Cost of living comparison

Saudi Arabia

compared to

Costa Rica

San Jose vs. Riyadh Cost of Living Summary

San Jose is 19.8% more expensive than Riyadh.

Restaurants: pay 84.4% more in San Jose
Groceries: pay 63.4% more in San Jose
Transportation: pay 35.4% more in San Jose
Housing: pay 14.6% less in San Jose
Childcare: pay 76.9% more in San Jose
Entertainment and Sports: pay 11.6% less in San Jose
Clothing: pay 18.8% more in San Jose

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

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San Jose vs. Riyadh Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 84.4% more for restaurants

	Riyadh	San Jose
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$7.99 SAR30.00	$12.18 CRC5,543.94	+52.4%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$7.99 SAR30.00	$11.62 CRC5,289.15	+45.4%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.87 SAR3.28	$2.69 CRC1,222.04	+207.1%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.31 SAR1.18	$1.89 CRC858.35	+501.6%
Average			+84.4%

Riyadh vs. San Jose - Cost of restaurants

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pay 63.4% more for groceries

	Riyadh	San Jose
Bread 1 loaf	$1.29 SAR4.83	$3.09 CRC1,407.40	+140.1%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$5.27 SAR19.78	$5.33 CRC2,425.82	+1.1%
Milk (1 gallon)	$6.76 SAR25.39	$8.95 CRC4,075.15	+32.4%
Eggs 1 dozen	$3.08 SAR11.57	$3.49 CRC1,590.09	+13.3%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$4.34 SAR16.27	$4.71 CRC2,145.07	+8.7%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.30 SAR4.88	$2.32 CRC1,054.99	+78.4%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.87 SAR3.28	$0.73 CRC330.88	-16.8%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.13 SAR4.23	$2.15 CRC979.64	+91.1%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.80 SAR2.99	$1.76 CRC799.36	+120.7%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.54 SAR2.04	$1.73 CRC787.71	+218.2%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.59 SAR2.21	$1.66 CRC755.96	+181.9%
Average			+63.4%

Riyadh vs. San Jose - Cost of groceries

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pay 35.4% more for transportation

	Riyadh	San Jose
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$2.35 SAR8.82	$5.80 CRC2,637.53	+146.7%
Monthly public transit pass	$37.31 SAR140.01	$65.71 CRC29,903.89	+76.1%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$34,642.08 SAR130K	$21,990.00 CRC10M	-36.5%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$18.12 SAR68.00	$15.13 CRC6,887.86	-16.5%
Average			+35.4%

Riyadh vs. San Jose - Cost of transportation

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pay 14.6% less for housing

	Riyadh	San Jose
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$71.73 SAR269.20	$59.17 CRC26,929.00	-17.5%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$1,186.87 SAR4,454.14	$942.15 CRC429K	-20.6%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$833.69 SAR3,128.72	$758.77 CRC345K	-9.0%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$81.86 SAR307.20	$72.33 CRC32,916.13	-11.6%
Average			-14.6%

Riyadh vs. San Jose - Cost of housing

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pay 76.9% more for childcare

	Riyadh	San Jose
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$530.73 SAR1,991.76	$980.95 CRC446K	+84.8%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$10,105.80 SAR37,925.40	$17,102.76 CRC8M	+69.2%
Average			+76.9%

Riyadh vs. San Jose - Cost of childcare

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pay 11.6% less for entertainment and sports

	Riyadh	San Jose
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$2.13 SAR8.00	$3.29 CRC1,495.19	+54.1%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$4.28 SAR16.07	$4.44 CRC2,020.72	+3.7%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$7.73 SAR29.00	$5.91 CRC2,691.35	-23.5%
Monthly membership at local gym	$89.94 SAR337.52	$72.94 CRC33,194.61	-18.9%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$13.32 SAR50.00	$7.67 CRC3,488.79	-42.5%
Average			-11.6%

Riyadh vs. San Jose - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 18.8% more for clothing

	Riyadh	San Jose
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$58.30 SAR218.78	$71.32 CRC32,458.76	+22.3%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$54.26 SAR203.65	$55.79 CRC25,389.75	+2.8%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$102.59 SAR385.02	$128.46 CRC58,460.15	+25.2%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$103.93 SAR390.02	$131.42 CRC59,807.77	+26.5%
Average			+18.8%

Riyadh 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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