Cost of living comparison

compared to

Nairobi vs. Alajuela Cost of Living Summary

Nairobi is 11.1% cheaper than Alajuela.

Restaurants: pay 47.8% less in Nairobi
Groceries: pay 41.7% less in Nairobi
Transportation: pay 18.5% less in Nairobi
Housing: pay 22.2% less in Nairobi
Childcare: pay 2.3 times more in Nairobi
Entertainment and Sports: pay 22.6% less in Nairobi
Clothing: pay 50.0% less in Nairobi

Expenses including clothing, restaurants, groceries, entertainment and sports, housing, and transportation are lower in Nairobi. Notably, childcare is significantly more expensive in Nairobi.

Nairobi vs. Alajuela Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Nairobi instead of Alajuela, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 47.8% less for restaurants

	Alajuela	Nairobi
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$9.91 CRC4,842.54	$5.80 KES750.88	-41.4%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$9.42 CRC4,600.41	$6.97 KES901.06	-26.0%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$2.06 CRC1,005.01	$0.70 KES90.79	-65.9%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$1.31 CRC637.60	$0.55 KES71.04	-57.9%
Average			-47.8%

Alajuela vs. Nairobi - Cost of restaurants

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pay 41.7% less for groceries

	Alajuela	Nairobi
Bread 1 loaf	$2.44 CRC1,192.61	$0.55 KES70.69	-77.6%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$4.96 CRC2,421.27	$5.57 KES720.08	+12.3%
Milk (1 gallon)	$7.18 CRC3,508.58	$3.36 KES434.10	-53.3%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.26 CRC1,104.10	$1.64 KES212.73	-27.2%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$3.97 CRC1,938.45	$2.92 KES377.51	-26.5%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.79 CRC873.04	$1.41 KES181.96	-21.3%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.65 CRC319.50	$0.47 KES61.40	-27.4%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.95 CRC951.83	$0.89 KES115.07	-54.3%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.28 CRC624.10	$0.46 KES59.01	-64.3%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$1.29 CRC630.43	$0.49 KES63.50	-62.0%
Onions (1 lb)	$1.17 CRC573.18	$0.51 KES65.52	-56.8%
Average			-41.7%

Alajuela vs. Nairobi - Cost of groceries

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pay 18.5% less for transportation

	Alajuela	Nairobi
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$5.39 CRC2,634.01	$5.40 KES698.38	+0.1%
Monthly public transit pass	$111.03 CRC54,236.42	$30.96 KES4,004.71	-72.1%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$37,671.80 CRC18,401,642.97	$21,671.83 KES2,803,297.63	-42.5%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$12.12 CRC5,920.00	$17.03 KES2,202.59	+40.5%
Average			-18.5%

Alajuela vs. Nairobi - Cost of transportation

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pay 22.2% less for housing

	Alajuela	Nairobi
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$32.71 CRC15,980.37	$39.86 KES5,156.50	+21.9%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$693.95 CRC338,977.63	$476.96 KES61,695.24	-31.3%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$594.82 CRC290,552.26	$206.31 KES26,686.56	-65.3%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$34.11 CRC16,664.03	$29.32 KES3,793.22	-14.0%
Average			-22.2%

Alajuela vs. Nairobi - Cost of housing

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pay 2.3 times more for childcare

	Alajuela	Nairobi
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$297.41 CRC145,276.13	$224.14 KES28,992.44	-24.6%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$2,339.62 CRC1,142,838.88	$8,775.09 KES1,135,076.41	+275.1%
Average			+125.3%

Alajuela vs. Nairobi - Cost of childcare

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pay 22.6% less for entertainment and sports

	Alajuela	Nairobi
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$2.18 CRC1,065.36	$2.32 KES300.35	+6.5%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.63 CRC1,775.60	$2.37 KES306.55	-34.8%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$4.96 CRC2,421.27	$3.10 KES400.47	-37.5%
Monthly membership at local gym	$64.44 CRC31,476.49	$45.30 KES5,859.39	-29.7%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$8.92 CRC4,358.28	$7.35 KES951.12	-17.6%
Average			-22.6%

Alajuela vs. Nairobi - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 50.0% less for clothing

	Alajuela	Nairobi
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$61.79 CRC30,185.15	$19.62 KES2,538.28	-68.2%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$51.35 CRC25,083.06	$24.88 KES3,218.07	-51.6%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$118.96 CRC58,110.45	$67.92 KES8,785.33	-42.9%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$99.14 CRC48,425.38	$62.28 KES8,055.48	-37.2%
Average			-50.0%

Alajuela vs. Nairobi - Cost of clothing

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The statistics used to build this comparison are calculated using data from users just like you. We average the price of thousands of data points entered by users across the world. Learn more about our data sources. Page last updated: December 2025

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