Cost of living comparison

British Virgin Islands

compared to

Costa Rica

Costa Rica vs. British Virgin Islands Cost of Living Summary

Costa Rica is 26.0% cheaper than British Virgin Islands overall.

Restaurants: pay 17.6% less in Costa Rica
Groceries: pay 25.3% less in Costa Rica
Transportation: pay 21.1% more in Costa Rica
Housing: pay 48.0% less in Costa Rica
Childcare: pay 32.1% more in Costa Rica
Entertainment and Sports: pay 36.5% less in Costa Rica
Clothing: pay 1.6% less in Costa Rica

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

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Costa Rica vs. British Virgin Islands Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Costa Rica instead of British Virgin Islands, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 17.6% less for restaurants

	British Virgin Islands	Costa Rica
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$19.50	$11.15 CRC5,073.49	-42.8%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$11.50	$10.85 CRC4,937.06	-5.7%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.74	$2.43 CRC1,106.42	+39.7%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$1.14	$1.79 CRC813.02	+56.8%
Average			-17.6%

British Virgin Islands vs. Costa Rica - Cost of restaurants

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pay 25.3% less for groceries

	British Virgin Islands	Costa Rica
Bread 1 loaf	$4.62	$2.77 CRC1,261.89	-39.9%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$6.50	$4.82 CRC2,192.99	-25.8%
Milk (1 gallon)	$9.94	$8.37 CRC3,808.87	-15.8%
Eggs 1 dozen	$6.10	$3.63 CRC1,653.83	-40.4%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$5.89	$4.40 CRC2,002.78	-25.3%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.28	$2.20 CRC1,003.04	+72.2%
Bananas (1 lb)	$1.65	$0.73 CRC329.98	-56.1%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.91	$1.67 CRC758.13	+83.9%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$3.19	$1.43 CRC652.25	-55.0%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$2.45	$1.44 CRC655.18	-41.3%
Onions (1 lb)	$2.02	$1.33 CRC603.93	-34.4%
Average			-25.3%

British Virgin Islands vs. Costa Rica - Cost of groceries

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pay 21.1% more for transportation

	British Virgin Islands	Costa Rica
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$4.77	$5.78 CRC2,631.55	+21.1%
Monthly public transit pass	??	$66.80 CRC30,402.28
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	??	$22,830.95 CRC10M
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	??	$15.71 CRC7,149.33
Average			+21.1%

British Virgin Islands vs. Costa Rica - Cost of transportation

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pay 48.0% less for housing

	British Virgin Islands	Costa Rica
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$112.50	$51.66 CRC23,510.13	-54.1%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$1,533.33	$834.08 CRC380K	-45.6%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$1,308.33	$597.43 CRC272K	-54.3%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$100.56	$68.56 CRC31,201.98	-31.8%
Average			-48.0%

British Virgin Islands vs. Costa Rica - Cost of housing

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pay 32.1% more for childcare

	British Virgin Islands	Costa Rica
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$375.00	$742.27 CRC338K	+97.9%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$15,236.67	$13,434.66 CRC6M	-11.8%
Average			+32.1%

British Virgin Islands vs. Costa Rica - Cost of childcare

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pay 36.5% less for entertainment and sports

	British Virgin Islands	Costa Rica
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$4.00	$2.91 CRC1,323.10	-27.3%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$6.25	$4.06 CRC1,847.37	-35.1%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$5.12	$5.29 CRC2,409.48	+3.3%
Monthly membership at local gym	$120.00	$66.37 CRC30,203.17	-44.7%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$15.00	$7.92 CRC3,603.80	-47.2%
Average			-36.5%

British Virgin Islands vs. Costa Rica - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 1.6% less for clothing

	British Virgin Islands	Costa Rica
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$47.50	$67.50 CRC30,717.09	+42.1%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$55.00	$49.52 CRC22,538.15	-10.0%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$130.00	$122.64 CRC55,811.48	-5.7%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$140.00	$108.52 CRC49,389.03	-22.5%
Average			-1.6%

British Virgin Islands 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: British Virgin Islands vs. Costa Rica

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Size Comparison · See true size

British Virgin Islands is about 338 times smaller than Costa Rica.

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