Cost of living comparison

Malta

compared to

Costa Rica

San Jose vs. Valletta Cost of Living Summary

San Jose is 10.0% cheaper than Valletta.

Restaurants: pay 27.1% less in San Jose
Groceries: pay 17.5% more in San Jose
Transportation: pay 10.6% less in San Jose
Housing: pay 29.9% less in San Jose
Childcare: pay 2.2 times more in San Jose
Entertainment and Sports: pay 8.7% less in San Jose
Clothing: pay 3.7% more in San Jose

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

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San Jose vs. Valletta Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 27.1% less for restaurants

	Valletta	San Jose
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$22.39 €19.93	$12.18 CRC5,543.94	-45.6%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$13.44 €11.96	$11.62 CRC5,289.15	-13.5%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$2.38 €2.12	$2.69 CRC1,222.04	+12.9%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$1.96 €1.74	$1.89 CRC858.35	-3.7%
Average			-27.1%

Valletta vs. San Jose - Cost of restaurants

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pay 17.5% more for groceries

	Valletta	San Jose
Bread 1 loaf	$1.43 €1.28	$3.09 CRC1,407.40	+115.6%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$5.18 €4.61	$5.33 CRC2,425.82	+2.9%
Milk (1 gallon)	$5.09 €4.53	$8.95 CRC4,075.15	+76.0%
Eggs 1 dozen	$4.36 €3.88	$3.49 CRC1,590.09	-19.9%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$5.45 €4.85	$4.71 CRC2,145.07	-13.5%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.72 €1.53	$2.32 CRC1,054.99	+35.0%
Bananas (1 lb)	$1.24 €1.11	$0.73 CRC330.88	-41.6%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.76 €1.57	$2.15 CRC979.64	+22.0%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.69 €1.51	$1.76 CRC799.36	+3.7%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.86 €0.77	$1.73 CRC787.71	+101.1%
Onions (1 lb)	$1.52 €1.36	$1.66 CRC755.96	+9.0%
Average			+17.5%

Valletta vs. San Jose - Cost of groceries

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pay 10.6% less for transportation

	Valletta	San Jose
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$5.68 €5.06	$5.80 CRC2,637.53	+2.0%
Monthly public transit pass	??	$65.71 CRC29,903.89
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$27,993.39 €24,915.12	$21,990.00 CRC10M	-21.4%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$18.25 €16.24	$15.13 CRC6,887.86	-17.1%
Average			-10.6%

Valletta vs. San Jose - Cost of transportation

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pay 29.9% less for housing

	Valletta	San Jose
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$29.39 €26.16	$59.17 CRC26,929.00	+101.3%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$1,413.67 €1,258.21	$942.15 CRC429K	-33.4%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$1,112.27 €989.96	$758.77 CRC345K	-31.8%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$118.81 €105.74	$72.33 CRC32,916.13	-39.1%
Average			-29.9%

Valletta vs. San Jose - Cost of housing

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pay 2.2 times more for childcare

	Valletta	San Jose
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$277.72 €247.18	$980.95 CRC446K	+253.2%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$12,317.09 €10,962.65	$17,102.76 CRC8M	+38.9%
Average			+121.5%

Valletta vs. San Jose - Cost of childcare

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pay 8.7% less for entertainment and sports

	Valletta	San Jose
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$5.60 €4.98	$3.29 CRC1,495.19	-41.3%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.18 €2.83	$4.44 CRC2,020.72	+39.6%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$6.27 €5.58	$5.91 CRC2,691.35	-5.7%
Monthly membership at local gym	$59.07 €52.57	$72.94 CRC33,194.61	+23.5%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$11.37 €10.12	$7.67 CRC3,488.79	-32.6%
Average			-8.7%

Valletta vs. San Jose - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 3.7% more for clothing

	Valletta	San Jose
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$57.44 €51.13	$71.32 CRC32,458.76	+24.2%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$68.96 €61.38	$55.79 CRC25,389.75	-19.1%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$112.13 €99.80	$128.46 CRC58,460.15	+14.6%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$130.55 €116.19	$131.42 CRC59,807.77	+0.7%
Average			+3.7%

Valletta vs. San Jose - 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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