VacationSelector
The Assembly Hall on Temple Square, Salt Lake City
Salt Lake CityThe Assembly Hall on Temple Square
The Metropolitan Cathedral of San Jose, San Jose, Costa Rica
San Jose, Costa RicaThe Metropolitan Cathedral of San Jose

Photos: Salt Lake City by hakkun, CC BY-SA 3.0, cropped; San Jose, Costa Rica by Bernard Gagnon, CC0.

Salt Lake City 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 Salt Lake City for

  • families
  • live music and the arts
  • nature and the outdoors

What lies behind each score is written up on Salt Lake City’s own page.

Choose San Jose, Costa Rica for

  • day trips
  • prices
  • nightlife

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. Salt Lake City and San Jose, Costa Rica are level on 12.
Food & drink. Salt Lake City 40, San Jose, Costa Rica 42: San Jose, Costa Rica leads by 2 points.
Culture & sights. Salt Lake City 42, San Jose, Costa Rica 38: Salt Lake City leads by 4 points.
Nightlife. Salt Lake City 30, San Jose, Costa Rica 40: San Jose, Costa Rica leads by 10 points.
Nature & outdoors. Salt Lake City 90, San Jose, Costa Rica 78: Salt Lake City leads by 12 points.
Day trips. Salt Lake City 34, San Jose, Costa Rica 52: San Jose, Costa Rica leads by 18 points.
Good for families. Salt Lake City 72, San Jose, Costa Rica 44: Salt Lake City leads by 28 points.
Getting around. Salt Lake City 42, San Jose, Costa Rica 30: Salt Lake City leads by 12 points.
Shopping & style. Salt Lake City and San Jose, Costa Rica are level on 36.
Affordability. Salt Lake City 40, San Jose, Costa Rica 54: San Jose, Costa Rica leads by 14 points.
Live music & performing arts. Salt Lake City 55, San Jose, Costa Rica 38: Salt Lake City leads by 17 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Salt Lake City 38, San Jose, Costa Rica 28: Salt Lake City leads by 10 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Salt Lake City and San Jose, Costa Rica.

Your match

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

Salt Lake City
Best match
44match

Wins on families and live music and the arts with your weighting.

San Jose, Costa Rica
41match

Wins on day trips 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.

Salt Lake City in July

34 °Cdaytime high
19 °Cnight-time low
13 mmrain in the month
15 hdaylight a day

San Jose, Costa Rica in July

28 °Cdaytime high
19 °Cnight-time low
173 mmrain in the month
13 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

0100200300400JFMAMJJASOND
Salt Lake CitySan 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. Salt Lake City: 1991-2020 normals, Salt Lake City International Airport (7.9 km from centre). San Jose, Costa Rica: 1991-2020 normals, Juan Santamaria (16.8 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureSalt Lake CitySan Jose, Costa Rica
Official language-Spanish
CurrencyUS Dollar (USD)Costa Rican Colon (CRC)
SocketsAB120 V, 60 HzAB120 V, 60 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTC-7, UTC-6 in summerUTC-6
Emergency number911911
Elevation1,288 m1,161 m
Main airportSalt Lake City International Airport (SLC)9 km from centre108 non-stop destinationsJuan Santamaría International Airport (SJO)16 km from centre49 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year12 days11 days

By the numbers

MeasureSalt Lake CitySan Jose, Costa Rica
City population199,723335,007
People per km²6907,511
Museums within 10 km129
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km00

Where else could you go?

Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow Salt Lake City 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.