Last update: Oct 2026

Cost of Living Comparison Between Matamoros and San Jose

For one person, living is cheaper in Matamoros: $1,090 a month against $1,938 in San Jose, rent and utilities included – about $10,200 less a year. Rent and utilities account for most of the difference.

55

Cost of Living Index in Matamoros
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Matamoros Living Index
94

Cost of Living Index in San Jose
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San Jose Living Index

Jump to prices

Matamoros

🇲🇽 Mexico

$1,090

/mo nomad

San Jose

🇨🇷 Costa Rica

$1,938

/mo nomad

Monthly Cost of Living

How much you'll spend in Matamoros and in San Jose

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

Monthly costs for one person with rent: $1,090 in Matamoros versus $1,938 in San Jose.

Matamoros $1,090
San Jose $1,938

Estimated couple costs with rent: $1,832 in Matamoros versus $2,936 in San Jose.

Matamoros $1,832
San Jose $2,936

Monthly costs for a family of three with rent: $2,573 in Matamoros versus $3,934 in San Jose.

Matamoros $2,573
San Jose $3,934

Living in Matamoros costs roughly 44% less than in San Jose, and outside of rent the biggest gap is in groceries.

The two cities straddle the global median: Matamoros is 19% below, San Jose is 44% above.

Meal at Budget Restaurant

$12.38 MX$229

$12.38 ₡5,551

Three-Course Dinner for Two, Mid-Range

$37.67 MX$696

$60.9 ₡27.3K

-38.10%

Fast Food Meal (McDonalds, etc)

$9.06 MX$167

$11.45 ₡5,135

-20.87%

Cappuccino

$3.29 MX$60.8

$4.39 ₡1,967

-25.06%

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

$1.47 MX$27.18

$2.70 ₡1,211

-45.56%

Water (0.33 liter bottle)

$1.05 MX$19.40

$1.93 ₡864

-45.60%

Local Beer (0.5 liter draught)

$2.26 MX$41.81

$3.20 ₡1,433

-29.38%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$4.48 MX$82.8

$4.41 ₡1,979

1.59%

Milk (1 liter)

$1.63 MX$30.12

$2.44 ₡1,093

-33.20%

White Bread (500g)

$2.40 MX$44.43

$3.05 ₡1,369

-21.31%

Rice (white) (1kg)

$1.70 MX$31.43

$2.41 ₡1,081

-29.46%

Eggs

$2.57 MX$47.54

$3.40 ₡1,523

-24.41%

Local Cheese (1kg)

$9.01 MX$167

$10.75 ₡4,823

-16.19%

Chicken Fillets (1kg)

$7.82 MX$144

$10.43 ₡4,679

-25.02%

Beef Round Steak (1kg)

$11.74 MX$217

$13.99 ₡6,273

-16.08%

Apples (1kg)

$2.70 MX$49.81

$5.25 ₡2,353

-48.57%

Banana (1kg)

$1.73 MX$31.92

$1.59 ₡712

8.81%

Oranges (1kg)

$1.67 MX$30.82

$4.69 ₡2,103

-64.39%

Tomato (1kg)

$2.05 MX$37.92

$3.95 ₡1,770

-48.10%

Potato (1kg)

$2.17 MX$40.01

$3.92 ₡1,760

-44.64%

Onion (1kg)

$2.09 MX$38.70

$3.68 ₡1,651

-43.21%

Lettuce (1 head)

$1.61 MX$29.73

$1.12 ₡503

43.75%

Water (1.5 liter bottle)

$1.22 MX$22.48

$3.19 ₡1,429

-61.76%

Cigarettes 20 Pack (Marlboro, Camel)

$4.72 MX$87.2

$6.00 ₡2,692

-21.33%

Wine (Bottle)

$10.79 MX$199

$19.56 ₡8,771

-44.84%

Local Beer (0.5 liter bottle)

$2.02 MX$37.32

$2.82 ₡1,263

-28.37%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$3.18 MX$58.8

$3.59 ₡1,611

-11.42%

One-way Ticket (Public Transport)

$0.65 MX$12.03

$1.12 ₡503

-41.96%

Public Transport Monthly Pass (Regular Price)

$66.8 ₡30.0K

Taxi Start (Normal Tariff)

$2.71 MX$50.0

$2.50 ₡1,119

8.40%

Taxi (Normal Tariff) (1km)

$2.25 MX$41.49

$1.63 ₡733

38.04%

Taxi 1hour Waiting (Normal Tariff)

$11.47 MX$212

$8.50 ₡3,812

34.94%

Gasoline (1 liter)

$1.34 MX$24.72

$1.56 ₡701

-14.10%

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

$23.5K MX$435.0K

$22.4K ₡10.0M

5.05%

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

$23.9K MX$441.3K

$35.6K ₡16.0M

-32.88%

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

$56.2 MX$1,038

$95.2 ₡42.7K

-41.03%

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

$25.44 MX$470

$35.58 ₡16.0K

-28.50%

Internet (50+ Mbps, Unlimited Data)

$26.61 MX$492

$58.6 ₡26.3K

-54.61%

Gym Membership (Monthly)

$32.88 MX$608

$72.7 ₡32.6K

-54.75%

Tennis Court (1 Hour on Weekend)

