VacationSelector
The skyline over the Schuylkill, Philadelphia
PhiladelphiaThe skyline over the Schuylkill
The Metropolitan Cathedral of San Jose, San Jose, Costa Rica
San Jose, Costa RicaThe Metropolitan Cathedral of San Jose

Photos: Philadelphia by Trev W. Adams, Pexels License; San Jose, Costa Rica by Bernard Gagnon, CC0.

Philadelphia or San Jose, Costa Rica?

Our verdict in twelve categories, each scored against the same fixed benchmark cities, and the climate month by month, so you can choose for your trip.

Choose Philadelphia for

  • getting around
  • culture and sights
  • live music and the arts

What lies behind each score is written up on Philadelphia’s own page.

Choose San Jose, Costa Rica for

  • nature and the outdoors
  • prices
  • wellness

What lies behind each score is written up on San Jose, Costa Rica’s own page.

Scoreboard

Twelve categories on one fixed scale from 0 to 100. The shaded stretch is the gap between the two.

Beaches & swimming. Philadelphia 36, San Jose, Costa Rica 12: Philadelphia leads by 24 points.
Food & drink. Philadelphia 62, San Jose, Costa Rica 42: Philadelphia leads by 20 points.
Culture & sights. Philadelphia 72, San Jose, Costa Rica 38: Philadelphia leads by 34 points.
Nightlife. Philadelphia 55, San Jose, Costa Rica 40: Philadelphia leads by 15 points.
Nature & outdoors. Philadelphia 52, San Jose, Costa Rica 78: San Jose, Costa Rica leads by 26 points.
Day trips. Philadelphia 80, San Jose, Costa Rica 52: Philadelphia leads by 28 points.
Good for families. Philadelphia 68, San Jose, Costa Rica 44: Philadelphia leads by 24 points.
Getting around. Philadelphia 66, San Jose, Costa Rica 30: Philadelphia leads by 36 points.
Shopping & style. Philadelphia 57, San Jose, Costa Rica 36: Philadelphia leads by 21 points.
Affordability. Philadelphia 40, San Jose, Costa Rica 54: San Jose, Costa Rica leads by 14 points.
Live music & performing arts. Philadelphia 72, San Jose, Costa Rica 38: Philadelphia leads by 34 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Philadelphia 26, San Jose, Costa Rica 28: San Jose, Costa Rica leads by 2 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Philadelphia and San Jose, Costa Rica.

Your match

Pick a travel style or drag the sliders, and both match scores follow your weighting.

Philadelphia
Best match
57match

Wins on getting around and culture and sights with your weighting.

San Jose, Costa Rica
41match

Wins on nature and the outdoors and prices with your weighting.

What matters to you?

When should you go?

Pick your month. The climate figures are measured averages, not a forecast.

Philadelphia in July

31 °Cdaytime high
21 °Cnight-time low
111 mmrain in the month
8 hsunshine a day
15 hdaylight a day

San Jose, Costa Rica in July

28 °Cdaytime high
19 °Cnight-time low
173 mmrain in the month
No recordsunshine a day
13 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

0100200300400JFMAMJJASOND
PhiladelphiaSan Jose, Costa Rica

Where the figures come from

San Jose, Costa Rica's station stands 241 m below the city centre, so the centre is likely a little cooler than the figures say.

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Philadelphia: 1991-2020 normals, Philadelphia International Airport (11.3 km from centre). San Jose, Costa Rica: 1991-2020 normals, Juan Santamaria (16.8 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasurePhiladelphiaSan Jose, Costa Rica
Official language-Spanish
CurrencyUS Dollar (USD)Costa Rican Colon (CRC)
SocketsAB120 V, 60 HzAB120 V, 60 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTC-5, UTC-4 in summerUTC-6
Emergency number911911
Elevation12 m1,161 m
Main airportPhiladelphia International Airport (PHL)11 km from centre129 non-stop destinationsJuan Santamaría International Airport (SJO)16 km from centre49 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year12 days11 days

By the numbers

MeasurePhiladelphiaSan Jose, Costa Rica
City population1,603,797335,007
People per km²4,3397,511
Museums within 10 km549
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km10

Where else could you go?

Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow Philadelphia or San Jose, Costa Rica somewhere new.

Browse every destination

Sources

Structured data from Wikidata (CC0). Weather data by Meteostat. Meteorological data provided by NOAA, DWD and others. Rainfall where no rain gauge is within 25 km is from the TerraClimate 1991-2020 climatology (Abatzoglou et al. 2018, Scientific Data), read at the city. Airport data from OurAirports (public domain). Public holidays from Nager.Date (MIT). Exchange rates via Frankfurter, based on European Central Bank reference rates. Non-stop route lists from the "Airlines and destinations" tables on English Wikipedia airport articles, by Wikipedia contributors, reused under CC BY-SA 4.0. Currency from the ISO 4217 register maintained by SIX, cross-checked against country data from GeoNames (CC BY 4.0). Price level from World Bank open data (PPP conversion factor for private consumption and official exchange rate), CC BY 4.0. Time zones from GeoNames (CC BY 4.0); clock offsets computed from the IANA time zone database. Daylight hours computed from each destination's latitude using the NOAA solar position algorithm.

Category scores are our editorial verdict under rubric v3, each placed against the same fixed benchmark cities; the climate figures are measured. How the scores are set. Snapshot generated 2026-11-01. Daily budgets are estimates from country price levels.