Cost of living comparison

compared to

San Jose vs. Saint John's Cost of Living Summary

San Jose is 87.2% more expensive than Saint John's.

Restaurants: pay 8.8% more in San Jose
Groceries: pay 16.4% less in San Jose
Transportation: pay 8.0% less in San Jose
Housing: pay 21.7% less in San Jose
Childcare: pay 6.8 times more in San Jose
Entertainment and Sports: pay 23.2% more in San Jose
Clothing: pay 43.0% more in San Jose

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

San Jose vs. Saint John's Cost Breakdown

If you lived in San Jose instead of Saint John's, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 8.8% more for restaurants

	Saint John's	San Jose
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$13.88 EC$37.50	$9.95 CRC4,947.81	-28.3%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$11.10 EC$30.00	$9.91 CRC4,924.29	-10.8%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$2.07 EC$5.60	$2.06 CRC1,022.01	-0.8%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.96 EC$2.58	$1.67 CRC831.76	+75.0%
Average			+8.8%

Saint John's vs. San Jose - Cost of restaurants

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pay 16.4% less for groceries

	Saint John's	San Jose
Bread 1 loaf	$2.78 EC$7.50	$2.64 CRC1,311.09	-5.0%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$4.07 EC$11.00	$4.95 CRC2,462.15	+21.7%
Milk (1 gallon)	$8.40 EC$22.71	$7.78 CRC3,868.62	-7.4%
Eggs 1 dozen	$5.37 EC$14.50	$2.88 CRC1,429.67	-46.4%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$3.69 EC$9.98	$3.97 CRC1,971.17	+7.4%
Apples (1 lb)	$2.96 EC$8.00	$1.94 CRC963.65	-34.5%
Bananas (1 lb)	$1.11 EC$3.00	$0.65 CRC324.89	-41.1%
Oranges (1 lb)	$3.70 EC$10.00	$1.95 CRC967.90	-47.4%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$3.70 EC$10.00	$1.58 CRC786.24	-57.3%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$1.30 EC$3.50	$1.55 CRC768.91	+19.4%
Onions (1 lb)	$1.30 EC$3.50	$1.43 CRC711.41	+10.5%
Average			-16.4%

Saint John's vs. San Jose - Cost of groceries

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pay 8.0% less for transportation

	Saint John's	San Jose
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$6.29 EC$17.00	$5.39 CRC2,678.58	-14.3%
Monthly public transit pass	??	$41.21 CRC20,485.06
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$23,681.34 EC$64,000.00	$37,640.45 CRC18,712,315.88	+58.9%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$51.53 EC$139.27	$16.12 CRC8,011.83	-68.7%
Average			-8.0%

Saint John's vs. San Jose - Cost of transportation

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pay 21.7% less for housing

	Saint John's	San Jose
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$77.58 EC$209.67	$58.88 CRC29,268.77	-24.1%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$1,048.39 EC$2,833.33	$891.63 CRC443,258.89	-15.0%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$678.37 EC$1,833.33	$560.77 CRC278,778.03	-17.3%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$99.04 EC$267.65	$68.88 CRC34,242.87	-30.4%
Average			-21.7%

Saint John's vs. San Jose - Cost of housing

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pay 6.8 times more for childcare

	Saint John's	San Jose
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	??	$600.27 CRC298,412.20
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$1,850.10 EC$5,000.00	$12,608.22 CRC6,267,964.49	+581.5%
Average			+581.5%

Saint John's vs. San Jose - Cost of childcare

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pay 23.2% more for entertainment and sports

	Saint John's	San Jose
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$1.85 EC$5.00	$2.67 CRC1,329.56	+44.6%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.95 EC$10.67	$3.85 CRC1,915.58	-2.4%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	??	$5.15 CRC2,560.63
Monthly membership at local gym	$61.67 EC$166.67	$55.98 CRC27,831.01	-9.2%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$6.20 EC$16.75	$9.91 CRC4,924.29	+59.8%
Average			+23.2%

Saint John's vs. San Jose - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 43.0% more for clothing

	Saint John's	San Jose
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$50.00 EC$135.13	$61.74 CRC30,694.76	+23.5%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	??	$51.32 CRC25,512.74
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$74.00 EC$200.00	$120.28 CRC59,794.99	+62.5%
Men's business shoes (leather)	??	$106.98 CRC53,182.37
Average			+43.0%

Saint John's 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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