Last update: Oct 2026

Cost of Living Comparison Between Jaco Beach and Sao Paulo

For one person, living is cheaper in Sao Paulo: $1,222 a month against $1,447 in Jaco Beach, rent and utilities included – about $2,700 less a year. Other living expenses account for most of the difference.

70

Cost of Living Index in Jaco Beach
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Jaco Beach Living Index
59

Cost of Living Index in Sao Paulo
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Sao Paulo Living Index

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Jaco Beach

🇨🇷 Costa Rica

$1,447

/mo nomad

Sao Paulo

🇧🇷 Brazil

$1,222

/mo nomad

Monthly Cost of Living

How much you'll spend in Jaco Beach and in Sao Paulo

Real prices from locals and on-the-ground checks – rent, groceries, transit and the daily extras. Here's what a month in Jaco Beach and in Sao Paulo actually costs, broken down by who's living it.

Monthly costs for one person with rent: $1,447 in Jaco Beach versus $1,222 in Sao Paulo.

Jaco Beach $1,447
Sao Paulo $1,222

Estimated couple costs with rent: $2,313 in Jaco Beach versus $2,044 in Sao Paulo.

Jaco Beach $2,313
Sao Paulo $2,044

Monthly costs for a family of three with rent: $3,180 in Jaco Beach versus $2,867 in Sao Paulo.

Jaco Beach $3,180
Sao Paulo $2,867

Living in Jaco Beach is roughly 18% more expensive than in Sao Paulo, and outside of rent the biggest gap is in groceries.

The two cities straddle the global median: Jaco Beach is 7% above, Sao Paulo is 10% below.

Meal at Budget Restaurant

$11.77 ₡5,278

$8.71 R$44.15

35.13%

Three-Course Dinner for Two, Mid-Range

$43.49 ₡19.5K

$48.61 R$246

-10.53%

Fast Food Meal (McDonalds, etc)

$10.05 ₡4,505

$9.03 R$45.77

11.30%

Cappuccino

$3.94 ₡1,768

$2.55 R$12.94

54.51%

Coke/Pepsi/Fanta/Sprite (0.33 liter bottle)

$2.38 ₡1,065

$1.35 R$6.83

76.30%

Water (0.33 liter bottle)

$1.86 ₡833

$0.91 R$4.63

104.40%

Local Beer (0.5 liter draught)

$3.29 ₡1,475

$3.07 R$15.55

7.17%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$4.33 ₡1,943

$4.38 R$22.21

-1.14%

Milk (1 liter)

$1.90 ₡853

$1.19 R$6.05

59.66%

White Bread (500g)

$2.22 ₡997

$1.80 R$9.14

23.33%

Rice (white) (1kg)

$2.43 ₡1,092

$1.48 R$7.51

64.19%

Eggs

$2.61 ₡1,171

$2.82 R$14.31

-7.45%

Local Cheese (1kg)

$10.62 ₡4,764

$12.61 R$63.9

-15.78%

Chicken Fillets (1kg)

$9.19 ₡4,123

$5.40 R$27.36

70.19%

Beef Round Steak (1kg)

$11.90 ₡5,338

$10.76 R$54.6

10.59%

Apples (1kg)

$5.08 ₡2,278

$2.82 R$14.28

80.14%

Banana (1kg)

$1.66 ₡742

$1.82 R$9.25

-8.79%

Oranges (1kg)

$4.53 ₡2,033

$1.60 R$8.14

183.13%

Tomato (1kg)

$3.54 ₡1,590

$2.03 R$10.28

74.38%

Potato (1kg)

$1.56 ₡701

$1.46 R$7.40

6.85%

Onion (1kg)

$1.42 ₡637

$1.25 R$6.35

13.60%

Lettuce (1 head)

$1.01 ₡454

$1.25 R$6.32

-19.20%

Water (1.5 liter bottle)

$1.99 ₡894

$0.98 R$4.98

103.06%

Cigarettes 20 Pack (Marlboro, Camel)

$5.79 ₡2,598

$3.00 R$15.18

93.00%

Wine (Bottle)

