Cost of living comparison

Costa Rica

compared to

Vanuatu

Port Vila vs. San Jose Cost of Living Summary

Port Vila is 34.0% more expensive than San Jose.

Restaurants: pay 10.2% more in Port Vila
Groceries: pay 35.3% more in Port Vila
Transportation: pay 3.0% more in Port Vila
Housing: pay 2.1 times more in Port Vila
Childcare: pay 49.4% less in Port Vila
Entertainment and Sports: pay 14.0% more in Port Vila
Clothing: pay 23.0% less in Port Vila

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

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Port Vila vs. San Jose Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Port Vila instead of San Jose, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 10.2% more for restaurants

	San Jose	Port Vila
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$12.18 CRC5,543.94	$12.67 VUV1,500	+4.0%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$11.62 CRC5,289.15	$14.35 VUV1,700	+23.5%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$2.69 CRC1,222.04	$2.28 VUV270	-15.1%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$1.89 CRC858.35	$2.36 VUV279	+24.9%
Average			+10.2%

San Jose vs. Port Vila - Cost of restaurants

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pay 35.3% more for groceries

	San Jose	Port Vila
Bread 1 loaf	$3.09 CRC1,407.40	$1.94 VUV230	-37.2%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$5.33 CRC2,425.82	$8.86 VUV1,050	+66.3%
Milk (1 gallon)	$8.95 CRC4,075.15	$10.63 VUV1,259	+18.7%
Eggs 1 dozen	$3.49 CRC1,590.09	$6.23 VUV737	+78.2%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$4.71 CRC2,145.07	$7.40 VUV877	+57.1%
Apples (1 lb)	$2.32 CRC1,054.99	$3.24 VUV384	+39.9%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.73 CRC330.88	$0.96 VUV113	+31.7%
Oranges (1 lb)	$2.15 CRC979.64	$1.78 VUV211	-17.3%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.76 CRC799.36	$4.21 VUV499	+139.9%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$1.73 CRC787.71	$4.02 VUV476	+132.3%
Onions (1 lb)	$1.66 CRC755.96	$1.57 VUV186	-5.5%
Average			+35.3%

San Jose vs. Port Vila - Cost of groceries

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pay 3.0% more for transportation

	San Jose	Port Vila
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$5.80 CRC2,637.53	$6.78 VUV803	+16.9%
Monthly public transit pass	$65.71 CRC29,903.89	$67.55 VUV8,000	+2.8%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$21,990.00 CRC10M	$23,220.47 VUV3M	+5.6%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$15.13 CRC6,887.86	$9.29 VUV1,100	-38.6%
Average			+3.0%

San Jose vs. Port Vila - Cost of transportation

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pay 2.1 times more for housing

	San Jose	Port Vila
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$59.17 CRC26,929.00	$363.08 VUV43,000	+513.6%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$942.15 CRC429K	$1,579.90 VUV187K	+67.7%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$758.77 CRC345K	$1,131.05 VUV134K	+49.1%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$72.33 CRC32,916.13	$484.28 VUV57,353	+569.6%
Average			+110.1%

San Jose vs. Port Vila - Cost of housing

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pay 49.4% less for childcare

	San Jose	Port Vila
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$980.95 CRC446K	$624.84 VUV74,000	-36.3%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$17,102.76 CRC8M	$6,873.26 VUV814K	-59.8%
Average			-49.4%

San Jose vs. Port Vila - Cost of childcare

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pay 14.0% more for entertainment and sports

	San Jose	Port Vila
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$3.29 CRC1,495.19	$5.07 VUV600	+54.2%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$4.44 CRC2,020.72	$4.08 VUV483	-8.1%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$5.91 CRC2,691.35	$9.29 VUV1,100	+57.1%
Monthly membership at local gym	$72.94 CRC33,194.61	$68.29 VUV8,088	-6.4%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$7.67 CRC3,488.79	??
Average			+14.0%

San Jose vs. Port Vila - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 23.0% less for clothing

	San Jose	Port Vila
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$71.32 CRC32,458.76	$40.99 VUV4,854	-42.5%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$55.79 CRC25,389.75	$67.55 VUV8,000	+21.1%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$128.46 CRC58,460.15	$84.40 VUV9,995	-34.3%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$131.42 CRC59,807.77	$101.28 VUV11,995	-22.9%
Average			-23.0%

San Jose vs. Port Vila - 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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