Cost of living comparison

Costa Rica

compared to

Saudi Arabia

Riyadh vs. San Jose Cost of Living Summary

Riyadh is 16.5% cheaper than San Jose.

Restaurants: pay 45.8% less in Riyadh
Groceries: pay 38.8% less in Riyadh
Transportation: pay 26.2% less in Riyadh
Housing: pay 17.1% more in Riyadh
Childcare: pay 43.5% less in Riyadh
Entertainment and Sports: pay 13.1% more in Riyadh
Clothing: pay 15.8% less in Riyadh

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

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Riyadh vs. San Jose Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 45.8% less for restaurants

	San Jose	Riyadh
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$12.18 CRC5,543.94	$7.99 SAR30.00	-34.4%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$11.62 CRC5,289.15	$7.99 SAR30.00	-31.2%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$2.69 CRC1,222.04	$0.87 SAR3.28	-67.4%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$1.89 CRC858.35	$0.31 SAR1.18	-83.4%
Average			-45.8%

San Jose vs. Riyadh - Cost of restaurants

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pay 38.8% less for groceries

	San Jose	Riyadh
Bread 1 loaf	$3.09 CRC1,407.40	$1.29 SAR4.83	-58.4%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$5.33 CRC2,425.82	$5.27 SAR19.78	-1.1%
Milk (1 gallon)	$8.95 CRC4,075.15	$6.76 SAR25.39	-24.5%
Eggs 1 dozen	$3.49 CRC1,590.09	$3.08 SAR11.57	-11.7%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$4.71 CRC2,145.07	$4.34 SAR16.27	-8.0%
Apples (1 lb)	$2.32 CRC1,054.99	$1.30 SAR4.88	-43.9%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.73 CRC330.88	$0.87 SAR3.28	+20.2%
Oranges (1 lb)	$2.15 CRC979.64	$1.13 SAR4.23	-47.7%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.76 CRC799.36	$0.80 SAR2.99	-54.7%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$1.73 CRC787.71	$0.54 SAR2.04	-68.6%
Onions (1 lb)	$1.66 CRC755.96	$0.59 SAR2.21	-64.5%
Average			-38.8%

San Jose vs. Riyadh - Cost of groceries

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pay 26.2% less for transportation

	San Jose	Riyadh
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$5.80 CRC2,637.53	$2.35 SAR8.82	-59.5%
Monthly public transit pass	$65.71 CRC29,903.89	$37.31 SAR140.01	-43.2%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$21,990.00 CRC10M	$34,642.08 SAR130K	+57.5%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$15.13 CRC6,887.86	$18.12 SAR68.00	+19.7%
Average			-26.2%

San Jose vs. Riyadh - Cost of transportation

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pay 17.1% more for housing

	San Jose	Riyadh
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$59.17 CRC26,929.00	$71.73 SAR269.20	+21.2%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$942.15 CRC429K	$1,186.87 SAR4,454.14	+26.0%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$758.77 CRC345K	$833.69 SAR3,128.72	+9.9%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$72.33 CRC32,916.13	$81.86 SAR307.20	+13.2%
Average			+17.1%

San Jose vs. Riyadh - Cost of housing

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pay 43.5% less for childcare

	San Jose	Riyadh
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$980.95 CRC446K	$530.73 SAR1,991.76	-45.9%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$17,102.76 CRC8M	$10,105.80 SAR37,925.40	-40.9%
Average			-43.5%

San Jose vs. Riyadh - Cost of childcare

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pay 13.1% more for entertainment and sports

	San Jose	Riyadh
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$3.29 CRC1,495.19	$2.13 SAR8.00	-35.1%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$4.44 CRC2,020.72	$4.28 SAR16.07	-3.6%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$5.91 CRC2,691.35	$7.73 SAR29.00	+30.7%
Monthly membership at local gym	$72.94 CRC33,194.61	$89.94 SAR337.52	+23.3%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$7.67 CRC3,488.79	$13.32 SAR50.00	+73.8%
Average			+13.1%

San Jose vs. Riyadh - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 15.8% less for clothing

	San Jose	Riyadh
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$71.32 CRC32,458.76	$58.30 SAR218.78	-18.3%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$55.79 CRC25,389.75	$54.26 SAR203.65	-2.7%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$128.46 CRC58,460.15	$102.59 SAR385.02	-20.1%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$131.42 CRC59,807.77	$103.93 SAR390.02	-20.9%
Average			-15.8%

San Jose vs. Riyadh - 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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