Cost of living comparison

Lesotho

compared to

Costa Rica

San Jose vs. Maseru Cost of Living Summary

San Jose is 3.5 times more expensive than Maseru.

Restaurants: pay 52.5% more in San Jose
Groceries: pay 93.9% more in San Jose
Transportation: pay 42.6% more in San Jose
Housing: pay 10.4 times more in San Jose
Childcare: pay 16.5 times more in San Jose
Entertainment and Sports: pay 2.2 times more in San Jose
Clothing: pay 13.8% more in San Jose

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

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San Jose vs. Maseru Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 52.5% more for restaurants

	Maseru	San Jose
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$9.01 LSL148.38	$12.18 CRC5,543.94	+35.2%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$8.41 LSL138.49	$11.62 CRC5,289.15	+38.2%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.07 LSL17.56	$2.69 CRC1,222.04	+151.8%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.84 LSL13.85	$1.89 CRC858.35	+124.2%
Average			+52.5%

Maseru vs. San Jose - Cost of restaurants

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pay 93.9% more for groceries

	Maseru	San Jose
Bread 1 loaf	$0.83 LSL13.60	$3.09 CRC1,407.40	+274.3%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$3.30 LSL54.39	$5.33 CRC2,425.82	+61.3%
Milk (1 gallon)	$4.38 LSL72.07	$8.95 CRC4,075.15	+104.5%
Eggs 1 dozen	$1.54 LSL25.32	$3.49 CRC1,590.09	+127.2%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.79 LSL45.98	$4.71 CRC2,145.07	+68.7%
Apples (1 lb)	$0.85 LSL14.02	$2.32 CRC1,054.99	+172.2%
Bananas (1 lb)	$1.02 LSL16.71	$0.73 CRC330.88	-28.4%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.23 LSL20.19	$2.15 CRC979.64	+75.5%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.09 LSL17.95	$1.76 CRC799.36	+61.1%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.71 LSL11.66	$1.73 CRC787.71	+144.3%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.73 LSL12.00	$1.66 CRC755.96	+127.9%
Average			+93.9%

Maseru vs. San Jose - Cost of groceries

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pay 42.6% more for transportation

	Maseru	San Jose
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$4.98 LSL81.93	$5.80 CRC2,637.53	+16.4%
Monthly public transit pass	$30.04 LSL494.60	$65.71 CRC29,903.89	+118.7%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$21,030.86 LSL346K	$21,990.00 CRC10M	+4.6%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$6.01 LSL98.92	$15.13 CRC6,887.86	+151.9%
Average			+42.6%

Maseru vs. San Jose - Cost of transportation

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pay 10.4 times more for housing

	Maseru	San Jose
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$38.30 LSL630.53	$59.17 CRC26,929.00	+54.5%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$93.14 LSL1,533.25	$942.15 CRC429K	+911.6%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$55.58 LSL915.01	$758.77 CRC345K	+1265.1%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	??	$72.33 CRC32,916.13
Average			+942.9%

Maseru vs. San Jose - Cost of housing

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pay 16.5 times more for childcare

	Maseru	San Jose
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$52.06 LSL857.06	$980.95 CRC446K	+1784.2%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$1,181.73 LSL19,454.17	$17,102.76 CRC8M	+1347.3%
Average			+1551.3%

Maseru vs. San Jose - Cost of childcare

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pay 2.2 times more for entertainment and sports

	Maseru	San Jose
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$1.80 LSL29.68	$3.29 CRC1,495.19	+82.3%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.00 LSL32.97	$4.44 CRC2,020.72	+121.7%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$5.11 LSL84.08	$5.91 CRC2,691.35	+15.8%
Monthly membership at local gym	$23.03 LSL379.19	$72.94 CRC33,194.61	+216.7%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	??	$7.67 CRC3,488.79
Average			+117.3%

Maseru vs. San Jose - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 13.8% more for clothing

	Maseru	San Jose
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$46.07 LSL758.38	$71.32 CRC32,458.76	+54.8%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$55.58 LSL915.01	$55.79 CRC25,389.75	+0.4%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$104.15 LSL1,714.61	$128.46 CRC58,460.15	+23.3%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$150.22 LSL2,472.99	$131.42 CRC59,807.77	-12.5%
Average			+13.8%

Maseru 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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