$14.20 ₡6,366

$9.71 R$49.22

46.24%

Local Beer (0.5 liter bottle)

$2.65 ₡1,188

$1.84 R$9.32

44.02%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$2.26 ₡1,012

$2.52 R$12.80

-10.32%

One-way Ticket (Public Transport)

$1.07 R$5.41

Public Transport Monthly Pass (Regular Price)

$47.26 R$240

Taxi Start (Normal Tariff)

$2.42 ₡1,087

$1.81 R$9.16

33.70%

Taxi (Normal Tariff) (1km)

$1.55 ₡696

$1.01 R$5.14

53.47%

Taxi 1hour Waiting (Normal Tariff)

$8.91 ₡3,994

$10.24 R$51.9

-12.99%

Gasoline (1 liter)

$1.55 ₡696

$1.29 R$6.52

20.16%

Midsize Hatchback 1.4l (Volkswagen Golf, Toyota Prius, Honda Civic, etc)

$34.1K ₡15.3M

$23.5K R$119.3K

45.05%

Compact Sedan 1.6l (Toyota Corolla, Mazda3, Kia K4, Hyundai Elantra, etc)

$41.6K ₡18.7M

$34.5K R$174.9K

20.62%

Utilities for 2 People in 2-bedroom Apartment (Heating, Electricity, Gas, Water, Garbage) (85m2)

$80.2 ₡36.0K

$104 R$527

-22.89%

SIM Card Monthly Plan (Calls and 10GB+ Data)

$24.70 ₡11.1K

$16.60 R$84.1

48.80%

Internet (50+ Mbps, Unlimited Data)

$46.61 ₡20.9K

$22.04 R$112

111.48%

Gym Membership (Monthly)

$53.3 ₡23.9K

$36.43 R$185

46.20%

Tennis Court (1 Hour on Weekend)

$47.29 R$240

Cinema Ticket

$7.57 ₡3,395

$9.69 R$49.12

-21.88%

Preschool or Kindergarten, Full Day, Private, 1 Child (Monthly)

$492 ₡220.8K

$573 R$2,906

-14.13%

International Primary School, 1 Child (Yearly)

$7,283 ₡3.3M

$16.9K R$85.8K

-56.99%

Jeans (Levis 501 Or Similar)

$24.70 ₡11.1K

$66.3 R$336

-62.73%

Summer Dress (H&M, Zara, etc)

$57.2 ₡25.6K

$61.1 R$310

-6.46%

Sport Shoes (Adidas, Nike)

$131 ₡58.8K

$98.8 R$501

32.84%

Men's Leather Business Shoes

$133 ₡59.5K

$91.4 R$463

45.16%

1-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$766 ₡343.4K

$654 R$3,316

17.08%

1-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$520 ₡233.2K

$418 R$2,120

24.33%

3-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$1,987 ₡891.0K

$1,524 R$7,724

30.40%

3-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$1,113 ₡499.1K

$992 R$5,028

12.21%

Buy Apartment in City Center (m2)

$2,670 R$13.5K

Buy Apartment Outside City Center (m2)

$2,019 R$10.2K

Average Monthly Net Salary (After Tax)

$399 ₡178.8K

$900 R$4,563

-55.72%

20-Year Fixed Mortgage Interest Rate (Annual %)

8.62

11.68

-26.20%

CityCost data is based on AI and user input – minor inaccuracies may occur.

Last update for Jaco Beach: October 19, 2026

Last update for Sao Paulo: October 18, 2026

Monthly budget structure

Share of the monthly basket for one person, rent included.

Accommodation & Living

Jaco Beach

$520 35.9%

Sao Paulo

$418 34.2% 19.6% $102

Groceries & Markets

Jaco Beach

$328 22.7%

Sao Paulo

$243 19.9% 25.8% $85

Eating Out

Jaco Beach

$214 14.8%

Sao Paulo

$161 13.1% 24.9% $53

Clothing & Footwear

Jaco Beach

$156 10.8%

Sao Paulo

$143 11.7% 8.2% $13

Monthly Utilities & Internet

Jaco Beach

$152 10.5%

Sao Paulo

$143 11.7% 5.8% $8.9

Sport & Entertainment

Jaco Beach

$68 4.7%

Sao Paulo

$56 4.6% 18.4% $13

Getting Around

Jaco Beach

$10 * 0.7%

Sao Paulo

$58 4.8% 474% $48

Categories marked with * are only partly priced – their share counts the items that do have prices.