$22.40 MX$414

$24.85 ₡11.1K

-9.86%

Cinema Ticket

$4.48 MX$82.7

$7.58 ₡3,401

-40.90%

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

$223 MX$4,114

$1,001 ₡449.0K

-77.76%

International Primary School, 1 Child (Yearly)

$4,650 MX$85.9K

$17.1K ₡7.7M

-72.86%

Jeans (Levis 501 Or Similar)

$53.3 MX$986

$70.5 ₡31.6K

-24.33%

Summer Dress (H&M, Zara, etc)

$38.50 MX$711

$55.8 ₡25.0K

-31.03%

Sport Shoes (Adidas, Nike)

$99.1 MX$1,832

$130 ₡58.2K

-23.60%

Men's Leather Business Shoes

$79.4 MX$1,467

$131 ₡58.7K

-39.32%

1-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$646 MX$11.9K

$927 ₡415.8K

-30.31%

1-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$337 MX$6,220

$774 ₡347.2K

-56.53%

3-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$901 MX$16.7K

$1,967 ₡882.0K

-54.17%

3-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$826 MX$15.3K

$1,288 ₡577.6K

-35.87%

Buy Apartment in City Center (m2)

$2,039 MX$37.7K

$2,274 ₡1.0M

-10.34%

Buy Apartment Outside City Center (m2)

$1,054 MX$19.5K

$1,831 ₡821.0K

-42.41%

Average Monthly Net Salary (After Tax)

$1,016 ₡455.8K

20-Year Fixed Mortgage Interest Rate (Annual %)

11.3

8.62

31.09%

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

Last update for Matamoros: October 11, 2026

Last update for San Jose: October 11, 2026

Monthly budget structure

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

Accommodation & Living

Matamoros

$337 30.9%

San Jose

$774 40% 130% $438

Groceries & Markets

Matamoros

$269 24.7%

San Jose

$401 20.7% 48.9% $132

Eating Out

Matamoros

$196 18%

San Jose

$229 11.8% 17% $33

Clothing & Footwear

Matamoros

$122 11.2%

San Jose

$174 9% 43.1% $52

Monthly Utilities & Internet

Matamoros

$108 9.9%

San Jose

$189 9.8% 75.1% $81

Sport & Entertainment

Matamoros

$42 3.8%

San Jose

$88 4.5% 110% $46

Getting Around

Matamoros

$17 * 1.5%

San Jose

$82 4.2% 395% $65

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 $646 in Matamoros and $927 in San Jose. Housing cost is often the main lever when comparing two cities.

Dining out: $38.00 in Matamoros vs $61.0 in San Jose for a mid-range dinner for two. Groceries echo the gap at $269 vs $401 per month, with Matamoros cheaper across the board.

Good to know

🇲🇽 Matamoros

🇨🇷 San Jose

🕒 Local time

23:37 11:37 PM

22:37 10:37 PM

1 h behind Matamoros

🌤 Weather

👥 Population

510,739

342,188 Capital

💱 Currency

Mexican Peso MXN $

Costa Rican Colón CRC ₡

📈 Exchange rate

100 MXN = 5.41 USD

100 MXN = 4.81 EUR

1,000 CRC = 2.23 USD

1,000 CRC = 1.98 EUR

Exchange rates and currency converter

CRC, USD, EUR to MXN – Mexican Peso Converter

🇺🇸 United States Dollar ($)

🇲🇽 Mexican Peso ($)

Mexican Peso exchange rates as of October 19, 2026: 1 USD = 18.48 MXN (100 MXN = 5.41 USD). 1 EUR = 20.77 MXN (100 MXN = 4.81 EUR).

Costa Rican Colón exchange rates as of October 19, 2026: 1 USD = 448 CRC (1,000 CRC = 2.23 USD). 1 EUR = 504 CRC (1,000 CRC = 1.98 EUR).

USD to MXN in detail →

On the map

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Highest

Between locations

Matamoros San Jose 2,270 km ≈ 3 h 15 min nonstop flight

From you

Matamoros
San Jose

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

Matamoros vs San Jose: Cost of Living - Frequently Asked Questions

Matamoros wins on cost – living expenses run 78% lower than in San Jose. Housing and daily spending are where you'll feel the difference most, making Matamoros the obvious pick if budget is a priority.

You'd need roughly $1,635 in Matamoros and $2,907 in San Jose to live well. The gap comes down to housing and overall price levels. Both cities are liveable on less, but these numbers represent actual comfort.

Rent for a central apartment: $646 in Matamoros versus $927 in San Jose. Housing is usually the single largest factor when comparing overall living costs between the two.

Childcare runs $223 in Matamoros versus $1,001 in San Jose. Over years of preschool, even a modest monthly gap compounds into a major financial factor for families.

Dining out is cheaper in Matamoros – a meal for two runs $38.00 versus $61.0 in San Jose. If you eat out regularly, this makes a real dent in your monthly spending.

At $1,090 in Matamoros versus $1,938 in San Jose, a $1,000 budget is realistic in Matamoros but tight or insufficient in San Jose. The gap between the two cities makes Matamoros the clear choice for anyone on this budget.

Both work as nomad bases, but Matamoros delivers better value – similar infrastructure at $1,090 monthly. If stretching your runway or maximizing savings is the goal, the price difference makes Matamoros hard to pass up.

Expats usually find Matamoros gentler on the wallet – expenses run 78% less than in San Jose. Beyond cost, consider language, visa policies, and how big the international community is in each city.