Cost of living comparison

compared to

San Jose vs. London Cost of Living Summary

San Jose is 33.1% cheaper than London.

Restaurants: pay 30.1% less in San Jose
Groceries: pay 18.3% more in San Jose
Transportation: pay 39.2% less in San Jose
Housing: pay 45.7% less in San Jose
Childcare: pay 65.8% less in San Jose
Entertainment and Sports: pay 47.4% less in San Jose
Clothing: pay 21.6% less in San Jose

Expenses including childcare, entertainment and sports, housing, transportation, restaurants, and clothing are lower in San Jose.

San Jose vs. London Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 30.1% less for restaurants

	London	San Jose
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$26.73 £20.04	$9.95 CRC4,861.62	-62.8%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$11.02 £8.26	$9.91 CRC4,838.51	-10.2%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$3.12 £2.34	$2.06 CRC1,004.21	-34.1%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$1.93 £1.44	$1.67 CRC817.27	-13.1%
Average			-30.1%

London vs. San Jose - Cost of restaurants

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pay 18.3% more for groceries

	London	San Jose
Bread 1 loaf	$2.16 £1.62	$2.64 CRC1,288.25	+22.2%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$5.54 £4.15	$4.95 CRC2,419.25	-10.6%
Milk (1 gallon)	$6.58 £4.93	$7.78 CRC3,801.22	+18.3%
Eggs 1 dozen	$5.02 £3.76	$2.88 CRC1,404.76	-42.7%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$3.95 £2.96	$3.97 CRC1,936.83	+0.4%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.53 £1.14	$1.94 CRC946.86	+27.1%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.83 £0.63	$0.65 CRC319.23	-21.7%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.44 £1.08	$1.95 CRC951.04	+35.5%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.64 £1.23	$1.58 CRC772.54	-3.6%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.76 £0.57	$1.55 CRC755.52	+104.1%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.83 £0.62	$1.43 CRC699.02	+72.0%
Average			+18.3%

London vs. San Jose - Cost of groceries

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pay 39.2% less for transportation

	London	San Jose
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$7.12 £5.34	$5.39 CRC2,631.92	-24.4%
Monthly public transit pass	$240.54 £180.32	$41.21 CRC20,128.19	-82.9%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$37,798.76 £28,334.89	$37,640.45 CRC18,386,324.93	-0.4%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$31.75 £23.80	$16.12 CRC7,872.25	-49.2%
Average			-39.2%

London vs. San Jose - Cost of transportation

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pay 45.7% less for housing

	London	San Jose
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$42.83 £32.11	$58.88 CRC28,758.87	+37.5%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$3,083.09 £2,311.16	$891.63 CRC435,536.79	-71.1%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$2,340.14 £1,754.23	$560.77 CRC273,921.38	-76.0%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$255.85 £191.79	$68.88 CRC33,646.32	-73.1%
Average			-45.7%

London vs. San Jose - Cost of housing

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pay 65.8% less for childcare

	London	San Jose
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$2,480.84 £1,859.70	$600.27 CRC293,213.50	-75.8%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$28,512.27 £21,373.51	$12,608.22 CRC6,158,769.04	-55.8%
Average			-65.8%

London vs. San Jose - Cost of childcare

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pay 47.4% less for entertainment and sports

	London	San Jose
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$8.69 £6.51	$2.67 CRC1,306.40	-69.2%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$5.21 £3.90	$3.85 CRC1,882.21	-26.0%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$22.72 £17.03	$5.15 CRC2,516.02	-77.3%
Monthly membership at local gym	$64.95 £48.69	$55.98 CRC27,346.16	-13.8%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$20.05 £15.03	$9.91 CRC4,838.51	-50.6%
Average			-47.4%

London vs. San Jose - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 21.6% less for clothing

	London	San Jose
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$116.11 £87.04	$61.74 CRC30,160.02	-46.8%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$52.02 £39.00	$51.32 CRC25,068.28	-1.4%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$125.96 £94.43	$120.28 CRC58,753.29	-4.5%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$160.88 £120.60	$106.98 CRC52,255.87	-33.5%
Average			-21.6%

London vs. San Jose - Cost of clothing

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The statistics used to build this comparison are calculated using data from users just like you. We average the price of thousands of data points entered by users across the world. Learn more about our data sources. Page last updated: December 2025

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