Cost of living comparison

compared to

Costa Rica vs. Belize Cost of Living Summary

Costa Rica is 2.7 times more expensive than Belize overall.

Restaurants: pay 23.4% more in Costa Rica
Groceries: pay 1.5% more in Costa Rica
Transportation: pay 88.0% more in Costa Rica
Housing: pay 15.6% less in Costa Rica
Childcare: pay 11.1 times more in Costa Rica
Entertainment and Sports: pay 16.9% more in Costa Rica
Clothing: pay 36.6% more in Costa Rica

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

Costa Rica vs. Belize Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 23.4% more for restaurants

	Belize	Costa Rica
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$9.36 BZD18.77	$9.77 CRC4,857.39	+4.4%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$9.75 BZD19.55	$9.53 CRC4,739.57	-2.2%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.29 BZD2.59	$2.00 CRC995.21	+55.2%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$1.15 BZD2.32	$1.57 CRC781.41	+36.1%
Average			+23.4%

Belize vs. Costa Rica - Cost of restaurants

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pay 1.5% more for groceries

	Belize	Costa Rica
Bread 1 loaf	$2.00 BZD4.01	$2.54 CRC1,262.79	+27.2%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$7.77 BZD15.58	$4.50 CRC2,237.94	-42.1%
Milk (1 gallon)	$13.68 BZD27.43	$7.52 CRC3,740.34	-45.0%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.35 BZD4.72	$2.80 CRC1,389.74	+18.8%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$3.30 BZD6.62	$3.83 CRC1,902.77	+15.9%
Apples (1 lb)	$2.62 BZD5.26	$1.78 CRC886.81	-32.0%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.57 BZD1.14	$0.62 CRC305.74	+8.3%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.73 BZD1.47	$1.65 CRC819.01	+124.7%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$2.00 BZD4.00	$1.24 CRC617.46	-37.8%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$1.41 BZD2.83	$1.28 CRC635.24	-9.4%
Onions (1 lb)	$1.26 BZD2.52	$1.10 CRC547.12	-12.5%
Average			+1.5%

Belize vs. Costa Rica - Cost of groceries

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pay 88.0% more for transportation

	Belize	Costa Rica
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$6.61 BZD13.25	$5.47 CRC2,719.23	-17.2%
Monthly public transit pass	$20.00 BZD40.11	$54.59 CRC27,137.81	+172.9%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$10,514.56 BZD21,087.14	$36,444.91 CRC18,117,972.89	+246.6%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$31.59 BZD63.35	$15.68 CRC7,794.48	-50.4%
Average			+88.0%

Belize vs. Costa Rica - Cost of transportation

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pay 15.6% less for housing

	Belize	Costa Rica
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$74.90 BZD150.22	$49.17 CRC24,446.08	-34.3%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$684.11 BZD1,372.00	$805.28 CRC400,329.95	+17.7%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$547.15 BZD1,097.32	$555.89 CRC276,349.98	+1.6%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$120.58 BZD241.82	$63.57 CRC31,602.67	-47.3%
Average			-15.6%

Belize vs. Costa Rica - Cost of housing

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pay 11.1 times more for childcare

	Belize	Costa Rica
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$64.52 BZD129.39	$517.09 CRC257,060.35	+701.5%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$674.20 BZD1,352.11	$9,552.94 CRC4,749,083.93	+1316.9%
Average			+1009.2%

Belize vs. Costa Rica - Cost of childcare

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pay 16.9% more for entertainment and sports

	Belize	Costa Rica
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$2.66 BZD5.33	$2.59 CRC1,285.81	-2.7%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.60 BZD7.23	$3.84 CRC1,908.38	+6.5%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$5.00 BZD10.03	$4.70 CRC2,336.25	-6.0%
Monthly membership at local gym	$32.91 BZD66.00	$58.68 CRC29,171.56	+78.3%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$8.42 BZD16.88	$9.11 CRC4,527.37	+8.2%
Average			+16.9%

Belize vs. Costa Rica - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 36.6% more for clothing

	Belize	Costa Rica
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$37.45 BZD75.11	$58.22 CRC28,941.22	+55.4%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$27.42 BZD54.99	$44.70 CRC22,222.99	+63.0%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$91.13 BZD182.77	$112.79 CRC56,072.28	+23.8%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$89.59 BZD179.68	$93.41 CRC46,435.67	+4.3%
Average			+36.6%

Belize 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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