Cost of living comparison

compared to

Costa Rica vs. Albania Cost of Living Summary

Costa Rica is 57.0% more expensive than Albania overall.

Restaurants: pay 28.4% more in Costa Rica
Groceries: pay 66.5% more in Costa Rica
Transportation: pay 28.6% more in Costa Rica
Housing: pay 77.4% more in Costa Rica
Childcare: pay 2.7 times more in Costa Rica
Entertainment and Sports: pay 28.5% more in Costa Rica
Clothing: pay 1.6% more in Costa Rica

The cost of childcare, housing, groceries, transportation, entertainment and sports, and restaurants in Costa Rica are more expensive than in Albania. Notably, childcare and housing are significantly more expensive in Costa Rica.

Costa Rica vs. Albania Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Costa Rica instead of Albania, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 28.4% more for restaurants

	Albania	Costa Rica
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$9.59 ALL798	$9.77 CRC4,857.39	+1.9%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$8.67 ALL722	$9.53 CRC4,739.57	+10.0%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.77 ALL147	$2.00 CRC995.21	+13.2%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.83 ALL69	$1.57 CRC781.41	+88.6%
Average			+28.4%

Albania vs. Costa Rica - Cost of restaurants

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pay 66.5% more for groceries

	Albania	Costa Rica
Bread 1 loaf	$1.03 ALL85	$2.54 CRC1,262.79	+147.5%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$5.40 ALL450	$4.50 CRC2,237.94	-16.7%
Milk (1 gallon)	$7.89 ALL657	$7.52 CRC3,740.34	-4.6%
Eggs 1 dozen	$3.20 ALL267	$2.80 CRC1,389.74	-12.8%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$3.26 ALL272	$3.83 CRC1,902.77	+17.3%
Apples (1 lb)	$0.65 ALL54	$1.78 CRC886.81	+175.8%
Bananas (1 lb)	$1.13 ALL94	$0.62 CRC305.74	-45.7%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.74 ALL62	$1.65 CRC819.01	+122.6%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.66 ALL55	$1.24 CRC617.46	+87.8%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.51 ALL42	$1.28 CRC635.24	+151.4%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.53 ALL44	$1.10 CRC547.12	+109.2%
Average			+66.5%

Albania vs. Costa Rica - Cost of groceries

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pay 28.6% more for transportation

	Albania	Costa Rica
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$8.27 ALL688	$5.47 CRC2,719.23	-33.8%
Monthly public transit pass	$19.40 ALL1,615	$54.59 CRC27,137.81	+181.4%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$31,384.43 ALL2,613,362	$36,444.91 CRC18,117,972.89	+16.1%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$30.95 ALL2,577	$15.68 CRC7,794.48	-49.3%
Average			+28.6%

Albania vs. Costa Rica - Cost of transportation

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pay 77.4% more for housing

	Albania	Costa Rica
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$16.59 ALL1,382	$49.17 CRC24,446.08	+196.4%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$521.48 ALL43,423	$805.28 CRC400,329.95	+54.4%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$357.61 ALL29,778	$555.89 CRC276,349.98	+55.4%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$61.56 ALL5,126	$63.57 CRC31,602.67	+3.3%
Average			+77.4%

Albania vs. Costa Rica - Cost of housing

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pay 2.7 times more for childcare

	Albania	Costa Rica
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$175.46 ALL14,611	$517.09 CRC257,060.35	+194.7%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$3,951.26 ALL329,019	$9,552.94 CRC4,749,083.93	+141.8%
Average			+168.2%

Albania vs. Costa Rica - Cost of childcare

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pay 28.5% more for entertainment and sports

	Albania	Costa Rica
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$2.46 ALL205	$2.59 CRC1,285.81	+5.2%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$1.95 ALL162	$3.84 CRC1,908.38	+97.3%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$4.30 ALL358	$4.70 CRC2,336.25	+9.4%
Monthly membership at local gym	$52.57 ALL4,378	$58.68 CRC29,171.56	+11.6%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$7.66 ALL638	$9.11 CRC4,527.37	+18.9%
Average			+28.5%

Albania vs. Costa Rica - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 1.6% more for clothing

	Albania	Costa Rica
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$54.19 ALL4,512	$58.22 CRC28,941.22	+7.4%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$39.78 ALL3,313	$44.70 CRC22,222.99	+12.4%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$94.48 ALL7,867	$112.79 CRC56,072.28	+19.4%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$139.08 ALL11,581	$93.41 CRC46,435.67	-32.8%
Average			+1.6%

Albania vs. Costa Rica - 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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