Cost of living comparison

Costa Rica

compared to

Malta

Valletta vs. San Jose Cost of Living Summary

Valletta is 11.1% more expensive than San Jose.

Restaurants: pay 37.2% more in Valletta
Groceries: pay 14.9% less in Valletta
Transportation: pay 11.9% more in Valletta
Housing: pay 42.6% more in Valletta
Childcare: pay 54.8% less in Valletta
Entertainment and Sports: pay 9.6% more in Valletta
Clothing: pay 3.6% less in Valletta

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

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Valletta vs. San Jose Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 37.2% more for restaurants

	San Jose	Valletta
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$12.18 CRC5,543.94	$22.39 €19.93	+83.8%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$11.62 CRC5,289.15	$13.44 €11.96	+15.6%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$2.69 CRC1,222.04	$2.38 €2.12	-11.4%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$1.89 CRC858.35	$1.96 €1.74	+3.9%
Average			+37.2%

San Jose vs. Valletta - Cost of restaurants

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pay 14.9% less for groceries

	San Jose	Valletta
Bread 1 loaf	$3.09 CRC1,407.40	$1.43 €1.28	-53.6%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$5.33 CRC2,425.82	$5.18 €4.61	-2.8%
Milk (1 gallon)	$8.95 CRC4,075.15	$5.09 €4.53	-43.2%
Eggs 1 dozen	$3.49 CRC1,590.09	$4.36 €3.88	+24.8%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$4.71 CRC2,145.07	$5.45 €4.85	+15.6%
Apples (1 lb)	$2.32 CRC1,054.99	$1.72 €1.53	-25.9%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.73 CRC330.88	$1.24 €1.11	+71.2%
Oranges (1 lb)	$2.15 CRC979.64	$1.76 €1.57	-18.0%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.76 CRC799.36	$1.69 €1.51	-3.6%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$1.73 CRC787.71	$0.86 €0.77	-50.3%
Onions (1 lb)	$1.66 CRC755.96	$1.52 €1.36	-8.3%
Average			-14.9%

San Jose vs. Valletta - Cost of groceries

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pay 11.9% more for transportation

	San Jose	Valletta
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$5.80 CRC2,637.53	$5.68 €5.06	-2.0%
Monthly public transit pass	$65.71 CRC29,903.89	??
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$21,990.00 CRC10M	$27,993.39 €24,915.12	+27.3%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$15.13 CRC6,887.86	$18.25 €16.24	+20.6%
Average			+11.9%

San Jose vs. Valletta - Cost of transportation

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pay 42.6% more for housing

	San Jose	Valletta
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$59.17 CRC26,929.00	$29.39 €26.16	-50.3%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$942.15 CRC429K	$1,413.67 €1,258.21	+50.0%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$758.77 CRC345K	$1,112.27 €989.96	+46.6%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$72.33 CRC32,916.13	$118.81 €105.74	+64.3%
Average			+42.6%

San Jose vs. Valletta - Cost of housing

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pay 54.8% less for childcare

	San Jose	Valletta
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$980.95 CRC446K	$277.72 €247.18	-71.7%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$17,102.76 CRC8M	$12,317.09 €10,962.65	-28.0%
Average			-54.8%

San Jose vs. Valletta - Cost of childcare

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pay 9.6% more for entertainment and sports

	San Jose	Valletta
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$3.29 CRC1,495.19	$5.60 €4.98	+70.4%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$4.44 CRC2,020.72	$3.18 €2.83	-28.4%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$5.91 CRC2,691.35	$6.27 €5.58	+6.0%
Monthly membership at local gym	$72.94 CRC33,194.61	$59.07 €52.57	-19.0%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$7.67 CRC3,488.79	$11.37 €10.12	+48.3%
Average			+9.6%

San Jose vs. Valletta - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 3.6% less for clothing

	San Jose	Valletta
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$71.32 CRC32,458.76	$57.44 €51.13	-19.5%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$55.79 CRC25,389.75	$68.96 €61.38	+23.6%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$128.46 CRC58,460.15	$112.13 €99.80	-12.7%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$131.42 CRC59,807.77	$130.55 €116.19	-0.7%
Average			-3.6%

San Jose vs. Valletta - 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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