Cost of living comparison

Zimbabwe

compared to

Costa Rica

San Jose vs. Harare Cost of Living Summary

San Jose is 80.6% more expensive than Harare.

Restaurants: pay 78.1% more in San Jose
Groceries: pay 81.0% more in San Jose
Transportation: pay 6.4% less in San Jose
Housing: pay 2.2 times more in San Jose
Childcare: pay 2.1 times more in San Jose
Entertainment and Sports: pay 52.0% more in San Jose
Clothing: pay 3.1 times more in San Jose

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

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San Jose vs. Harare Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 78.1% more for restaurants

	Harare	San Jose
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$10.00 ZWL3,220.00	$12.18 CRC5,543.94	+21.8%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$5.75 ZWL1,851.50	$11.62 CRC5,289.15	+102.1%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.96 ZWL308.58	$2.69 CRC1,222.04	+180.2%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.47 ZWL151.05	$1.89 CRC858.35	+302.1%
Average			+78.1%

Harare vs. San Jose - Cost of restaurants

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pay 81.0% more for groceries

	Harare	San Jose
Bread 1 loaf	$1.00 ZWL322.00	$3.09 CRC1,407.40	+209.3%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$5.73 ZWL1,845.30	$5.33 CRC2,425.82	-7.0%
Milk (1 gallon)	$5.73 ZWL1,843.59	$8.95 CRC4,075.15	+56.4%
Eggs 1 dozen	$1.93 ZWL622.53	$3.49 CRC1,590.09	+80.7%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.46 ZWL791.38	$4.71 CRC2,145.07	+91.8%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.37 ZWL439.66	$2.32 CRC1,054.99	+69.8%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.76 ZWL243.55	$0.73 CRC330.88	-3.9%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.92 ZWL296.54	$2.15 CRC979.64	+133.7%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.70 ZWL226.23	$1.76 CRC799.36	+150.0%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.78 ZWL251.62	$1.73 CRC787.71	+121.5%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.80 ZWL257.47	$1.66 CRC755.96	+107.7%
Average			+81.0%

Harare vs. San Jose - Cost of groceries

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pay 6.4% less for transportation

	Harare	San Jose
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$6.91 ZWL2,223.82	$5.80 CRC2,637.53	-16.1%
Monthly public transit pass	$60.00 ZWL19,320.00	$65.71 CRC29,903.89	+9.5%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$22,000.00 ZWL7M	$21,990.00 CRC10M
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$20.00 ZWL6,440.00	$15.13 CRC6,887.86	-24.3%
Average			-6.4%

Harare vs. San Jose - Cost of transportation

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pay 2.2 times more for housing

	Harare	San Jose
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$68.99 ZWL22,213.67	$59.17 CRC26,929.00	-14.2%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$390.00 ZWL126K	$942.15 CRC429K	+141.6%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$316.60 ZWL102K	$758.77 CRC345K	+139.7%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$39.27 ZWL12,644.39	$72.33 CRC32,916.13	+84.2%
Average			+119.5%

Harare vs. San Jose - Cost of housing

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pay 2.1 times more for childcare

	Harare	San Jose
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$433.79 ZWL140K	$980.95 CRC446K	+126.1%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$8,555.56 ZWL3M	$17,102.76 CRC8M	+99.9%
Average			+112.6%

Harare vs. San Jose - Cost of childcare

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pay 52.0% more for entertainment and sports

	Harare	San Jose
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$1.25 ZWL402.50	$3.29 CRC1,495.19	+162.8%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.00 ZWL966.00	$4.44 CRC2,020.72	+48.0%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$2.00 ZWL644.00	$5.91 CRC2,691.35	+195.7%
Monthly membership at local gym	$47.92 ZWL15,429.17	$72.94 CRC33,194.61	+52.2%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$10.00 ZWL3,220.00	$7.67 CRC3,488.79	-23.3%
Average			+52.0%

Harare vs. San Jose - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 3.1 times more for clothing

	Harare	San Jose
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$23.22 ZWL7,477.56	$71.32 CRC32,458.76	+207.1%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$21.15 ZWL6,809.04	$55.79 CRC25,389.75	+163.8%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$38.68 ZWL12,453.92	$128.46 CRC58,460.15	+232.1%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$40.37 ZWL12,998.47	$131.42 CRC59,807.77	+225.5%
Average			+205.9%

Harare 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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