Cost of living comparison

 Tokyo, Japan
compared to
 San Jose, Costa Rica
San Jose vs. Tokyo Cost of Living Summary

San Jose is 17.1% more expensive than Tokyo.

Restaurants
pay 81.8% more in San Jose
Groceries
pay 1.3% less in San Jose
Transportation
pay 3.9% more in San Jose
Housing
pay 9.8% less in San Jose
Childcare
pay 8.2% less in San Jose
Entertainment and Sports
pay 1.1% less in San Jose
Clothing
pay 54.5% more in San Jose

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

San Jose vs. Tokyo Cost Breakdown

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

pay 81.8% more for restaurants

 
Tokyo
San Jose
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant $6.51
¥927
$10.83
CRC5,439.75
Fast food combo meal
McDonalds, or similar
$5.21
¥742
$9.72
CRC4,880.67
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz) $1.12
¥159
$1.99
CRC1,001.40

Improve prices ·

pay 1.3% less for groceries

 
Tokyo
San Jose
Bread
1 loaf
$1.63
¥233
$2.60
CRC1,304.20
Local cheese (8 oz) $7.01
¥999
$4.26
CRC2,142.07
Milk (1 gallon) $5.89
¥838
$7.23
CRC3,632.72

Improve prices ·

pay 3.9% more for transportation

 
Tokyo
San Jose
Gasoline (1 gallon) $4.42
¥630
$5.49
CRC2,756.39
Monthly public transit pass $58.62
¥8,347
$38.02
CRC19,098.29
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition) $21,767.76
¥3,099,575
$36,925.49
CRC18,546,556.93

Improve prices ·

pay 9.8% less for housing

 
Tokyo
San Jose
Internet connection
50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl
$31.86
¥4,537
$53.59
CRC26,918.97
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area $1,120.28
¥159,520
$742.08
CRC372,724.00
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center $582.98
¥83,012
$463.60
CRC232,852.93

Improve prices ·

pay 8.2% less for childcare

 
Tokyo
San Jose
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly $533.29
¥75,937
$521.49
CRC261,929.44
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters $14,506.96
¥2,065,687
$12,425.72
CRC6,241,062.04

Improve prices ·

pay 1.1% less for entertainment and sports

 
Tokyo
San Jose
Domestic/local beer (1 pint) $3.26
¥464
$2.92
CRC1,464.20
Cappuccino in mid-range area $3.40
¥485
$3.69
CRC1,854.03
Pack of cigarettes
Marlboro or similar
$3.91
¥556
$5.05
CRC2,537.95

Improve prices ·

pay 54.5% more for clothing

 
Tokyo
San Jose
Regular jeans
Levi's brand
$52.60
¥7,490
$73.59
CRC36,960.11
Regular dress
from H&M or similar store
$36.87
¥5,250
$50.81
CRC25,521.52
Running shoes
Nike or Adidas
$63.41
¥9,030
$125.98
CRC63,277.74

Improve prices ·
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
Share this

Compare countries by overall cost of living

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

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

ASK THE ELSEWHERE COMMUNITY

Join the Elsewhere community and ask a question about San Jose or Tokyo. It's a free, question-and-answer based forum to discuss what life is like in countries and cities around the world.