Cost of living comparison

Venezuela

compared to

Costa Rica

San Jose vs. Caracas Cost of Living Summary

San Jose is 50.9% more expensive than Caracas.

Restaurants: pay 18.0% more in San Jose
Groceries: pay 17.8% more in San Jose
Transportation: pay 36.3% more in San Jose
Housing: pay 91.3% more in San Jose
Childcare: pay 4.1 times more in San Jose
Entertainment and Sports: pay 25.8% more in San Jose
Clothing: pay 0.9% less in San Jose

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

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San Jose vs. Caracas Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 18.0% more for restaurants

	Caracas	San Jose
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$10.80 VEF107.76	$12.18 CRC5,543.94	+12.8%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$11.00 VEF109.72	$11.62 CRC5,289.15	+5.7%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.53 VEF15.23	$2.69 CRC1,222.04	+75.9%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$1.32 VEF13.13	$1.89 CRC858.35	+43.2%
Average			+18.0%

Caracas vs. San Jose - Cost of restaurants

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pay 17.8% more for groceries

	Caracas	San Jose
Bread 1 loaf	$2.27 VEF22.67	$3.09 CRC1,407.40	+36.1%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$5.08 VEF50.69	$5.33 CRC2,425.82	+4.9%
Milk (1 gallon)	$10.26 VEF102.36	$8.95 CRC4,075.15	-12.7%
Eggs 1 dozen	$4.73 VEF47.13	$3.49 CRC1,590.09	-26.1%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$4.21 VEF41.95	$4.71 CRC2,145.07	+12.1%
Apples (1 lb)	$3.29 VEF32.80	$2.32 CRC1,054.99	-29.5%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.91 VEF9.08	$0.73 CRC330.88	-20.1%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.99 VEF9.84	$2.15 CRC979.64	+118.2%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.05 VEF10.45	$1.76 CRC799.36	+67.6%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$1.02 VEF10.17	$1.73 CRC787.71	+69.8%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.99 VEF9.88	$1.66 CRC755.96	+67.8%
Average			+17.8%

Caracas vs. San Jose - Cost of groceries

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pay 36.3% more for transportation

	Caracas	San Jose
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$3.18 VEF31.72	$5.80 CRC2,637.53	+82.3%
Monthly public transit pass	$30.00 VEF299.24	$65.71 CRC29,903.89	+119.0%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$25,000.00 VEF249K	$21,990.00 CRC10M	-12.0%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$27.00 VEF269.31	$15.13 CRC6,887.86	-43.9%
Average			+36.3%

Caracas vs. San Jose - Cost of transportation

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pay 91.3% more for housing

	Caracas	San Jose
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$37.99 VEF378.95	$59.17 CRC26,929.00	+55.7%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$610.08 VEF6,085.28	$942.15 CRC429K	+54.4%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$425.00 VEF4,239.16	$758.77 CRC345K	+78.5%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$16.60 VEF165.55	$72.33 CRC32,916.13	+335.8%
Average			+91.3%

Caracas vs. San Jose - Cost of housing

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pay 4.1 times more for childcare

	Caracas	San Jose
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$160.00 VEF1,595.92	$980.95 CRC446K	+513.1%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$6,100.00 VEF60,844.46	$17,102.76 CRC8M	+180.4%
Average			+314.6%

Caracas vs. San Jose - Cost of childcare

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pay 25.8% more for entertainment and sports

	Caracas	San Jose
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$2.00 VEF19.95	$3.29 CRC1,495.19	+64.3%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.63 VEF36.19	$4.44 CRC2,020.72	+22.4%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$4.58 VEF45.68	$5.91 CRC2,691.35	+29.1%
Monthly membership at local gym	$66.50 VEF663.30	$72.94 CRC33,194.61	+9.7%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$6.50 VEF64.83	$7.67 CRC3,488.79	+17.9%
Average			+25.8%

Caracas vs. San Jose - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 0.9% less for clothing

	Caracas	San Jose
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$76.58 VEF763.81	$71.32 CRC32,458.76	-6.9%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$50.89 VEF507.62	$55.79 CRC25,389.75	+9.6%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$133.76 VEF1,334.21	$128.46 CRC58,460.15	-4.0%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$133.87 VEF1,335.27	$131.42 CRC59,807.77	-1.8%
Average			-0.9%

Caracas 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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