Cost of living comparison

Costa Rica

compared to

New Zealand

Wellington vs. San Jose Cost of Living Summary

Wellington is 12.8% more expensive than San Jose.

Restaurants: pay 5.4% less in Wellington
Groceries: pay 16.1% less in Wellington
Transportation: pay 25.0% more in Wellington
Housing: pay 44.6% more in Wellington
Childcare: pay 9.9% less in Wellington
Entertainment and Sports: pay 21.9% more in Wellington
Clothing: pay 15.6% less in Wellington

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

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Wellington vs. San Jose Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 5.4% less for restaurants

	San Jose	Wellington
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$12.18 CRC5,555.13	$13.73 NZ$24.10	+12.7%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$11.62 CRC5,299.82	$9.02 NZ$15.84	-22.4%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$2.69 CRC1,224.50	$2.42 NZ$4.25	-9.9%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$1.89 CRC860.09	$1.71 NZ$3.00	-9.4%
Average			-5.4%

San Jose vs. Wellington - Cost of restaurants

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pay 16.1% less for groceries

	San Jose	Wellington
Bread 1 loaf	$3.09 CRC1,410.24	$2.16 NZ$3.79	-30.1%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$5.33 CRC2,430.72	$4.62 NZ$8.12	-13.3%
Milk (1 gallon)	$8.95 CRC4,083.37	$7.12 NZ$12.50	-20.5%
Eggs 1 dozen	$3.49 CRC1,593.30	$6.89 NZ$12.10	+97.3%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$4.71 CRC2,149.40	$4.37 NZ$7.68	-7.2%
Apples (1 lb)	$2.32 CRC1,057.12	$1.40 NZ$2.45	-39.7%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.73 CRC331.55	$0.99 NZ$1.73	+35.9%
Oranges (1 lb)	$2.15 CRC981.61	$1.37 NZ$2.40	-36.4%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.76 CRC800.97	$2.93 NZ$5.15	+66.9%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$1.73 CRC789.30	$0.95 NZ$1.67	-44.9%
Onions (1 lb)	$1.66 CRC757.49	$0.57 NZ$1.00	-65.7%
Average			-16.1%

San Jose vs. Wellington - Cost of groceries

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pay 25.0% more for transportation

	San Jose	Wellington
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$5.80 CRC2,642.85	$7.03 NZ$12.35	+21.3%
Monthly public transit pass	$65.71 CRC29,964.25	$101.23 NZ$177.74	+54.1%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$21,990.00 CRC10M	$25,203.61 NZ$44,251.79	+14.6%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$15.13 CRC6,901.77	$16.19 NZ$28.43	+7.0%
Average			+25.0%

San Jose vs. Wellington - Cost of transportation

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pay 44.6% more for housing

	San Jose	Wellington
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$59.17 CRC26,983.36	$53.32 NZ$93.62	-9.9%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$942.15 CRC430K	$1,215.08 NZ$2,133.41	+29.0%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$758.77 CRC346K	$1,141.32 NZ$2,003.90	+50.4%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$72.33 CRC32,982.58	$149.83 NZ$263.06	+107.2%
Average			+44.6%

San Jose vs. Wellington - Cost of housing

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pay 9.9% less for childcare

	San Jose	Wellington
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$980.95 CRC447K	$1,055.30 NZ$1,852.87	+7.6%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$17,102.76 CRC8M	$12,899.11 NZ$22,647.90	-24.6%
Average			-9.9%

San Jose vs. Wellington - Cost of childcare

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pay 21.9% more for entertainment and sports

	San Jose	Wellington
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$3.29 CRC1,498.21	$7.28 NZ$12.79	+121.7%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$4.44 CRC2,024.80	$3.34 NZ$5.87	-24.7%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$5.91 CRC2,696.78	$25.18 NZ$44.21	+325.8%
Monthly membership at local gym	$72.94 CRC33,261.62	$38.09 NZ$66.88	-47.8%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$7.67 CRC3,495.83	$12.04 NZ$21.15	+57.1%
Average			+21.9%

San Jose vs. Wellington - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 15.6% less for clothing

	San Jose	Wellington
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$71.32 CRC32,524.28	$77.76 NZ$136.52	+9.0%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$55.79 CRC25,441.00	$28.15 NZ$49.42	-49.5%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$128.46 CRC58,578.17	$101.77 NZ$178.69	-20.8%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$131.42 CRC59,928.51	$152.66 NZ$268.03	+16.2%
Average			-15.6%

San Jose vs. Wellington - 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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