Cost of living comparison

compared to

Croatia vs. Costa Rica Cost of Living Summary

Croatia is 2.8% more expensive than Costa Rica overall.

Restaurants: pay 33.5% more in Croatia
Groceries: pay 20.6% less in Croatia
Transportation: pay 1.0% more in Croatia
Housing: pay 16.7% more in Croatia
Childcare: pay 26.1% less in Croatia
Entertainment and Sports: pay 5.2% more in Croatia
Clothing: pay 9.9% more in Croatia

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

Croatia vs. Costa Rica Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 33.5% more for restaurants

	Costa Rica	Croatia
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$9.77 CRC4,857.39	$13.56 HRK88.07	+38.8%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$9.53 CRC4,739.57	$9.49 HRK61.65	-0.5%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$2.00 CRC995.21	$2.97 HRK19.31	+48.4%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$1.57 CRC781.41	$2.31 HRK15.03	+47.2%
Average			+33.5%

Costa Rica vs. Croatia - Cost of restaurants

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 20.6% less for groceries

	Costa Rica	Croatia
Bread 1 loaf	$2.54 CRC1,262.79	$1.48 HRK9.64	-41.6%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$4.50 CRC2,237.94	$5.47 HRK35.50	+21.4%
Milk (1 gallon)	$7.52 CRC3,740.34	$4.61 HRK29.93	-38.8%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.80 CRC1,389.74	$3.68 HRK23.93	+31.8%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$3.83 CRC1,902.77	$4.07 HRK26.45	+6.4%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.78 CRC886.81	$0.75 HRK4.90	-57.7%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.62 CRC305.74	$0.78 HRK5.05	+26.3%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.65 CRC819.01	$0.81 HRK5.25	-51.0%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.24 CRC617.46	$1.03 HRK6.68	-17.2%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$1.28 CRC635.24	$0.58 HRK3.74	-54.9%
Onions (1 lb)	$1.10 CRC547.12	$0.54 HRK3.50	-51.0%
Average			-20.6%

Costa Rica vs. Croatia - Cost of groceries

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 1.0% more for transportation

	Costa Rica	Croatia
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$5.47 CRC2,719.23	$6.63 HRK43.10	+21.3%
Monthly public transit pass	$54.59 CRC27,137.81	$43.59 HRK283.15	-20.2%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$36,444.91 CRC18,117,972.89	$34,854.20 HRK226,416.40	-4.4%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$15.68 CRC7,794.48	$16.84 HRK109.37	+7.4%
Average			+1.0%

Costa Rica vs. Croatia - Cost of transportation

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 16.7% more for housing

	Costa Rica	Croatia
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$49.17 CRC24,446.08	$32.48 HRK211.01	-33.9%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$805.28 CRC400,329.95	$705.95 HRK4,585.92	-12.3%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$555.89 CRC276,349.98	$523.92 HRK3,403.45	-5.8%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$63.57 CRC31,602.67	$139.00 HRK902.95	+118.7%
Average			+16.7%

Costa Rica vs. Croatia - Cost of housing

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 26.1% less for childcare

	Costa Rica	Croatia
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$517.09 CRC257,060.35	$257.67 HRK1,673.83	-50.2%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$9,552.94 CRC4,749,083.93	$9,373.81 HRK60,893.22	-1.9%
Average			-26.1%

Costa Rica vs. Croatia - Cost of childcare

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 5.2% more for entertainment and sports

	Costa Rica	Croatia
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$2.59 CRC1,285.81	$3.88 HRK25.20	+50.0%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.84 CRC1,908.38	$2.51 HRK16.32	-34.6%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$4.70 CRC2,336.25	$5.66 HRK36.75	+20.4%
Monthly membership at local gym	$58.68 CRC29,171.56	$53.79 HRK349.42	-8.3%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$9.11 CRC4,527.37	$8.99 HRK58.40	-1.3%
Average			+5.2%

Costa Rica vs. Croatia - Cost of entertainment and sports

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 9.9% more for clothing

	Costa Rica	Croatia
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$58.22 CRC28,941.22	$89.18 HRK579.32	+53.2%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$44.70 CRC22,222.99	$41.99 HRK272.74	-6.1%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$112.79 CRC56,072.28	$99.11 HRK643.84	-12.1%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$93.41 CRC46,435.67	$97.51 HRK633.45	+4.4%
Average			+9.9%

Costa Rica vs. Croatia - Cost of clothing

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

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

More cost comparisons

Costa Rica vs.

Iceland

Costa Rica vs.

Germany

Costa Rica vs.

Canada

Costa Rica vs.

Austria

Costa Rica vs.

Spain

Costa Rica vs.

United Kingdom

Costa Rica vs.

Poland

Costa Rica vs.

Thailand

Share this

Compare by city

For example, try comparing the cost of living in San Jose vs. Zagreb

Help us improve these prices

MyLifeElsewhere is a collaborative project. Please enter price information for your location to help assist us in making these comparisons more accurate. Learn more

Add prices for Costa Rica

Add prices for Croatia

ASK THE ELSEWHERE COMMUNITY

Join the Elsewhere community and ask a question about Croatia or Costa Rica. It's a free, question-and-answer based forum to discuss what life is like in countries and cities around the world.