Cost Breakdown

A one-bedroom apartment in the center runs $766 in Jaco Beach and $654 in Sao Paulo. Housing cost is often the main lever when comparing two cities.

Sao Paulo pays 126% more on average while also being the cheaper of the two. The combined effect is a noticeably stronger local purchasing power.

Dining out: $43.00 in Jaco Beach vs $49.00 in Sao Paulo. Groceries flip the comparison at $328 vs $243, with Sao Paulo cheaper for home cooking.

Good to know

🇨🇷 Jaco Beach

🇧🇷 Sao Paulo

🕒 Local time

15:08 3:08 PM

18:08 6:08 PM

3 h ahead of Jaco Beach

🌤 Weather

👥 Population

11,451,999

💱 Currency

Costa Rican Colón CRC ₡

Brazilian Real BRL R$

📈 Exchange rate

1,000 CRC = 2.23 USD

1,000 CRC = 1.98 EUR

1 BRL = 0.197 USD

1 BRL = 0.175 EUR

Exchange rates and currency converter

BRL, USD, EUR to CRC – Costa Rican Colón Converter

🇺🇸 United States Dollar ($)

🇨🇷 Costa Rican Colón (₡)

Costa Rican Colón exchange rates as of October 20, 2026: 1 USD = 448 CRC (1,000 CRC = 2.23 USD). 1 EUR = 504 CRC (1,000 CRC = 1.98 EUR).

Brazilian Real exchange rates as of October 20, 2026: 1 USD = 5.07 BRL (1 BRL = 0.197 USD). 1 EUR = 5.7 BRL (1 BRL = 0.175 EUR).

USD to CRC in detail →

On the map

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Between locations

Jaco Beach Sao Paulo 5,540 km ≈ 7 h nonstop flight

From you

Jaco Beach
Sao Paulo

Distances are measured in a straight line. Your location is detected approximately.

City Median Internet Speeds Comparison (Updated April 2026)

The chart highlights the Precision Threshold for mobile and fixed broadband internet speeds, updated quarterly.

Digital Nomad Cost of Living Index

Jaco Beach vs Sao Paulo: Cost of Living - Frequently Asked Questions

Sao Paulo is cheaper overall, especially in groceries, eating out, and clothing. The 18% gap adds up to real monthly savings that compound significantly over time.

On paper, salaries run 126% lower in Sao Paulo. That's worth factoring in alongside costs, though remote workers earning in a stronger currency may not notice the difference at all.

Rent for a central apartment: $766 in Jaco Beach versus $654 in Sao Paulo. Housing is usually the single largest factor when comparing overall living costs between the two.

Childcare runs $492 in Jaco Beach versus $573 in Sao Paulo. Over years of preschool, even a modest monthly gap compounds into a major financial factor for families.

Dining out is cheaper in Sao Paulo – a meal for two runs $49.00 versus $43.00 in Jaco Beach. If you eat out regularly, this makes a real dent in your monthly spending.

At $1,222 in Sao Paulo versus $1,447 in Jaco Beach, a $1,500 budget is realistic in Sao Paulo but tight or insufficient in Jaco Beach. The gap between the two cities makes Sao Paulo the clear choice for anyone on this budget.

For families, Sao Paulo is more practical. Housing and childcare are both notably cheaper than in Jaco Beach, and the savings on those two alone free up budget for education, activities, and family trips.

Safety-wise, Jaco Beach and Sao Paulo are on par. Petty crime is typical for cities this size, and most residents feel comfortable going about their daily routines in either place.

Expats usually find Sao Paulo gentler on the wallet – expenses run 18% less than in Jaco Beach. Beyond cost, consider language, visa policies, and how big the international community is in each city.