Cost of living comparison

Costa Rica

compared to

Uruguay

Montevideo vs. San Jose Cost of Living Summary

Montevideo is 5.9% cheaper than San Jose.

Restaurants: pay 19.6% more in Montevideo
Groceries: pay 19.3% less in Montevideo
Transportation: pay 11.8% more in Montevideo
Housing: pay 12.2% less in Montevideo
Childcare: pay 35.9% less in Montevideo
Entertainment and Sports: pay 13.1% more in Montevideo
Clothing: pay 8.9% more in Montevideo

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

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Montevideo vs. San Jose Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 19.6% more for restaurants

	San Jose	Montevideo
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$12.18 CRC5,543.94	$15.00 UYU604.72	+23.1%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$11.62 CRC5,289.15	$14.46 UYU583.02	+24.4%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$2.69 CRC1,222.04	$2.70 UYU108.81	+0.5%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$1.89 CRC858.35	$2.05 UYU82.66	+8.7%
Average			+19.6%

San Jose vs. Montevideo - Cost of restaurants

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pay 19.3% less for groceries

	San Jose	Montevideo
Bread 1 loaf	$3.09 CRC1,407.40	$2.84 UYU114.69	-8.0%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$5.33 CRC2,425.82	$7.03 UYU283.55	+32.0%
Milk (1 gallon)	$8.95 CRC4,075.15	$5.10 UYU205.48	-43.1%
Eggs 1 dozen	$3.49 CRC1,590.09	$4.57 UYU184.15	+30.7%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$4.71 CRC2,145.07	$5.46 UYU220.10	+15.8%
Apples (1 lb)	$2.32 CRC1,054.99	$1.28 UYU51.67	-44.7%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.73 CRC330.88	$1.27 UYU51.03	+74.1%
Oranges (1 lb)	$2.15 CRC979.64	$0.80 UYU32.15	-62.9%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.76 CRC799.36	$1.44 UYU58.00	-18.1%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$1.73 CRC787.71	$0.92 UYU37.22	-46.7%
Onions (1 lb)	$1.66 CRC755.96	$0.96 UYU38.73	-42.2%
Average			-19.3%

San Jose vs. Montevideo - Cost of groceries

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pay 11.8% more for transportation

	San Jose	Montevideo
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$5.80 CRC2,637.53	$8.25 UYU332.50	+42.3%
Monthly public transit pass	$65.71 CRC29,903.89	$74.80 UYU3,015.63	+13.8%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$21,990.00 CRC10M	$26,990.00 UYU1M	+22.7%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$15.13 CRC6,887.86	$5.27 UYU212.50	-65.2%
Average			+11.8%

San Jose vs. Montevideo - Cost of transportation

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pay 12.2% less for housing

	San Jose	Montevideo
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$59.17 CRC26,929.00	$44.58 UYU1,797.10	-24.7%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$942.15 CRC429K	$706.61 UYU28,486.90	-25.0%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$758.77 CRC345K	$583.28 UYU23,514.79	-23.1%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$72.33 CRC32,916.13	$144.76 UYU5,836.03	+100.1%
Average			-12.2%

San Jose vs. Montevideo - Cost of housing

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pay 35.9% less for childcare

	San Jose	Montevideo
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$980.95 CRC446K	$626.83 UYU25,270.58	-36.1%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$17,102.76 CRC8M	$10,986.11 UYU443K	-35.8%
Average			-35.9%

San Jose vs. Montevideo - Cost of childcare

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pay 13.1% more for entertainment and sports

	San Jose	Montevideo
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$3.29 CRC1,495.19	$4.92 UYU198.53	+49.9%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$4.44 CRC2,020.72	$4.59 UYU184.84	+3.3%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$5.91 CRC2,691.35	$5.49 UYU221.15	-7.2%
Monthly membership at local gym	$72.94 CRC33,194.61	$54.39 UYU2,192.54	-25.4%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$7.67 CRC3,488.79	$12.22 UYU492.55	+59.4%
Average			+13.1%

San Jose vs. Montevideo - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 8.9% more for clothing

	San Jose	Montevideo
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$71.32 CRC32,458.76	$102.85 UYU4,146.32	+44.2%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$55.79 CRC25,389.75	$56.61 UYU2,282.30	+1.5%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$128.46 CRC58,460.15	$124.46 UYU5,017.67	-3.1%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$131.42 CRC59,807.77	$130.21 UYU5,249.43	-0.9%
Average			+8.9%

San Jose vs. Montevideo - 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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