Cost of living comparison

Costa Rica

compared to

Argentina

Argentina vs. Costa Rica Cost of Living Summary

Argentina is 25.5% cheaper than Costa Rica overall.

Restaurants: pay 16.7% more in Argentina
Groceries: pay 38.3% less in Argentina
Transportation: pay 26.5% less in Argentina
Housing: pay 29.5% less in Argentina
Childcare: pay 59.3% less in Argentina
Entertainment and Sports: pay 16.7% less in Argentina
Clothing: pay 23.6% more in Argentina

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

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Argentina vs. Costa Rica Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 16.7% more for restaurants

	Costa Rica	Argentina
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$11.15 CRC5,073.49	$14.88 ARS22,583.44	+33.5%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$10.85 CRC4,937.06	$12.57 ARS19,078.98	+15.9%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$2.43 CRC1,106.42	$2.00 ARS3,029.85	-17.9%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$1.79 CRC813.02	$1.66 ARS2,520.14	-7.1%
Average			+16.7%

Costa Rica vs. Argentina - Cost of restaurants

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pay 38.3% less for groceries

	Costa Rica	Argentina
Bread 1 loaf	$2.77 CRC1,261.89	$2.14 ARS3,247.75	-22.8%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$4.82 CRC2,192.99	$5.25 ARS7,961.05	+8.9%
Milk (1 gallon)	$8.37 CRC3,808.87	$4.93 ARS7,484.57	-41.1%
Eggs 1 dozen	$3.63 CRC1,653.83	$2.57 ARS3,893.96	-29.4%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$4.40 CRC2,002.78	$3.38 ARS5,126.09	-23.3%
Apples (1 lb)	$2.20 CRC1,003.04	$1.07 ARS1,629.37	-51.3%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.73 CRC329.98	$0.95 ARS1,434.31	+30.3%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.67 CRC758.13	$0.62 ARS934.98	-63.0%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.43 CRC652.25	$1.10 ARS1,673.49	-23.1%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$1.44 CRC655.18	$0.46 ARS700.13	-68.0%
Onions (1 lb)	$1.33 CRC603.93	$0.43 ARS645.87	-67.9%
Average			-38.3%

Costa Rica vs. Argentina - Cost of groceries

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pay 26.5% less for transportation

	Costa Rica	Argentina
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$5.78 CRC2,631.55	$4.55 ARS6,900.45	-21.4%
Monthly public transit pass	$66.80 CRC30,402.28	$27.12 ARS41,168.97	-59.4%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$22,830.95 CRC10M	$26,569.33 ARS40M	+16.4%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$15.71 CRC7,149.33	$10.09 ARS15,310.26	-35.8%
Average			-26.5%

Costa Rica vs. Argentina - Cost of transportation

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pay 29.5% less for housing

	Costa Rica	Argentina
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$51.66 CRC23,510.13	$25.92 ARS39,335.65	-49.8%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$834.08 CRC380K	$568.71 ARS863K	-31.8%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$597.43 CRC272K	$366.42 ARS556K	-38.7%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$68.56 CRC31,201.98	$85.62 ARS130K	+24.9%
Average			-29.5%

Costa Rica vs. Argentina - Cost of housing

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pay 59.3% less for childcare

	Costa Rica	Argentina
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$742.27 CRC338K	$287.55 ARS436K	-61.3%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$13,434.66 CRC6M	$5,737.30 ARS9M	-57.3%
Average			-59.3%

Costa Rica vs. Argentina - Cost of childcare

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pay 16.7% less for entertainment and sports

	Costa Rica	Argentina
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$2.91 CRC1,323.10	$3.92 ARS5,944.74	+34.7%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$4.06 CRC1,847.37	$3.46 ARS5,245.73	-14.9%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$5.29 CRC2,409.48	$3.51 ARS5,321.19	-33.8%
Monthly membership at local gym	$66.37 CRC30,203.17	$35.09 ARS53,250.53	-47.1%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$7.92 CRC3,603.80	$7.61 ARS11,544.83	-3.9%
Average			-16.7%

Costa Rica vs. Argentina - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 23.6% more for clothing

	Costa Rica	Argentina
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$67.50 CRC30,717.09	$103.07 ARS156K	+52.7%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$49.52 CRC22,538.15	$74.35 ARS113K	+50.1%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$122.64 CRC55,811.48	$118.50 ARS180K	-3.4%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$108.52 CRC49,389.03	$114.48 ARS174K	+5.5%
Average			+23.6%

Costa Rica vs. Argentina - 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: Costa Rica vs. Argentina

Salary Calculator · Free tool

What salary would you need in Argentina?

Quality of Life Comparison · 18 statistics

Be 64.9% more likely to live below the poverty line in Argentina

Size Comparison · See true size

Costa Rica is about 54 times smaller than Argentina.

Moving from Costa Rica to Argentina · UN DESA 2020

124 people born in Costa Rica live in Argentina.

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