Cost of living comparison

Costa Rica

compared to

Chile

Chile vs. Costa Rica Cost of Living Summary

Chile is 36.0% cheaper than Costa Rica overall.

Restaurants: pay 32.7% less in Chile
Groceries: pay 40.6% less in Chile
Transportation: pay 28.9% less in Chile
Housing: pay 37.6% less in Chile
Childcare: pay 49.1% less in Chile
Entertainment and Sports: pay 19.2% less in Chile
Clothing: pay 40.2% less in Chile

Expenses including childcare, groceries, clothing, housing, restaurants, and transportation are lower in Chile.

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Chile vs. Costa Rica Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 32.7% less for restaurants

	Costa Rica	Chile
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$11.15 CRC5,073.49	$7.99 CLF0.2000	-28.4%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$10.85 CRC4,937.06	$7.20 CLF0.1800	-33.6%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$2.43 CRC1,106.42	$1.36 CLF0.0300	-44.0%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$1.79 CRC813.02	$1.15 CLF0.0300	-35.8%
Average			-32.7%

Costa Rica vs. Chile - Cost of restaurants

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pay 40.6% less for groceries

	Costa Rica	Chile
Bread 1 loaf	$2.77 CRC1,261.89	$1.70 CLF0.0400	-38.7%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$4.82 CRC2,192.99	$5.03 CLF0.1300	+4.3%
Milk (1 gallon)	$8.37 CRC3,808.87	$4.36 CLF0.1100	-47.9%
Eggs 1 dozen	$3.63 CRC1,653.83	$3.39 CLF0.0800	-6.8%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$4.40 CRC2,002.78	$2.73 CLF0.0700	-38.0%
Apples (1 lb)	$2.20 CRC1,003.04	$0.79 CLF0.0200	-64.4%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.73 CRC329.98	$0.78 CLF0.0200	+8.2%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.67 CRC758.13	$0.77 CLF0.0200	-54.1%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.43 CRC652.25	$0.70 CLF0.0200	-51.0%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$1.44 CRC655.18	$0.58 CLF0.0100	-59.5%
Onions (1 lb)	$1.33 CRC603.93	$0.63 CLF0.0200	-52.3%
Average			-40.6%

Costa Rica vs. Chile - Cost of groceries

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pay 28.9% less for transportation

	Costa Rica	Chile
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$5.78 CRC2,631.55	$5.28 CLF0.1300	-8.6%
Monthly public transit pass	$66.80 CRC30,402.28	$33.69 CLF0.8400	-49.6%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$22,830.95 CRC10M	$16,188.18 CLF404.6400	-29.1%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$15.71 CRC7,149.33	$11.06 CLF0.2800	-29.6%
Average			-28.9%

Costa Rica vs. Chile - Cost of transportation

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pay 37.6% less for housing

	Costa Rica	Chile
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$51.66 CRC23,510.13	$22.03 CLF0.5500	-57.3%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$834.08 CRC380K	$456.09 CLF11.4000	-45.3%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$597.43 CRC272K	$349.67 CLF8.7400	-41.5%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$68.56 CRC31,201.98	$81.73 CLF2.0400	+19.2%
Average			-37.6%

Costa Rica vs. Chile - Cost of housing

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pay 49.1% less for childcare

	Costa Rica	Chile
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$742.27 CRC338K	$332.45 CLF8.3100	-55.2%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$13,434.66 CRC6M	$7,782.11 CLF194.5200	-42.1%
Average			-49.1%

Costa Rica vs. Chile - Cost of childcare

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pay 19.2% less for entertainment and sports

	Costa Rica	Chile
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$2.91 CRC1,323.10	$3.30 CLF0.0800	+13.5%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$4.06 CRC1,847.37	$2.97 CLF0.0700	-26.8%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$5.29 CRC2,409.48	$5.04 CLF0.1300	-4.9%
Monthly membership at local gym	$66.37 CRC30,203.17	$40.36 CLF1.0100	-39.2%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$7.92 CRC3,603.80	$6.58 CLF0.1600	-16.9%
Average			-19.2%

Costa Rica vs. Chile - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 40.2% less for clothing

	Costa Rica	Chile
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$67.50 CRC30,717.09	$43.61 CLF1.0900	-35.4%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$49.52 CRC22,538.15	$27.77 CLF0.6900	-43.9%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$122.64 CRC55,811.48	$61.99 CLF1.5500	-49.5%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$108.52 CRC49,389.03	$76.04 CLF1.9000	-29.9%
Average			-40.2%

Costa Rica vs. Chile - 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. Chile

Salary Calculator · Free tool

What salary would you need in Chile?

Quality of Life Comparison · 16 statistics

Be 62.0% less likely to live below the poverty line in Chile

Size Comparison · See true size

Costa Rica is about 15 times smaller than Chile.

Moving from Costa Rica to Chile · OECD 2023

117 people moved from Costa Rica to Chile.

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