Cost of living comparison

Costa Rica

compared to

Denmark

Copenhagen vs. San Jose Cost of Living Summary

Copenhagen is 50.5% more expensive than San Jose.

Restaurants: pay 53.7% more in Copenhagen
Groceries: pay 10.3% more in Copenhagen
Transportation: pay 75.7% more in Copenhagen
Housing: pay 88.2% more in Copenhagen
Childcare: pay 29.3% less in Copenhagen
Entertainment and Sports: pay 73.0% more in Copenhagen
Clothing: pay 22.1% more in Copenhagen

The cost of housing, transportation, entertainment and sports, restaurants, clothing, and groceries in Copenhagen are more expensive than in San Jose. Notably, housing and transportation are significantly more expensive in Copenhagen.

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Copenhagen vs. San Jose Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 53.7% more for restaurants

	San Jose	Copenhagen
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$12.18 CRC5,543.94	$20.97 DKK139.50	+72.2%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$11.62 CRC5,289.15	$13.48 DKK89.68	+16.0%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$2.69 CRC1,222.04	$5.10 DKK33.90	+89.8%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$1.89 CRC858.35	$3.77 DKK25.04	+99.6%
Average			+53.7%

San Jose vs. Copenhagen - Cost of restaurants

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pay 10.3% more for groceries

	San Jose	Copenhagen
Bread 1 loaf	$3.09 CRC1,407.40	$4.77 DKK31.74	+54.3%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$5.33 CRC2,425.82	$8.64 DKK57.47	+62.1%
Milk (1 gallon)	$8.95 CRC4,075.15	$7.89 DKK52.48	-11.9%
Eggs 1 dozen	$3.49 CRC1,590.09	$5.89 DKK39.19	+68.6%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$4.71 CRC2,145.07	$6.31 DKK41.95	+33.8%
Apples (1 lb)	$2.32 CRC1,054.99	$1.52 DKK10.13	-34.3%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.73 CRC330.88	$1.39 DKK9.22	+90.6%
Oranges (1 lb)	$2.15 CRC979.64	$1.96 DKK13.02	-9.0%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.76 CRC799.36	$2.59 DKK17.20	+47.3%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$1.73 CRC787.71	$1.07 DKK7.10	-38.3%
Onions (1 lb)	$1.66 CRC755.96	$0.95 DKK6.33	-42.7%
Average			+10.3%

San Jose vs. Copenhagen - Cost of groceries

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pay 75.7% more for transportation

	San Jose	Copenhagen
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$5.80 CRC2,637.53	$9.58 DKK63.75	+65.4%
Monthly public transit pass	$65.71 CRC29,903.89	$104.86 DKK697.48	+59.6%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$21,990.00 CRC10M	$50,184.55 DKK334K	+128.2%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$15.13 CRC6,887.86	$19.03 DKK126.54	+25.7%
Average			+75.7%

San Jose vs. Copenhagen - Cost of transportation

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pay 88.2% more for housing

	San Jose	Copenhagen
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$59.17 CRC26,929.00	$37.42 DKK248.91	-36.8%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$942.15 CRC429K	$1,981.79 DKK13,181.29	+110.3%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$758.77 CRC345K	$1,454.31 DKK9,672.90	+91.7%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$72.33 CRC32,916.13	$138.83 DKK923.39	+91.9%
Average			+88.2%

San Jose vs. Copenhagen - Cost of housing

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pay 29.3% less for childcare

	San Jose	Copenhagen
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$980.95 CRC446K	$977.91 DKK6,504.25	-0.3%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$17,102.76 CRC8M	$8,580.66 DKK57,071.67	-49.8%
Average			-29.3%

San Jose vs. Copenhagen - Cost of childcare

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pay 73.0% more for entertainment and sports

	San Jose	Copenhagen
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$3.29 CRC1,495.19	$8.99 DKK59.78	+173.6%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$4.44 CRC2,020.72	$6.97 DKK46.39	+57.1%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$5.91 CRC2,691.35	$9.44 DKK62.77	+59.6%
Monthly membership at local gym	$72.94 CRC33,194.61	$64.00 DKK425.70	-12.3%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$7.67 CRC3,488.79	$20.22 DKK134.51	+163.8%
Average			+73.0%

San Jose vs. Copenhagen - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 22.1% more for clothing

	San Jose	Copenhagen
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$71.32 CRC32,458.76	$108.66 DKK722.72	+52.4%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$55.79 CRC25,389.75	$53.68 DKK357.04	-3.8%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$128.46 CRC58,460.15	$128.48 DKK854.58
Men's business shoes (leather)	$131.42 CRC59,807.77	$199.12 DKK1,324.38	+51.5%
Average			+22.1%

San Jose vs. Copenhagen - 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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