Cost of living comparison

Taipei, Taiwan

compared to

San Jose, Costa Rica

San Jose vs. Taipei Cost of Living Summary

San Jose is 28.7% more expensive than Taipei.

Restaurants: pay 95.7% more in San Jose
Groceries: pay 4.3% less in San Jose
Transportation: pay 34.6% more in San Jose
Housing: pay 34.8% more in San Jose
Childcare: pay 23.2% less in San Jose
Entertainment and Sports: pay 24.4% more in San Jose
Clothing: pay 38.9% more in San Jose

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

San Jose vs. Taipei Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 95.7% more for restaurants

	Taipei	San Jose
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$6.18 NT$205.21	$10.83 CRC5,456.17	+75.2%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$5.01 NT$166.22	$9.72 CRC4,895.41	+94.0%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.00 NT$33.33	$1.99 CRC1,004.43	+98.5%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.68 NT$22.55	$1.46 CRC736.01	+115.1%
Average			+95.7%

Taipei vs. San Jose - Cost of restaurants

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pay 4.3% less for groceries

	Taipei	San Jose
Bread 1 loaf	$1.86 NT$61.68	$2.60 CRC1,308.14	+39.7%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$8.37 NT$277.94	$4.26 CRC2,148.54	-49.1%
Milk (1 gallon)	$10.77 NT$357.46	$7.23 CRC3,643.69	-32.8%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.72 NT$90.19	$3.26 CRC1,643.61	+20.1%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$4.37 NT$144.91	$4.41 CRC2,220.02	+0.9%
Apples (1 lb)	$2.06 NT$68.44	$1.95 CRC982.68	-5.4%
Bananas (1 lb)	$1.01 NT$33.62	$0.63 CRC317.52	-37.8%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.25 NT$41.38	$1.59 CRC801.54	+27.6%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.56 NT$51.61	$1.35 CRC679.16	-13.3%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$1.30 NT$43.12	$1.30 CRC654.67
Onions (1 lb)	$1.11 NT$36.84	$1.19 CRC600.00	+7.3%
Average			-4.3%

Taipei vs. San Jose - Cost of groceries

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pay 34.6% more for transportation

	Taipei	San Jose
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$3.68 NT$122.29	$5.49 CRC2,764.71	+48.9%
Monthly public transit pass	$37.10 NT$1,231.28	$38.02 CRC19,155.94	+2.5%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$34,750.62 NT$1,153,296.47	$36,925.49 CRC18,602,542.28	+6.3%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$8.81 NT$292.43	$15.94 CRC8,030.91	+80.9%
Average			+34.6%

Taipei vs. San Jose - Cost of transportation

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pay 34.8% more for housing

	Taipei	San Jose
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$24.04 NT$797.78	$53.59 CRC27,000.22	+123.0%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$630.95 NT$20,939.82	$742.08 CRC373,849.12	+17.6%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$465.35 NT$15,444.04	$463.60 CRC233,555.83	-0.4%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$63.62 NT$2,111.42	$63.06 CRC31,766.53	-0.9%
Average			+34.8%

Taipei vs. San Jose - Cost of housing

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pay 23.2% less for childcare

	Taipei	San Jose
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$610.09 NT$20,247.67	$521.49 CRC262,720.11	-14.5%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$18,275.33 NT$606,518.11	$12,425.72 CRC6,259,901.55	-32.0%
Average			-23.2%

Taipei vs. San Jose - Cost of childcare

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pay 24.4% more for entertainment and sports

	Taipei	San Jose
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$2.63 NT$87.22	$2.92 CRC1,468.62	+10.9%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.05 NT$101.14	$3.69 CRC1,859.63	+21.1%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$3.71 NT$123.13	$5.05 CRC2,545.61	+36.2%
Monthly membership at local gym	$38.32 NT$1,271.64	$59.70 CRC30,076.56	+55.8%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$9.89 NT$328.34	$9.72 CRC4,895.41	-1.8%
Average			+24.4%

Taipei vs. San Jose - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 38.9% more for clothing

	Taipei	San Jose
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$56.02 NT$1,859.23	$73.59 CRC37,071.68	+31.4%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$31.15 NT$1,033.92	$50.81 CRC25,598.56	+63.1%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$85.26 NT$2,829.57	$125.98 CRC63,468.75	+47.8%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$103.43 NT$3,432.65	$117.31 CRC59,101.00	+13.4%
Average			+38.9%

Taipei 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: April 2025

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