Cost of living comparison

compared to

Costa Rica vs. Aruba Cost of Living Summary

Costa Rica is 10.7% cheaper than Aruba overall.

Restaurants: pay 13.7% less in Costa Rica
Groceries: pay 29.3% less in Costa Rica
Transportation: pay 13.5% more in Costa Rica
Housing: pay 35.0% less in Costa Rica
Childcare: pay 30.1% more in Costa Rica
Entertainment and Sports: pay 33.4% less in Costa Rica
Clothing: pay 6.9% less in Costa Rica

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

Costa Rica vs. Aruba Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 13.7% less for restaurants

	Aruba	Costa Rica
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$17.00 AWG30.60	$9.77 CRC4,857.39	-42.5%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$10.14 AWG18.24	$9.53 CRC4,739.57	-5.9%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.86 AWG3.34	$2.00 CRC995.21	+7.9%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$1.83 AWG3.29	$1.57 CRC781.41	-14.1%
Average			-13.7%

Aruba vs. Costa Rica - Cost of restaurants

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pay 29.3% less for groceries

	Aruba	Costa Rica
Bread 1 loaf	$3.40 AWG6.12	$2.54 CRC1,262.79	-25.3%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$11.12 AWG20.03	$4.50 CRC2,237.94	-59.5%
Milk (1 gallon)	$7.97 AWG14.34	$7.52 CRC3,740.34	-5.6%
Eggs 1 dozen	$5.41 AWG9.74	$2.80 CRC1,389.74	-48.3%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$3.61 AWG6.49	$3.83 CRC1,902.77	+6.1%
Apples (1 lb)	$2.41 AWG4.34	$1.78 CRC886.81	-26.0%
Bananas (1 lb)	$1.16 AWG2.09	$0.62 CRC305.74	-47.1%
Oranges (1 lb)	$2.72 AWG4.90	$1.65 CRC819.01	-39.5%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$2.61 AWG4.69	$1.24 CRC617.46	-52.4%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$1.41 AWG2.54	$1.28 CRC635.24	-9.4%
Onions (1 lb)	$1.30 AWG2.35	$1.10 CRC547.12	-15.6%
Average			-29.3%

Aruba vs. Costa Rica - Cost of groceries

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pay 13.5% more for transportation

	Aruba	Costa Rica
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$5.48 AWG9.86	$5.47 CRC2,719.23	-0.1%
Monthly public transit pass	$30.00 AWG54.00	$54.59 CRC27,137.81	+82.0%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$26,095.70 AWG46,972.26	$36,444.91 CRC18,117,972.89	+39.7%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$48.03 AWG86.45	$15.68 CRC7,794.48	-67.4%
Average			+13.5%

Aruba vs. Costa Rica - Cost of transportation

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pay 35.0% less for housing

	Aruba	Costa Rica
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$86.50 AWG155.71	$49.17 CRC24,446.08	-43.2%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$705.36 AWG1,269.65	$805.28 CRC400,329.95	+14.2%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$985.96 AWG1,774.72	$555.89 CRC276,349.98	-43.6%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$195.56 AWG352.01	$63.57 CRC31,602.67	-67.5%
Average			-35.0%

Aruba vs. Costa Rica - Cost of housing

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pay 30.1% more for childcare

	Aruba	Costa Rica
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$275.00 AWG495.00	$517.09 CRC257,060.35	+88.0%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$13,223.55 AWG23,802.39	$9,552.94 CRC4,749,083.93	-27.8%
Average			+30.1%

Aruba vs. Costa Rica - Cost of childcare

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pay 33.4% less for entertainment and sports

	Aruba	Costa Rica
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$4.00 AWG7.20	$2.59 CRC1,285.81	-35.3%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$4.24 AWG7.64	$3.84 CRC1,908.38	-9.5%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$13.75 AWG24.75	$4.70 CRC2,336.25	-65.8%
Monthly membership at local gym	$83.11 AWG149.60	$58.68 CRC29,171.56	-29.4%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$12.47 AWG22.44	$9.11 CRC4,527.37	-27.0%
Average			-33.4%

Aruba vs. Costa Rica - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 6.9% less for clothing

	Aruba	Costa Rica
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$55.00 AWG99.00	$58.22 CRC28,941.22	+5.8%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$57.85 AWG104.14	$44.70 CRC22,222.99	-22.7%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$114.41 AWG205.93	$112.79 CRC56,072.28	-1.4%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$102.90 AWG185.22	$93.41 CRC46,435.67	-9.2%
Average			-6.9%

Aruba 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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