San José
Province of Costa Rica. Official statistics compared with the whole country, and REAL NOW market prices.
Population, housing and safety
Each figure next to the parent region and the country, so you can tell whether it stands out.
Population and housing
| San JoséProvince | Costa RicaCountry | |
|---|---|---|
| Population | 1,601,167 | 5,044,197 |
| Area, km² | 4,969.8 | 51,146.6 |
| Density per km² | 322 | 99 |
| Population growth, a year | 1.2% | 1.4% |
| Dwellings | 569,463 | 1,836,035 |
| Unoccupied dwellings | 8.3% | 11.7% |
| Persons per occupied dwelling | 3.05 | 3.10 |
Source: INEC Costa Rica, 2022 estimate
Crime, last 12 closed months
| San JoséProvince | Costa RicaCountry | |
|---|---|---|
| All reported crimes | 14,282 | 36,302 |
| Per 1,000 residents | 8.92 | 7.20 |
| Change vs previous 12 months | -4.3% | -8.0% |
| Homicides | 226 | 775 |
| Reported crimes in 2024homicides: 248 | 16,153 | 43,137 |
| Reported crimes in 2025homicides: 290 | 14,862 | 38,780 |
Source: OIJ – Poder Judicial de Costa Rica (CC BY 4.0)
Crime by type
| Type | 12 months | Per 1,000 | vs prior 12 m | Country, per 1,000 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Assault and mugging | 4,020 | 2.51 | -1.8% | 1.51 |
| Theft | 5,015 | 3.13 | -8.6% | 2.40 |
| Break-ins | 1,793 | 1.12 | +3.5% | 1.53 |
| Theft from vehicles | 1,700 | 1.06 | -2.5% | 0.73 |
| Vehicle theft | 1,528 | 0.95 | -3.4% | 0.87 |
| Homicide | 226 | 0.14 | -23.1% | 0.15 |
Source: OIJ – Poder Judicial de Costa Rica (CC BY 4.0)
Official land value
What the Ministry of Finance uses as the reference value of land for property tax, by homogeneous zone. A fiscal reference, not an appraisal.
Urban residential zones
| San JoséProvince | Costa RicaCountry | |
|---|---|---|
| Median per m², US$ | US$254 | US$177 |
| Median per m², colones | ₡115,000 | ₡80,000 |
Source: ONT – Ministerio de Hacienda. Fiscal reference value, not an appraisal.
How the zones are spread
Converted at 452.13 colones per US dollar (2026-09).
Source: ONT – Ministerio de Hacienda. Fiscal reference value, not an appraisal.
Prices, rent and yield
Medians over the aggregated public offer seen in the last 30 days. List prices, not closed sales.
For sale
| San JoséProvince | Costa RicaCountry | |
|---|---|---|
| Median per m², homes | US$1,701 | US$1,963 |
| Apartments, per m² | US$2,170 | US$2,296 |
| Houses, per m² | US$1,538 | US$1,845 |
Source: REAL NOW, aggregated public offer (list prices)
For rent
| San JoséProvince | Costa RicaCountry | |
|---|---|---|
| Median monthly rent | US$2,100 | US$2,000 |
| Gross rental yield | 7.72% | 6.43% |
Yield is the rent-weighted average of apartment and house cells by bedrooms, so a mix of cheap rentals and expensive sales does not distort it.
Source: REAL NOW rent benchmarks, aggregated public offer
Cantons of San José
20 regions. Open one for its full profile.
| Canton | Population | Crimes per 1,000 | Land value, US$/m² | Sale, US$/m² |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Acosta | 22,542 | 2.2 | US$83 | PRO |
| Alajuelita | 81,012 | 4.6 | US$166 | PRO |
| Aserrí | 59,588 | 3.8 | US$77 | PRO |
| Curridabat | 71,026 | 6.6 | US$232 | PRO |
| Desamparados | 223,226 | 4.7 | US$243 | PRO |
| Dota | 9,364 | 4.1 | US$22 | PRO |
| Escazú | 71,500 | 4.2 | US$387 | PRO |
| Goicoechea | 132,104 | 6.2 | US$199 | PRO |
| León Cortés Castro | 13,553 | 2.1 | US$74 | PRO |
| Montes de Oca | 53,862 | 10.9 | US$276 | PRO |
| Mora | 32,348 | 2.9 | US$365 | PRO |
| Moravia | 59,546 | 4.9 | US$199 | PRO |
| Pérez Zeledón | 156,917 | 4.0 | US$55 | PRO |
| Puriscal | 38,525 | 3.7 | US$74 | PRO |
| San José | 352,381 | 22.6 | US$299 | PRO |
| Santa Ana | 58,020 | 5.3 | US$354 | PRO |
| Tarrazú | 17,810 | 2.9 | US$33 | PRO |
| Tibás | 74,592 | 6.6 | US$337 | PRO |
| Turrubares | 6,173 | 3.2 | US$26 | PRO |
| Vázquez de Coronado | 67,078 | 4.2 | US$194 | PRO |
Sources and methodology
Official statistics
- Population, dwellings, density and growth: INEC Costa Rica, 2022 estimate by district. Unoccupied share = unoccupied dwellings divided by all dwellings.
- Crimes: reports to the OIJ of assault, theft, break-ins, vehicle theft, theft from vehicles and homicide, summed over the last 12 closed months (2025-10 to 2026-09). The rate per 1,000 residents uses the 2022 population; the trend compares with the previous 12 months and is shown only when that window has at least 10 cases.
- Land value: ONT (Ministerio de Hacienda) homogeneous-zone values for urban residential zones. It is a fiscal reference value, not an appraisal and not the current value of any property. Median across zones, not weighted by area.
REAL NOW market metrics
- Sale: median asking price per m² of apartments and houses for sale seen in the last 30 days in the aggregated public offer, with the same outlier bounds as Analytics. List prices, not closed sales.
- Confidence: solid = 30 or more listings, preliminary = 15 to 29; below 15 nothing is published.
- Rent and gross yield: REAL NOW rent benchmarks, median monthly rent of homes; gross yield = rent × 12 ÷ sale price of the same cell, published only between 3 and 12 percent. Available by province or department and by municipality or canton.