Last update: Oct 2026

Cost of Living Comparison Between San Jose and Ciudad Obregon

For one person, living is cheaper in Ciudad Obregon: $1,183 a month against $1,924 in San Jose, rent and utilities included – about $8,900 less a year. Rent and utilities account for about half of the difference.

93

Cost of Living Index in San Jose
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San Jose Living Index
54

Cost of Living Index in Ciudad Obregon
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Ciudad Obregon Living Index

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San Jose

🇨🇷 Costa Rica

$1,924

/mo nomad

Ciudad Obregon

🇲🇽 Mexico

$1,183

/mo nomad

Monthly Cost of Living

How much you'll spend in San Jose and in Ciudad Obregon

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

Monthly costs for one person with rent: $1,924 in San Jose versus $1,183 in Ciudad Obregon.

San Jose $1,924
Ciudad Obregon $1,183

Estimated couple costs with rent: $2,926 in San Jose versus $1,868 in Ciudad Obregon.

San Jose $2,926
Ciudad Obregon $1,868

Monthly costs for a family of three with rent: $3,929 in San Jose versus $2,553 in Ciudad Obregon.

San Jose $3,929
Ciudad Obregon $2,553

Living in San Jose is roughly 63% more expensive than in Ciudad Obregon, and outside of rent the biggest gap is in groceries.

The two cities straddle the global median: San Jose is 42% above, Ciudad Obregon is 13% below.

Meal at Budget Restaurant

$12.29 ₡5,513

$10.31 MX$191

19.20%

Three-Course Dinner for Two, Mid-Range

$62.3 ₡27.9K

$48.41 MX$895

28.63%

Fast Food Meal (McDonalds, etc)

$11.53 ₡5,171

$8.32 MX$154

38.58%

Cappuccino

$4.35 ₡1,953

$3.94 MX$72.7

10.41%

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

$2.64 ₡1,183

$1.24 MX$22.87

112.90%

Water (0.33 liter bottle)

$1.86 ₡836

$1.13 MX$20.93

64.60%

Local Beer (0.5 liter draught)

$3.32 ₡1,490

$2.56 MX$47.31

29.69%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$4.52 ₡2,026

$4.33 MX$80.1

4.39%

Milk (1 liter)

$2.39 ₡1,073

$1.57 MX$29.02

52.23%

White Bread (500g)

$3.08 ₡1,381

$2.57 MX$47.49

19.84%

Rice (white) (1kg)

$2.50 ₡1,119

$1.73 MX$32.05

44.51%

Eggs

$3.48 ₡1,562

$2.39 MX$44.10

45.61%

Local Cheese (1kg)

$10.74 ₡4,815

$8.27 MX$153

29.87%

Chicken Fillets (1kg)

$10.32 ₡4,629

$8.07 MX$149

27.88%

Beef Round Steak (1kg)

$14.10 ₡6,325

$11.24 MX$208

25.44%

Apples (1kg)

$5.03 ₡2,256

$2.65 MX$48.92

89.81%

Banana (1kg)

$1.59 ₡714

$1.49 MX$27.48

6.71%

Oranges (1kg)

$4.84 ₡2,171

$1.85 MX$34.15

161.62%

Tomato (1kg)

$3.96 ₡1,776

$1.78 MX$32.82

122.47%

Potato (1kg)

$3.76 ₡1,684

$2.01 MX$37.20

87.06%

Onion (1kg)

$3.73 ₡1,674

$1.74 MX$32.07

114.37%

Lettuce (1 head)

$1.08 ₡485

$1.47 MX$27.18

-26.53%

Water (1.5 liter bottle)

$3.25 ₡1,456

$1.11 MX$20.57

192.79%

Cigarettes 20 Pack (Marlboro, Camel)

$5.86 ₡2,627

$4.25 MX$78.6

37.88%

Wine (Bottle)

$20.28 ₡9,095

$11.44 MX$211

77.27%

Local Beer (0.5 liter bottle)

$2.90 ₡1,300

$1.70 MX$31.39

70.59%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$3.73 ₡1,673

$3.09 MX$57.1

20.71%

One-way Ticket (Public Transport)

$1.08 ₡486

$0.68 MX$12.48

58.82%

Public Transport Monthly Pass (Regular Price)

$65.5 ₡29.4K

Taxi Start (Normal Tariff)

$2.50 ₡1,123

$2.53 MX$46.69

-1.19%

Taxi (Normal Tariff) (1km)

$1.63 ₡732

$1.67 MX$30.81

-2.40%

Taxi 1hour Waiting (Normal Tariff)

$8.71 ₡3,904

$9.65 MX$178

-9.74%

Gasoline (1 liter)

$1.58 ₡709

$1.35 MX$25.00

17.04%

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

$33.6K ₡15.1M

$25.9K MX$478.2K

29.85%

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

$41.7K ₡18.7M

$25.4K MX$469.7K

63.93%

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

$93.7 ₡42.0K

$65.9 MX$1,218

42.13%

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

$35.42 ₡15.9K

$19.30 MX$357

83.52%

Internet (50+ Mbps, Unlimited Data)

$60.0 ₡26.9K

$28.95 MX$535

107.15%

Gym Membership (Monthly)

$72.6 ₡32.6K

$33.67 MX$622

115.59%

Tennis Court (1 Hour on Weekend)

