Cost of living comparison

Mexico

compared to

Costa Rica

San Jose vs. Mexico City Cost of Living Summary

San Jose is 23.7% more expensive than Mexico City.

Restaurants: pay 15.6% more in San Jose
Groceries: pay 36.1% more in San Jose
Transportation: pay 47.6% more in San Jose
Housing: pay 9.7% more in San Jose
Childcare: pay 78.8% more in San Jose
Entertainment and Sports: pay 14.4% more in San Jose
Clothing: pay 8.8% more in San Jose

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

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San Jose vs. Mexico City Cost Breakdown

If you lived in San Jose instead of Mexico City, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 15.6% more for restaurants

	Mexico City	San Jose
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$11.13 MX$205.76	$12.18 CRC5,543.94	+9.5%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$11.07 MX$204.73	$11.62 CRC5,289.15	+5.0%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.63 MX$30.14	$2.69 CRC1,222.04	+64.8%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$1.30 MX$24.06	$1.89 CRC858.35	+44.9%
Average			+15.6%

Mexico City vs. San Jose - Cost of restaurants

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pay 36.1% more for groceries

	Mexico City	San Jose
Bread 1 loaf	$3.03 MX$56.07	$3.09 CRC1,407.40	+2.0%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$6.02 MX$111.38	$5.33 CRC2,425.82	-11.5%
Milk (1 gallon)	$6.73 MX$124.42	$8.95 CRC4,075.15	+33.1%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.87 MX$53.00	$3.49 CRC1,590.09	+21.9%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$4.39 MX$81.13	$4.71 CRC2,145.07	+7.4%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.43 MX$26.42	$2.32 CRC1,054.99	+62.2%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.90 MX$16.67	$0.73 CRC330.88	-19.3%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.93 MX$17.19	$2.15 CRC979.64	+131.6%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.04 MX$19.27	$1.76 CRC799.36	+68.6%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.91 MX$16.90	$1.73 CRC787.71	+89.4%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.85 MX$15.71	$1.66 CRC755.96	+95.5%
Average			+36.1%

Mexico City vs. San Jose - Cost of groceries

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pay 47.6% more for transportation

	Mexico City	San Jose
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$5.76 MX$106.56	$5.80 CRC2,637.53	+0.6%
Monthly public transit pass	$20.03 MX$370.37	$65.71 CRC29,903.89	+228.1%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$21,528.95 MX$398K	$21,990.00 CRC10M	+2.1%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$6.54 MX$120.88	$15.13 CRC6,887.86	+131.5%
Average			+47.6%

Mexico City vs. San Jose - Cost of transportation

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pay 9.7% more for housing

	Mexico City	San Jose
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$34.66 MX$640.87	$59.17 CRC26,929.00	+70.7%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$1,053.82 MX$19,488.15	$942.15 CRC429K	-10.6%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$672.38 MX$12,434.27	$758.77 CRC345K	+12.8%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$47.71 MX$882.34	$72.33 CRC32,916.13	+51.6%
Average			+9.7%

Mexico City vs. San Jose - Cost of housing

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pay 78.8% more for childcare

	Mexico City	San Jose
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$435.78 MX$8,058.88	$980.95 CRC446K	+125.1%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$12,045.70 MX$223K	$17,102.76 CRC8M	+42.0%
Average			+78.8%

Mexico City vs. San Jose - Cost of childcare

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pay 14.4% more for entertainment and sports

	Mexico City	San Jose
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$3.34 MX$61.73	$3.29 CRC1,495.19	-1.6%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.80 MX$70.36	$4.44 CRC2,020.72	+16.7%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$5.29 MX$97.74	$5.91 CRC2,691.35	+11.9%
Monthly membership at local gym	$57.09 MX$1,055.72	$72.94 CRC33,194.61	+27.8%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$6.68 MX$123.46	$7.67 CRC3,488.79	+14.8%
Average			+14.4%

Mexico City vs. San Jose - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 8.8% more for clothing

	Mexico City	San Jose
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$70.61 MX$1,305.78	$71.32 CRC32,458.76	+1.0%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$53.64 MX$991.98	$55.79 CRC25,389.75	+4.0%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$109.04 MX$2,016.43	$128.46 CRC58,460.15	+17.8%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$115.97 MX$2,144.64	$131.42 CRC59,807.77	+13.3%
Average			+8.8%

Mexico City 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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