Cost of living comparison

Turkey

compared to

Costa Rica

San Jose vs. Istanbul Cost of Living Summary

San Jose is 23.5% more expensive than Istanbul.

Restaurants: pay 26.8% more in San Jose
Groceries: pay 2.3 times more in San Jose
Transportation: pay 16.0% less in San Jose
Housing: pay 12.0% more in San Jose
Childcare: pay 20.5% less in San Jose
Entertainment and Sports: pay 0.2% less in San Jose
Clothing: pay 35.1% more in San Jose

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

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San Jose vs. Istanbul Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 26.8% more for restaurants

	Istanbul	San Jose
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$12.19 TRY603.79	$12.18 CRC5,543.94	-0.1%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$9.35 TRY462.91	$11.62 CRC5,289.15	+24.3%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.73 TRY85.71	$2.69 CRC1,222.04	+55.1%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.58 TRY28.65	$1.89 CRC858.35	+225.9%
Average			+26.8%

Istanbul vs. San Jose - Cost of restaurants

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pay 2.3 times more for groceries

	Istanbul	San Jose
Bread 1 loaf	$0.92 TRY45.58	$3.09 CRC1,407.40	+235.9%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$5.28 TRY261.28	$5.33 CRC2,425.82	+1.0%
Milk (1 gallon)	$4.69 TRY231.97	$8.95 CRC4,075.15	+91.1%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.41 TRY119.39	$3.49 CRC1,590.09	+44.9%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.54 TRY125.71	$4.71 CRC2,145.07	+85.6%
Apples (1 lb)	$0.85 TRY42.16	$2.32 CRC1,054.99	+172.3%
Bananas (1 lb)	$1.03 TRY50.86	$0.73 CRC330.88	-29.2%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.57 TRY28.34	$2.15 CRC979.64	+276.1%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.84 TRY41.37	$1.76 CRC799.36	+110.2%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.31 TRY15.36	$1.73 CRC787.71	+457.8%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.29 TRY14.17	$1.66 CRC755.96	+480.5%
Average			+127.9%

Istanbul vs. San Jose - Cost of groceries

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pay 16.0% less for transportation

	Istanbul	San Jose
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$5.43 TRY269.03	$5.80 CRC2,637.53	+6.7%
Monthly public transit pass	$67.03 TRY3,318.85	$65.71 CRC29,903.89	-2.0%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$50,810.11 TRY3M	$21,990.00 CRC10M	-56.7%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$8.40 TRY416.09	$15.13 CRC6,887.86	+80.1%
Average			-16.0%

Istanbul vs. San Jose - Cost of transportation

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pay 12.0% more for housing

	Istanbul	San Jose
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$16.15 TRY799.42	$59.17 CRC26,929.00	+266.5%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$996.85 TRY49,357.64	$942.15 CRC429K	-5.5%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$647.83 TRY32,076.47	$758.77 CRC345K	+17.1%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$68.87 TRY3,410.06	$72.33 CRC32,916.13	+5.0%
Average			+12.0%

Istanbul vs. San Jose - Cost of housing

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pay 20.5% less for childcare

	Istanbul	San Jose
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$1,021.62 TRY50,584.39	$980.95 CRC446K	-4.0%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$25,999.20 TRY1M	$17,102.76 CRC8M	-34.2%
Average			-20.5%

Istanbul vs. San Jose - Cost of childcare

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pay 0.2% less for entertainment and sports

	Istanbul	San Jose
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$4.78 TRY236.49	$3.29 CRC1,495.19	-31.2%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$4.31 TRY213.63	$4.44 CRC2,020.72	+2.9%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$2.34 TRY115.73	$5.91 CRC2,691.35	+153.0%
Monthly membership at local gym	$76.22 TRY3,773.70	$72.94 CRC33,194.61	-4.3%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$8.13 TRY402.53	$7.67 CRC3,488.79	-5.7%
Average			-0.2%

Istanbul vs. San Jose - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 35.1% more for clothing

	Istanbul	San Jose
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$53.35 TRY2,641.33	$71.32 CRC32,458.76	+33.7%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$39.62 TRY1,961.62	$55.79 CRC25,389.75	+40.8%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$99.91 TRY4,947.03	$128.46 CRC58,460.15	+28.6%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$95.52 TRY4,729.71	$131.42 CRC59,807.77	+37.6%
Average			+35.1%

Istanbul 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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