Cost of living in Costa Rica

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These numbers reflect the average prices of 10 cities in Costa Rica, such as Tamarindo, Heredia, Alajuela, Curridabat, Jaco Beach, and more. To view the cost of living in a specific city in Costa Rica, select a city on the right hand side.

Restaurants	Cost	Range
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$7.32 ₡4,163	$5.01 - $11.36
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$7.09 ₡4,031	$6.72 - $8.04
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.38 ₡785	$1.05 - $2.15
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$1.36 ₡773	$1.02 - $2.06

Costa Rica - Cost of restaurants

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Groceries	Cost	Range
Bread 1 loaf	$1.66 ₡942	$1.00 - $2.55
Local cheese (8 oz)	$2.92 ₡1,661	$2.10 - $4.22
Milk (1 gallon)	$5.55 ₡3,157	$3.57 - $7.66
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.66 ₡1,513	$2.10 - $3.44
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.74 ₡1,557	$2.06 - $4.13
Apples (1 lb)	$1.92 ₡1,091	$1.20 - $3.11
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.62 ₡351	$0.45 - $0.84
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.91 ₡517	$0.59 - $1.60
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.86 ₡492	$0.54 - $1.52
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.82 ₡468	$0.54 - $1.60
Onions (1 lb)	$0.98 ₡555	$0.74 - $1.28

Costa Rica - Cost of groceries

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Transportation	Cost	Range
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$4.30 ₡2,444	$3.57 - $5.03
Monthly public transit pass	$42.61 ₡24,237	$36.44 - $61.69
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$22,427.52 ₡12,757,224	$21,044.05 - $25,624.62
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$9.82 ₡5,584	$8.97 - $15.61

Costa Rica - Cost of transportation

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Housing	Cost	Range
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$51.18 ₡29,110	$40.64 - $81.62
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$538.54 ₡306,332	$386.16 - $728.38
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$375.16 ₡213,400	$238.25 - $503.84
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$60.73 ₡34,547	$39.80 - $106.72

Costa Rica - Cost of housing

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Childcare	Cost	Range
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$308.21 ₡175,315	$182.18 - $489.40
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$7,171.59 ₡4,079,343	$5,459.21 - $11,940.03

Costa Rica - Cost of childcare

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Entertainment and Sports	Cost	Range
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$2.12 ₡1,204	$1.46 - $4.77
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.31 ₡1,314	$1.58 - $4.02
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$3.74 ₡2,128	$3.15 - $4.90
Monthly membership at local gym	$57.19 ₡32,532	$41.20 - $65.00
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$5.71 ₡3,247	$4.71 - $8.41

Costa Rica - Cost of entertainment and sports

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Clothing	Cost	Range
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$55.79 ₡31,735	$40.03 - $81.72
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$42.10 ₡23,947	$29.77 - $67.52
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$100.48 ₡57,157	$71.48 - $135.75
Men's business shoes (leather)	$78.33 ₡44,558	$60.65 - $109.07

Costa Rica - Cost of clothing

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The statistics on this page are calculated from 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 source collection.

Page last updated: January 2021

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