Cost of living comparison

Laos

compared to

Costa Rica

San Jose vs. Vientiane Cost of Living Summary

San Jose is 72.4% more expensive than Vientiane.

Restaurants: pay 3.5 times more in San Jose
Groceries: pay 75.2% more in San Jose
Transportation: pay 7.3% more in San Jose
Housing: pay 61.5% more in San Jose
Childcare: pay 55.6% more in San Jose
Entertainment and Sports: pay 2.1 times more in San Jose
Clothing: pay 2.0 times more in San Jose

The cost of restaurants, entertainment and sports, clothing, groceries, housing, and childcare in San Jose are more expensive than in Vientiane. Notably, restaurants, entertainment and sports, and clothing are significantly more expensive in San Jose.

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San Jose vs. Vientiane Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 3.5 times more for restaurants

	Vientiane	San Jose
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$2.67 LAK60,254	$12.18 CRC5,543.94	+355.6%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$5.35 LAK121K	$11.62 CRC5,289.15	+117.3%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.71 LAK16,068	$2.69 CRC1,222.04	+276.6%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.37 LAK8,410	$1.89 CRC858.35	+405.3%
Average			+248.6%

Vientiane vs. San Jose - Cost of restaurants

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pay 75.2% more for groceries

	Vientiane	San Jose
Bread 1 loaf	$1.14 LAK25,737	$3.09 CRC1,407.40	+170.8%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$13.59 LAK306K	$5.33 CRC2,425.82	-60.8%
Milk (1 gallon)	$7.61 LAK171K	$8.95 CRC4,075.15	+17.7%
Eggs 1 dozen	$1.87 LAK42,101	$3.49 CRC1,590.09	+87.0%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.81 LAK63,330	$4.71 CRC2,145.07	+67.7%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.09 LAK24,464	$2.32 CRC1,054.99	+113.5%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.52 LAK11,662	$0.73 CRC330.88	+40.5%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.19 LAK26,832	$2.15 CRC979.64	+80.8%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.69 LAK15,639	$1.76 CRC799.36	+153.1%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.66 LAK14,918	$1.73 CRC787.71	+161.5%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.49 LAK10,995	$1.66 CRC755.96	+240.4%
Average			+75.2%

Vientiane vs. San Jose - Cost of groceries

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pay 7.3% more for transportation

	Vientiane	San Jose
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$5.62 LAK127K	$5.80 CRC2,637.53	+3.1%
Monthly public transit pass	$48.44 LAK1M	$65.71 CRC29,903.89	+35.7%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$28,190.13 LAK635M	$21,990.00 CRC10M	-22.0%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$8.47 LAK191K	$15.13 CRC6,887.86	+78.7%
Average			+7.3%

Vientiane vs. San Jose - Cost of transportation

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pay 61.5% more for housing

	Vientiane	San Jose
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$12.33 LAK278K	$59.17 CRC26,929.00	+379.9%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$643.47 LAK15M	$942.15 CRC429K	+46.4%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$414.50 LAK9M	$758.77 CRC345K	+83.1%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$69.22 LAK2M	$72.33 CRC32,916.13	+4.5%
Average			+61.5%

Vientiane vs. San Jose - Cost of housing

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pay 55.6% more for childcare

	Vientiane	San Jose
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$625.02 LAK14M	$980.95 CRC446K	+56.9%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$11,083.07 LAK250M	$17,102.76 CRC8M	+54.3%
Average			+55.6%

Vientiane vs. San Jose - Cost of childcare

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pay 2.1 times more for entertainment and sports

	Vientiane	San Jose
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$1.36 LAK30,629	$3.29 CRC1,495.19	+141.7%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$1.79 LAK40,336	$4.44 CRC2,020.72	+148.1%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$1.78 LAK40,169	$5.91 CRC2,691.35	+231.8%
Monthly membership at local gym	$47.54 LAK1M	$72.94 CRC33,194.61	+53.4%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$4.23 LAK95,401	$7.67 CRC3,488.79	+81.1%
Average			+108.3%

Vientiane vs. San Jose - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 2.0 times more for clothing

	Vientiane	San Jose
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$26.74 LAK603K	$71.32 CRC32,458.76	+166.7%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$66.85 LAK2M	$55.79 CRC25,389.75	-16.5%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$56.75 LAK1M	$128.46 CRC58,460.15	+126.3%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$41.00 LAK924K	$131.42 CRC59,807.77	+220.5%
Average			+100.5%

Vientiane 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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