$30.67 SVC268.19	$59.70 CRC30,313.67	+94.7%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$5.50 SVC48.10	$9.72 CRC4,934.00	+76.7%
Average			+51.5%

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

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pay 7.2% more for clothing

	San Salvador	San Jose
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$72.14 SVC630.91	$73.59 CRC37,363.93	+2.0%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$47.86 SVC418.52	$50.81 CRC25,800.37	+6.2%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$112.14 SVC980.72	$125.98 CRC63,969.11	+12.3%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$108.33 SVC947.40	$117.31 CRC59,566.93	+8.3%
Average			+7.2%

San Salvador vs. San Jose - 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: June 2025

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