Cost of living comparison

Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic

compared to

San Jose, Costa Rica

San Jose vs. Santo Domingo Cost of Living Summary

San Jose is 30.7% more expensive than Santo Domingo.

Restaurants: pay 58.4% more in San Jose
Groceries: pay 41.4% more in San Jose
Transportation: pay 5.6% less in San Jose
Housing: pay 9.1% more in San Jose
Childcare: pay 72.7% more in San Jose
Entertainment and Sports: pay 31.4% more in San Jose
Clothing: pay 7.4% more in San Jose

The cost of childcare, restaurants, groceries, entertainment and sports, housing, and clothing in San Jose are more expensive than in Santo Domingo.

San Jose vs. Santo Domingo Cost Breakdown

If you lived in San Jose instead of Santo Domingo, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 58.4% more for restaurants

	Santo Domingo	San Jose
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$10.23 DOP606.70	$10.83 CRC5,470.79	+5.8%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$6.60 DOP391.42	$9.72 CRC4,908.52	+47.2%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.05 DOP62.27	$1.99 CRC1,007.12	+89.8%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.77 DOP45.37	$1.46 CRC737.98	+90.9%
Average			+58.4%

Santo Domingo vs. San Jose - Cost of restaurants

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pay 41.4% more for groceries

	Santo Domingo	San Jose
Bread 1 loaf	$1.90 DOP112.84	$2.60 CRC1,311.64	+36.4%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$3.22 DOP190.77	$4.26 CRC2,154.29	+32.5%
Milk (1 gallon)	$4.91 DOP291.11	$7.23 CRC3,653.45	+47.3%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.37 DOP140.39	$3.26 CRC1,648.02	+37.8%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.89 DOP171.26	$4.41 CRC2,225.97	+52.5%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.37 DOP81.40	$1.95 CRC985.32	+42.0%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.35 DOP20.99	$0.63 CRC318.37	+78.0%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.35 DOP80.11	$1.59 CRC803.69	+17.7%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.79 DOP47.02	$1.35 CRC680.98	+69.9%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.98 DOP58.33	$1.30 CRC656.43	+32.1%
Onions (1 lb)	$1.09 DOP64.59	$1.19 CRC601.60	+9.3%
Average			+41.4%

Santo Domingo vs. San Jose - Cost of groceries

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pay 5.6% less for transportation

	Santo Domingo	San Jose
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$4.80 DOP284.57	$5.49 CRC2,772.12	+14.3%
Monthly public transit pass	$82.54 DOP4,892.77	$38.02 CRC19,207.25	-53.9%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$28,062.96 DOP1,663,541.67	$36,925.49 CRC18,652,370.75	+31.6%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$18.61 DOP1,103.21	$15.94 CRC8,052.42	-14.3%
Average			-5.6%

Santo Domingo vs. San Jose - Cost of transportation

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pay 9.1% more for housing

	Santo Domingo	San Jose
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$42.28 DOP2,506.19	$53.59 CRC27,072.55	+26.8%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$732.50 DOP43,421.69	$742.08 CRC374,850.51	+1.3%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$411.15 DOP24,372.54	$463.60 CRC234,181.43	+12.8%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$66.16 DOP3,922.11	$63.06 CRC31,851.62	-4.7%
Average			+9.1%

Santo Domingo vs. San Jose - Cost of housing

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pay 72.7% more for childcare

	Santo Domingo	San Jose
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$361.79 DOP21,446.64	$521.49 CRC263,423.83	+44.1%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$6,176.69 DOP366,147.29	$12,425.72 CRC6,276,669.22	+101.2%
Average			+72.7%

Santo Domingo vs. San Jose - Cost of childcare

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pay 31.4% more for entertainment and sports

	Santo Domingo	San Jose
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$2.48 DOP146.78	$2.92 CRC1,472.56	+17.7%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.58 DOP152.90	$3.69 CRC1,864.61	+43.1%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$4.54 DOP269.10	$5.05 CRC2,552.43	+11.3%
Monthly membership at local gym	$44.94 DOP2,663.84	$59.70 CRC30,157.12	+32.9%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$6.40 DOP379.19	$9.72 CRC4,908.52	+51.9%
Average			+31.4%

Santo Domingo vs. San Jose - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 7.4% more for clothing

	Santo Domingo	San Jose
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$66.44 DOP3,938.68	$73.59 CRC37,170.98	+10.8%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$56.74 DOP3,363.78	$50.81 CRC25,667.13	-10.5%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$103.17 DOP6,115.96	$125.98 CRC63,638.76	+22.1%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$109.66 DOP6,500.39	$117.31 CRC59,259.31	+7.0%
Average			+7.4%

Santo Domingo 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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