Cost of living comparison

Tonga

compared to

Costa Rica

San Jose vs. Nuku'alofa Cost of Living Summary

San Jose is 50.2% more expensive than Nuku'alofa.

Restaurants: pay 19.7% more in San Jose
Groceries: pay 31.0% more in San Jose
Transportation: pay 66.7% more in San Jose
Housing: pay 4.4% more in San Jose
Childcare: pay 20.7 times more in San Jose
Entertainment and Sports: pay 16.6% less in San Jose
Clothing: pay 4.6 times more in San Jose

The cost of childcare, clothing, transportation, groceries, restaurants, and housing in San Jose are more expensive than in Nuku'alofa. Notably, childcare and clothing are significantly more expensive in San Jose.

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San Jose vs. Nuku'alofa Cost Breakdown

If you lived in San Jose instead of Nuku'alofa, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 19.7% more for restaurants

	Nuku'alofa	San Jose
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$8.31 TOP20.00	$12.18 CRC5,543.94	+46.7%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$10.38 TOP25.00	$11.62 CRC5,289.15	+11.9%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$2.84 TOP6.83	$2.69 CRC1,222.04	-5.4%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$2.46 TOP5.92	$1.89 CRC858.35	-23.3%
Average			+19.7%

Nuku'alofa vs. San Jose - Cost of restaurants

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pay 31.0% more for groceries

	Nuku'alofa	San Jose
Bread 1 loaf	$1.04 TOP2.50	$3.09 CRC1,407.40	+197.8%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$4.50 TOP10.83	$5.33 CRC2,425.82	+18.5%
Milk (1 gallon)	$5.92 TOP14.26	$8.95 CRC4,075.15	+51.2%
Eggs 1 dozen	$5.09 TOP12.27	$3.49 CRC1,590.09	-31.4%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.67 TOP6.43	$4.71 CRC2,145.07	+76.6%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.26 TOP3.02	$2.32 CRC1,054.99	+84.6%
Bananas (1 lb)	$1.26 TOP3.02	$0.73 CRC330.88	-42.1%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.32 TOP3.18	$2.15 CRC979.64	+63.2%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.70 TOP4.08	$1.76 CRC799.36	+3.6%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$1.44 TOP3.48	$1.73 CRC787.71	+19.8%
Onions (1 lb)	$1.19 TOP2.87	$1.66 CRC755.96	+39.2%
Average			+31.0%

Nuku'alofa vs. San Jose - Cost of groceries

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pay 66.7% more for transportation

	Nuku'alofa	San Jose
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$5.50 TOP13.25	$5.80 CRC2,637.53	+5.3%
Monthly public transit pass	$41.53 TOP100.00	$65.71 CRC29,903.89	+58.2%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$5,814.53 TOP14,000.00	$21,990.00 CRC10M	+278.2%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$18.69 TOP45.00	$15.13 CRC6,887.86	-19.0%
Average			+66.7%

Nuku'alofa vs. San Jose - Cost of transportation

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pay 4.4% more for housing

	Nuku'alofa	San Jose
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$124.60 TOP300.00	$59.17 CRC26,929.00	-52.5%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$622.99 TOP1,500.00	$942.15 CRC429K	+51.2%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	??	$758.77 CRC345K
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$142.92 TOP344.12	$72.33 CRC32,916.13	-49.4%
Average			+4.4%

Nuku'alofa vs. San Jose - Cost of housing

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pay 20.7 times more for childcare

	Nuku'alofa	San Jose
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$157.82 TOP380.00	$980.95 CRC446K	+521.5%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$249.19 TOP600.00	$17,102.76 CRC8M	+6763.2%
Average			+1965.4%

Nuku'alofa vs. San Jose - Cost of childcare

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pay 16.6% less for entertainment and sports

	Nuku'alofa	San Jose
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$3.32 TOP8.00	$3.29 CRC1,495.19	-1.1%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.91 TOP7.00	$4.44 CRC2,020.72	+52.7%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$10.18 TOP24.50	$5.91 CRC2,691.35	-41.9%
Monthly membership at local gym	$31.15 TOP75.00	$72.94 CRC33,194.61	+134.2%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$41.53 TOP100.00	$7.67 CRC3,488.79	-81.5%
Average			-16.6%

Nuku'alofa vs. San Jose - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 4.6 times more for clothing

	Nuku'alofa	San Jose
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$14.54 TOP35.00	$71.32 CRC32,458.76	+390.6%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$17.65 TOP42.50	$55.79 CRC25,389.75	+216.1%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$20.77 TOP50.00	$128.46 CRC58,460.15	+518.6%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$29.07 TOP70.00	$131.42 CRC59,807.77	+352.0%
Average			+356.3%

Nuku'alofa 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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