Cost of living comparison

Argentina

compared to

Costa Rica

Costa Rica vs. Argentina Cost of Living Summary

Costa Rica is 34.2% more expensive than Argentina overall.

Restaurants: pay 14.3% less in Costa Rica
Groceries: pay 61.9% more in Costa Rica
Transportation: pay 36.1% more in Costa Rica
Housing: pay 41.9% more in Costa Rica
Childcare: pay 2.5 times more in Costa Rica
Entertainment and Sports: pay 20.1% more in Costa Rica
Clothing: pay 19.1% less in Costa Rica

The cost of childcare, groceries, housing, transportation, and entertainment and sports in Costa Rica are more expensive than in Argentina. Expenses including clothing and restaurants are lower in Costa Rica. Notably, childcare is significantly more expensive in Costa Rica.

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Costa Rica vs. Argentina Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 14.3% less for restaurants

	Argentina	Costa Rica
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$14.88 ARS22,583.44	$11.15 CRC5,073.49	-25.1%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$12.57 ARS19,078.98	$10.85 CRC4,937.06	-13.7%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$2.00 ARS3,029.85	$2.43 CRC1,106.42	+21.8%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$1.66 ARS2,520.14	$1.79 CRC813.02	+7.6%
Average			-14.3%

Argentina vs. Costa Rica - Cost of restaurants

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pay 61.9% more for groceries

	Argentina	Costa Rica
Bread 1 loaf	$2.14 ARS3,247.75	$2.77 CRC1,261.89	+29.6%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$5.25 ARS7,961.05	$4.82 CRC2,192.99	-8.1%
Milk (1 gallon)	$4.93 ARS7,484.57	$8.37 CRC3,808.87	+69.7%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.57 ARS3,893.96	$3.63 CRC1,653.83	+41.6%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$3.38 ARS5,126.09	$4.40 CRC2,002.78	+30.3%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.07 ARS1,629.37	$2.20 CRC1,003.04	+105.3%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.95 ARS1,434.31	$0.73 CRC329.98	-23.3%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.62 ARS934.98	$1.67 CRC758.13	+170.4%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.10 ARS1,673.49	$1.43 CRC652.25	+30.0%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.46 ARS700.13	$1.44 CRC655.18	+212.1%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.43 ARS645.87	$1.33 CRC603.93	+211.8%
Average			+61.9%

Argentina vs. Costa Rica - Cost of groceries

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pay 36.1% more for transportation

	Argentina	Costa Rica
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$4.55 ARS6,900.45	$5.78 CRC2,631.55	+27.2%
Monthly public transit pass	$27.12 ARS41,168.97	$66.80 CRC30,402.28	+146.3%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$26,569.33 ARS40M	$22,830.95 CRC10M	-14.1%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$10.09 ARS15,310.26	$15.71 CRC7,149.33	+55.7%
Average			+36.1%

Argentina vs. Costa Rica - Cost of transportation

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pay 41.9% more for housing

	Argentina	Costa Rica
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$25.92 ARS39,335.65	$51.66 CRC23,510.13	+99.3%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$568.71 ARS863K	$834.08 CRC380K	+46.7%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$366.42 ARS556K	$597.43 CRC272K	+63.0%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$85.62 ARS130K	$68.56 CRC31,201.98	-19.9%
Average			+41.9%

Argentina vs. Costa Rica - Cost of housing

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pay 2.5 times more for childcare

	Argentina	Costa Rica
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$287.55 ARS436K	$742.27 CRC338K	+158.1%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$5,737.30 ARS9M	$13,434.66 CRC6M	+134.2%
Average			+145.9%

Argentina vs. Costa Rica - Cost of childcare

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pay 20.1% more for entertainment and sports

	Argentina	Costa Rica
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$3.92 ARS5,944.74	$2.91 CRC1,323.10	-25.8%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.46 ARS5,245.73	$4.06 CRC1,847.37	+17.4%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$3.51 ARS5,321.19	$5.29 CRC2,409.48	+51.0%
Monthly membership at local gym	$35.09 ARS53,250.53	$66.37 CRC30,203.17	+89.2%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$7.61 ARS11,544.83	$7.92 CRC3,603.80	+4.1%
Average			+20.1%

Argentina vs. Costa Rica - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 19.1% less for clothing

	Argentina	Costa Rica
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$103.07 ARS156K	$67.50 CRC30,717.09	-34.5%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$74.35 ARS113K	$49.52 CRC22,538.15	-33.4%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$118.50 ARS180K	$122.64 CRC55,811.48	+3.5%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$114.48 ARS174K	$108.52 CRC49,389.03	-5.2%
Average			-19.1%

Argentina vs. Costa Rica - Cost of clothing

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We average the price of thousands of data points entered by users across the world. Sources: MyLifeElsewhere's cost-of-living dataset (prices updated October 2026). How we calculate this

Compare further: Argentina vs. Costa Rica

Salary Calculator · Free tool

What salary would you need in Costa Rica?

Quality of Life Comparison · 17 statistics

Be 39.4% less likely to live below the poverty line in Costa Rica

Size Comparison · See true size

Argentina is about 54 times bigger than Costa Rica.

Moving from Argentina to Costa Rica · UN DESA 2020

1,761 people born in Argentina live in Costa Rica.

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