$25.83 ₡11.6K

$20.00 MX$370

29.15%

Cinema Ticket

$7.74 ₡3,471

$5.07 MX$93.7

52.66%

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

$1,005 ₡450.9K

$215 MX$3,980

366.79%

International Primary School, 1 Child (Yearly)

$16.9K ₡7.6M

$4,644 MX$85.8K

264.16%

Jeans (Levis 501 Or Similar)

$73.1 ₡32.8K

$53.4 MX$987

36.82%

Summer Dress (H&M, Zara, etc)

$55.4 ₡24.9K

$40.86 MX$755

35.68%

Sport Shoes (Adidas, Nike)

$128 ₡57.5K

$101 MX$1,862

27.28%

Men's Leather Business Shoes

$130 ₡58.5K

$89.8 MX$1,659

45.26%

1-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$932 ₡418.0K

$684 MX$12.6K

36.30%

1-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$760 ₡340.8K

$436 MX$8,053

74.38%

3-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$1,922 ₡862.0K

$1,160 MX$21.4K

65.70%

3-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$1,276 ₡572.1K

$786 MX$14.5K

62.30%

Buy Apartment in City Center (m2)

$2,301 ₡1.0M

$1,931 MX$35.7K

19.14%

Buy Apartment Outside City Center (m2)

$1,833 ₡821.9K

$1,120 MX$20.7K

63.63%

Average Monthly Net Salary (After Tax)

$1,029 ₡461.3K

$1,189 MX$22.0K

-13.47%

20-Year Fixed Mortgage Interest Rate (Annual %)

8.62

11.3

-23.72%

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

Last update for San Jose: October 18, 2026

Last update for Ciudad Obregon: October 19, 2026

Monthly budget structure

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

Accommodation & Living

San Jose

$760 39.5%

Ciudad Obregon

$436 36.9% 42.7% $324

Groceries & Markets

San Jose

$403 21%

Ciudad Obregon

$261 22.1% 35.1% $142

Eating Out

San Jose

$229 11.9%

Ciudad Obregon

$186 15.7% 18.9% $43

Monthly Utilities & Internet

San Jose

$189 9.8%

Ciudad Obregon

$114 9.7% 39.6% $75

Clothing & Footwear

San Jose

$174 9.1%

Ciudad Obregon

$128 10.8% 26.4% $46

Sport & Entertainment

San Jose

$88 4.6%

Ciudad Obregon

$44 3.7% 50.3% $44

Getting Around

San Jose

$80 4.2%

Ciudad Obregon

$14 * 1.2% 83.1% $67

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 $932 in San Jose and $684 in Ciudad Obregon. Housing cost is often the main lever when comparing two cities.

Ciudad Obregon pays 16% more on average while also being the cheaper of the two. The combined effect is a noticeably stronger local purchasing power.

Dining out: $62.0 in San Jose vs $48.00 in Ciudad Obregon for a mid-range dinner for two. Groceries echo the gap at $403 vs $261 per month, with Ciudad Obregon cheaper across the board.

Good to know

🇨🇷 San Jose

🇲🇽 Ciudad Obregon

🕒 Local time

13:25 1:25 PM

12:25 12:25 PM

1 h behind San Jose

🌤 Weather

👥 Population

342,188 Capital

329,404

💱 Currency

Costa Rican Colón CRC ₡

Mexican Peso MXN $

📈 Exchange rate

1,000 CRC = 2.23 USD

1,000 CRC = 1.98 EUR

100 MXN = 5.41 USD

100 MXN = 4.81 EUR

Exchange rates and currency converter

MXN, 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).

Mexican Peso exchange rates as of October 20, 2026: 1 USD = 18.48 MXN (100 MXN = 5.41 USD). 1 EUR = 20.77 MXN (100 MXN = 4.81 EUR).

USD to CRC in detail →

On the map

Lowest

Highest

Between locations

San Jose Ciudad Obregon 3,340 km ≈ 4 h 45 min nonstop flight

From you

San Jose
Ciudad Obregon

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

San Jose vs Ciudad Obregon: Cost of Living - Frequently Asked Questions

Ciudad Obregon wins on cost – living expenses run 63% lower than in San Jose. Housing and daily spending are where you'll feel the difference most, making Ciudad Obregon the obvious pick if budget is a priority.

On paper, salaries run 16% lower in Ciudad Obregon. 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: $932 in San Jose versus $684 in Ciudad Obregon. Housing is usually the single largest factor when comparing overall living costs between the two.

Childcare runs $1,005 in San Jose versus $215 in Ciudad Obregon. Over years of preschool, even a modest monthly gap compounds into a major financial factor for families.

Dining out is cheaper in Ciudad Obregon – a meal for two runs $48.00 versus $62.0 in San Jose. If you eat out regularly, this makes a real dent in your monthly spending.

At $1,183 in Ciudad Obregon versus $1,924 in San Jose, a $1,000 budget is realistic in Ciudad Obregon but tight or insufficient in San Jose. The gap between the two cities makes Ciudad Obregon the clear choice for anyone on this budget.

Both work as nomad bases, but Ciudad Obregon delivers better value – similar infrastructure at $1,183 monthly. If stretching your runway or maximizing savings is the goal, the price difference makes Ciudad Obregon hard to pass up.

Safety-wise, San Jose and Ciudad Obregon 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 Ciudad Obregon gentler on the wallet – expenses run 63% less than in San Jose. Beyond cost, consider language, visa policies, and how big the international community is in each city.