Hello
I would like to know the difference in the cost of living between San
Jose, Costa Rica vs Monterrey, Mexico and how the crime rate compares
between the two.

Hello regino-ga,

According to the 2004 Cost-of-Living Survey I found, San Jose, Costa
Rica is cheaper than Monterrey, Mexico. When ranked most to least
expensive, Monterrey came in at 28 cities higher than San Jose in
2004.
http://money.cnn.com/pf/features/popups/costofliving/popup.html

To explain this better every year the cities are ranked for cost of
living by Mercer. New York City is given a base score of 100 and
everyone else is based off that. If the # is higher than 100, it's
more expensive. Less than 100, less expensive. Moscow is the 2006
highest cost of living city with a score of 123.9.

San Jose comes in at 58.1 in 2006 while Monterrey is 71.6 in 2006.
http://www.finfacts.com/costofliving.htm

Now, as far as crime rate, let me summarize for you. Crime in Costa
Rica has gone up, especially against "outsiders".
http://www.ds-osac.org/Reports/report.cfm?contentID=35816
http://www.vacationcity.com/costa-rica/crime/

Monterrey has the lowest per capita crime rate of all the (large) Mexican citites.
http://www.tripadvisor.com/Travel-g150782-s206/Monterrey:Mexico:Health.And.Safety.html
 
So, in summary, San Jose has a much lower cost of living, but a higher
crime rate. Monterrey has a higher cost of living, but a lower crime
rate.

Google searches used:
://www.google.com/search?num=100&hl=en&safe=off&sa=X&oi=spell&resnum=0&ct=result&cd=1&q=%22crime+rate%22+in+monterrey+mexico&spell=1
"crime rate" in monterrey mexico

://www.google.com/search?num=100&hl=en&lr=&safe=off&q=%22crime+rate%22+in+san+jose+costa+rica&btnG=Search
"crime rate" in san jose costa rica

://www.google.com/search?num=100&hl=en&safe=off&sa=X&oi=spell&resnum=0&ct=result&cd=1&q=cost+of+living+monterrey+mexico&spell=1
cost of living monterrey mexico

://www.google.com/search?num=100&hl=en&lr=&safe=off&q=cost+of+living+san+jose+costa+rica&btnG=Search
cost of living san jose costa rica

If this answer requires further explanation, please request
clarification before rating it, and I'll be happy to look into this
further.

Nenna-GA

Excellent work.  Thank you very much.