VacationSelector
The Metropolitan Cathedral of San Jose, San Jose, Costa Rica
San Jose, Costa RicaThe Metropolitan Cathedral of San Jose
Camelback Mountain above the city, Scottsdale
ScottsdaleCamelback Mountain above the city

Photos: San Jose, Costa Rica by Bernard Gagnon, CC0; Scottsdale by Visitor7, CC BY-SA 3.0, cropped.

San Jose, Costa Rica or Scottsdale?

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 San Jose, Costa Rica for

  • prices
  • nature and the outdoors
  • getting around

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

Choose Scottsdale for

  • wellness
  • shopping
  • families

What lies behind each score is written up on Scottsdale’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. San Jose, Costa Rica 12, Scottsdale 8: San Jose, Costa Rica leads by 4 points.
Food & drink. San Jose, Costa Rica 42, Scottsdale 46: Scottsdale leads by 4 points.
Culture & sights. San Jose, Costa Rica and Scottsdale are level on 38.
Nightlife. San Jose, Costa Rica 40, Scottsdale 52: Scottsdale leads by 12 points.
Nature & outdoors. San Jose, Costa Rica 78, Scottsdale 68: San Jose, Costa Rica leads by 10 points.
Day trips. San Jose, Costa Rica 52, Scottsdale 50: San Jose, Costa Rica leads by 2 points.
Good for families. San Jose, Costa Rica 44, Scottsdale 60: Scottsdale leads by 16 points.
Getting around. San Jose, Costa Rica 30, Scottsdale 20: San Jose, Costa Rica leads by 10 points.
Shopping & style. San Jose, Costa Rica 36, Scottsdale 60: Scottsdale leads by 24 points.
Affordability. San Jose, Costa Rica 54, Scottsdale 32: San Jose, Costa Rica leads by 22 points.
Live music & performing arts. San Jose, Costa Rica 38, Scottsdale 40: Scottsdale leads by 2 points.
Wellness & relaxation. San Jose, Costa Rica 28, Scottsdale 72: Scottsdale leads by 44 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: San Jose, Costa Rica and Scottsdale.

Your match

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

San Jose, Costa Rica
41match

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

Scottsdale
Best match
46match

Wins on wellness and shopping with your weighting.

What matters to you?

When should you go?

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

San Jose, Costa Rica in July

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

Scottsdale in July

41 °Cdaytime high
29 °Cnight-time low
23 mmrain in the month
14 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°50°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

0100200300400JFMAMJJASOND
San Jose, Costa RicaScottsdale

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. San Jose, Costa Rica: 1991-2020 normals, Juan Santamaria (16.8 km from centre). Scottsdale: 1991-2020 normals, Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport (13.3 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureSan Jose, Costa RicaScottsdale
Official languageSpanish-
CurrencyCosta Rican Colon (CRC)US Dollar (USD)
SocketsAB120 V, 60 HzAB120 V, 60 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTC-6UTC-7
Emergency number911911
Elevation1,161 m380 m
Main airportJuan Santamaría International Airport (SJO)16 km from centre49 non-stop destinationsPhoenix Sky Harbor International Airport (PHX)10 km from centre148 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year11 days12 days

By the numbers

MeasureSan Jose, Costa RicaScottsdale
City population335,007241,361
People per km²7,511-
Museums within 10 km910
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km01

Where else could you go?

Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow San Jose, Costa Rica or Scottsdale 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). 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. Exchange rates via Frankfurter, based on European Central Bank reference rates. 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.