Cost of living comparison

Eritrea

compared to

Costa Rica

San Jose vs. Asmara Cost of Living Summary

San Jose is 2.1 times more expensive than Asmara.

Restaurants: pay 16.1% more in San Jose
Groceries: pay 49.5% more in San Jose
Transportation: pay 2.5% more in San Jose
Housing: pay 3.3 times more in San Jose
Childcare: pay 16.1 times more in San Jose
Entertainment and Sports: pay 4.7 times more in San Jose
Clothing: pay 39.0% less in San Jose

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

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San Jose vs. Asmara Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 16.1% more for restaurants

	Asmara	San Jose
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$21.00 ERN315.00	$12.18 CRC5,543.94	-42.0%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$5.99 ERN89.85	$11.62 CRC5,289.15	+94.0%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.00 ERN15.00	$2.69 CRC1,222.04	+168.5%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$1.00 ERN15.00	$1.89 CRC858.35	+88.6%
Average			+16.1%

Asmara vs. San Jose - Cost of restaurants

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pay 49.5% more for groceries

	Asmara	San Jose
Bread 1 loaf	??	$3.09 CRC1,407.40
Local cheese (8 oz)	$1.50 ERN22.50	$5.33 CRC2,425.82	+255.4%
Milk (1 gallon)	$6.06 ERN90.85	$8.95 CRC4,075.15	+47.8%
Eggs 1 dozen	$4.38 ERN65.70	$3.49 CRC1,590.09	-20.2%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$12.17 ERN182.57	$4.71 CRC2,145.07	-61.3%
Apples (1 lb)	$5.54 ERN83.16	$2.32 CRC1,054.99	-58.2%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.58 ERN8.69	$0.73 CRC330.88	+25.4%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.91 ERN13.61	$2.15 CRC979.64	+137.3%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.53 ERN7.94	$1.76 CRC799.36	+231.9%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.82 ERN12.25	$1.73 CRC787.71	+112.0%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.42 ERN6.35	$1.66 CRC755.96	+292.4%
Average			+49.5%

Asmara vs. San Jose - Cost of groceries

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pay 2.5% more for transportation

	Asmara	San Jose
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$9.46 ERN141.95	$5.80 CRC2,637.53	-38.8%
Monthly public transit pass	$8.00 ERN120.00	$65.71 CRC29,903.89	+721.4%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$66,666.00 ERN1000K	$21,990.00 CRC10M	-67.0%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	??	$15.13 CRC6,887.86
Average			+2.5%

Asmara vs. San Jose - Cost of transportation

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pay 3.3 times more for housing

	Asmara	San Jose
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$200.00 ERN3,000.00	$59.17 CRC26,929.00	-70.4%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$250.00 ERN3,750.00	$942.15 CRC429K	+276.9%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$200.00 ERN3,000.00	$758.77 CRC345K	+279.4%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$19.12 ERN286.76	$72.33 CRC32,916.13	+278.3%
Average			+232.9%

Asmara vs. San Jose - Cost of housing

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pay 16.1 times more for childcare

	Asmara	San Jose
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$25.00 ERN375.00	$980.95 CRC446K	+3823.8%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$2,600.00 ERN39,000.00	$17,102.76 CRC8M	+557.8%
Average			+1506.6%

Asmara vs. San Jose - Cost of childcare

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pay 4.7 times more for entertainment and sports

	Asmara	San Jose
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$0.60 ERN9.00	$3.29 CRC1,495.19	+447.6%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$0.80 ERN12.00	$4.44 CRC2,020.72	+455.0%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	??	$5.91 CRC2,691.35
Monthly membership at local gym	$27.00 ERN405.00	$72.94 CRC33,194.61	+170.1%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$1.20 ERN18.00	$7.67 CRC3,488.79	+538.8%
Average			+371.1%

Asmara vs. San Jose - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 39.0% less for clothing

	Asmara	San Jose
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$135.00 ERN2,025.00	$71.32 CRC32,458.76	-47.2%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$120.00 ERN1,800.00	$55.79 CRC25,389.75	-53.5%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$200.00 ERN3,000.00	$128.46 CRC58,460.15	-35.8%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$150.00 ERN2,250.00	$131.42 CRC59,807.77	-12.4%
Average			-39.0%

Asmara vs. San Jose - Cost of clothing

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We average the price of thousands of data points entered by users across the world. Sources: MyLifeElsewhere's cost-of-living dataset (prices updated October 2026). How we calculate this

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