Cost of living comparison

Costa Rica

compared to

Lebanon

Beirut vs. San Jose Cost of Living Summary

Beirut is 11.4% cheaper than San Jose.

Restaurants: pay 14.0% less in Beirut
Groceries: pay 41.1% less in Beirut
Transportation: pay 25.1% more in Beirut
Housing: pay 5.5% less in Beirut
Childcare: pay 34.2% less in Beirut
Entertainment and Sports: pay 13.4% more in Beirut
Clothing: pay 4.6% less in Beirut

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

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Beirut vs. San Jose Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 14.0% less for restaurants

	San Jose	Beirut
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$12.18 CRC5,543.94	$12.00 LBP1M	-1.5%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$11.62 CRC5,289.15	$10.00 LBP896K	-14.0%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$2.69 CRC1,222.04	$2.33 LBP209K	-13.3%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$1.89 CRC858.35	$0.87 LBP78,113	-53.8%
Average			-14.0%

San Jose vs. Beirut - Cost of restaurants

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pay 41.1% less for groceries

	San Jose	Beirut
Bread 1 loaf	$3.09 CRC1,407.40	$0.88 LBP78,624	-71.6%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$5.33 CRC2,425.82	$5.54 LBP496K	+3.9%
Milk (1 gallon)	$8.95 CRC4,075.15	$7.42 LBP664K	-17.2%
Eggs 1 dozen	$3.49 CRC1,590.09	$3.57 LBP320K	+2.1%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$4.71 CRC2,145.07	$4.81 LBP431K	+2.0%
Apples (1 lb)	$2.32 CRC1,054.99	$1.39 LBP124K	-40.1%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.73 CRC330.88	$0.76 LBP68,245	+4.8%
Oranges (1 lb)	$2.15 CRC979.64	$0.75 LBP66,945	-65.3%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.76 CRC799.36	$0.68 LBP60,933	-61.3%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$1.73 CRC787.71	$0.56 LBP50,168	-67.6%
Onions (1 lb)	$1.66 CRC755.96	$0.71 LBP63,835	-57.1%
Average			-41.1%

San Jose vs. Beirut - Cost of groceries

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pay 25.1% more for transportation

	San Jose	Beirut
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$5.80 CRC2,637.53	$4.04 LBP362K	-30.3%
Monthly public transit pass	$65.71 CRC29,903.89	$77.50 LBP7M	+17.9%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$21,990.00 CRC10M	$53,500.00 LBP5B	+143.3%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$15.13 CRC6,887.86	$23.00 LBP2M	+52.0%
Average			+25.1%

San Jose vs. Beirut - Cost of transportation

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pay 5.5% less for housing

	San Jose	Beirut
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$59.17 CRC26,929.00	$37.98 LBP3M	-35.8%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$942.15 CRC429K	$943.80 LBP85M	+0.2%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$758.77 CRC345K	$496.60 LBP44M	-34.6%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$72.33 CRC32,916.13	$177.50 LBP16M	+145.4%
Average			-5.5%

San Jose vs. Beirut - Cost of housing

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pay 34.2% less for childcare

	San Jose	Beirut
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$980.95 CRC446K	$681.75 LBP61M	-30.5%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$17,102.76 CRC8M	$10,643.75 LBP953M	-37.8%
Average			-34.2%

San Jose vs. Beirut - Cost of childcare

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pay 13.4% more for entertainment and sports

	San Jose	Beirut
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$3.29 CRC1,495.19	$5.00 LBP448K	+52.2%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$4.44 CRC2,020.72	$4.54 LBP407K	+2.3%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$5.91 CRC2,691.35	$3.00 LBP269K	-49.3%
Monthly membership at local gym	$72.94 CRC33,194.61	$85.00 LBP8M	+16.5%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$7.67 CRC3,488.79	$10.00 LBP896K	+30.4%
Average			+13.4%

San Jose vs. Beirut - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 4.6% less for clothing

	San Jose	Beirut
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$71.32 CRC32,458.76	$67.62 LBP6M	-5.2%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$55.79 CRC25,389.75	$49.29 LBP4M	-11.7%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$128.46 CRC58,460.15	$138.89 LBP12M	+8.1%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$131.42 CRC59,807.77	$120.00 LBP11M	-8.7%
Average			-4.6%

San Jose vs. Beirut - 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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