Cost of living comparison

Portugal

compared to

Costa Rica

San Jose vs. Lisbon Cost of Living Summary

San Jose is 7.8% cheaper than Lisbon.

Restaurants: pay 10.0% less in San Jose
Groceries: pay 53.0% more in San Jose
Transportation: pay 13.4% less in San Jose
Housing: pay 35.9% less in San Jose
Childcare: pay 20.8% more in San Jose
Entertainment and Sports: pay 12.3% more in San Jose
Clothing: pay 4.1% more in San Jose

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

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San Jose vs. Lisbon Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 10.0% less for restaurants

	Lisbon	San Jose
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$16.80 €14.95	$12.18 CRC5,543.94	-27.5%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$11.20 €9.97	$11.62 CRC5,289.15	+3.8%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$2.30 €2.05	$2.69 CRC1,222.04	+16.5%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$1.70 €1.51	$1.89 CRC858.35	+10.9%
Average			-10.0%

Lisbon vs. San Jose - Cost of restaurants

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pay 53.0% more for groceries

	Lisbon	San Jose
Bread 1 loaf	$1.87 €1.67	$3.09 CRC1,407.40	+65.0%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$6.43 €5.72	$5.33 CRC2,425.82	-17.1%
Milk (1 gallon)	$4.34 €3.87	$8.95 CRC4,075.15	+106.2%
Eggs 1 dozen	$3.94 €3.51	$3.49 CRC1,590.09	-11.3%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$3.60 €3.21	$4.71 CRC2,145.07	+30.8%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.01 €0.90	$2.32 CRC1,054.99	+129.9%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.78 €0.69	$0.73 CRC330.88	-6.4%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.83 €0.74	$2.15 CRC979.64	+158.7%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.14 €1.01	$1.76 CRC799.36	+54.5%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.82 €0.73	$1.73 CRC787.71	+110.4%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.91 €0.81	$1.66 CRC755.96	+81.5%
Average			+53.0%

Lisbon vs. San Jose - Cost of groceries

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pay 13.4% less for transportation

	Lisbon	San Jose
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$8.43 €7.50	$5.80 CRC2,637.53	-31.3%
Monthly public transit pass	$44.79 €39.86	$65.71 CRC29,903.89	+46.7%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$33,640.22 €29,941.00	$21,990.00 CRC10M	-34.6%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$12.52 €11.14	$15.13 CRC6,887.86	+20.9%
Average			-13.4%

Lisbon vs. San Jose - Cost of transportation

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pay 35.9% less for housing

	Lisbon	San Jose
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$32.72 €29.12	$59.17 CRC26,929.00	+80.9%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$1,595.62 €1,420.16	$942.15 CRC429K	-41.0%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$1,189.97 €1,059.12	$758.77 CRC345K	-36.2%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$126.43 €112.53	$72.33 CRC32,916.13	-42.8%
Average			-35.9%

Lisbon vs. San Jose - Cost of housing

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pay 20.8% more for childcare

	Lisbon	San Jose
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$678.84 €604.19	$980.95 CRC446K	+44.5%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$16,935.72 €15,073.40	$17,102.76 CRC8M	+1.0%
Average			+20.8%

Lisbon vs. San Jose - Cost of childcare

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pay 12.3% more for entertainment and sports

	Lisbon	San Jose
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$3.36 €2.99	$3.29 CRC1,495.19	-2.2%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.03 €2.69	$4.44 CRC2,020.72	+46.7%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$6.72 €5.98	$5.91 CRC2,691.35	-12.0%
Monthly membership at local gym	$46.25 €41.16	$72.94 CRC33,194.61	+57.7%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$9.66 €8.60	$7.67 CRC3,488.79	-20.6%
Average			+12.3%

Lisbon vs. San Jose - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 4.1% more for clothing

	Lisbon	San Jose
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$102.78 €91.47	$71.32 CRC32,458.76	-30.6%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$45.72 €40.69	$55.79 CRC25,389.75	+22.0%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$99.13 €88.23	$128.46 CRC58,460.15	+29.6%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$123.02 €109.49	$131.42 CRC59,807.77	+6.8%
Average			+4.1%

Lisbon 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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