Cost of living comparison

compared to

Dominican Republic vs. Costa Rica Cost of Living Summary

Dominican Republic is 31.8% cheaper than Costa Rica overall.

Restaurants: pay 43.5% less in Dominican Republic
Groceries: pay 36.9% less in Dominican Republic
Transportation: pay 12.9% less in Dominican Republic
Housing: pay 33.0% less in Dominican Republic
Childcare: pay 53.0% less in Dominican Republic
Entertainment and Sports: pay 28.8% less in Dominican Republic
Clothing: pay 14.4% less in Dominican Republic

Expenses including childcare, restaurants, groceries, housing, entertainment and sports, and clothing are lower in Dominican Republic.

Dominican Republic vs. Costa Rica Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Dominican Republic instead of Costa Rica, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 43.5% less for restaurants

	Costa Rica	Dominican Republic
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$9.77 CRC4,857.39	$6.57 DOP410.40	-32.8%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$9.53 CRC4,739.57	$7.06 DOP441.19	-25.9%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$2.00 CRC995.21	$0.92 DOP57.76	-53.8%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$1.57 CRC781.41	$0.60 DOP37.61	-61.7%
Average			-43.5%

Costa Rica vs. Dominican Republic - Cost of restaurants

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pay 36.9% less for groceries

	Costa Rica	Dominican Republic
Bread 1 loaf	$2.54 CRC1,262.79	$1.44 DOP89.98	-43.3%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$4.50 CRC2,237.94	$3.10 DOP193.39	-31.2%
Milk (1 gallon)	$7.52 CRC3,740.34	$4.52 DOP282.20	-40.0%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.80 CRC1,389.74	$1.74 DOP108.73	-37.7%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$3.83 CRC1,902.77	$2.20 DOP137.15	-42.6%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.78 CRC886.81	$1.17 DOP73.35	-34.2%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.62 CRC305.74	$0.37 DOP23.25	-39.5%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.65 CRC819.01	$1.09 DOP68.38	-33.6%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.24 CRC617.46	$0.70 DOP43.90	-43.4%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$1.28 CRC635.24	$0.67 DOP41.99	-47.4%
Onions (1 lb)	$1.10 CRC547.12	$0.96 DOP60.03	-12.7%
Average			-36.9%

Costa Rica vs. Dominican Republic - Cost of groceries

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pay 12.9% less for transportation

	Costa Rica	Dominican Republic
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$5.47 CRC2,719.23	$4.63 DOP289.40	-15.3%
Monthly public transit pass	$54.59 CRC27,137.81	$31.27 DOP1,953.45	-42.7%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$36,444.91 CRC18,117,972.89	$27,585.12 DOP1,723,103.52	-24.3%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$15.68 CRC7,794.48	$20.50 DOP1,280.68	+30.8%
Average			-12.9%

Costa Rica vs. Dominican Republic - Cost of transportation

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pay 33.0% less for housing

	Costa Rica	Dominican Republic
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$49.17 CRC24,446.08	$31.80 DOP1,986.14	-35.3%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$805.28 CRC400,329.95	$495.90 DOP30,976.64	-38.4%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$555.89 CRC276,349.98	$352.53 DOP22,021.04	-36.6%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$63.57 CRC31,602.67	$49.81 DOP3,111.25	-21.6%
Average			-33.0%

Costa Rica vs. Dominican Republic - Cost of housing

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pay 53.0% less for childcare

	Costa Rica	Dominican Republic
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$517.09 CRC257,060.35	$203.07 DOP12,685.05	-60.7%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$9,552.94 CRC4,749,083.93	$5,232.64 DOP326,857.01	-45.2%
Average			-53.0%

Costa Rica vs. Dominican Republic - Cost of childcare

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pay 28.8% less for entertainment and sports

	Costa Rica	Dominican Republic
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$2.59 CRC1,285.81	$2.40 DOP149.71	-7.3%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.84 CRC1,908.38	$1.93 DOP120.59	-49.7%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$4.70 CRC2,336.25	$4.53 DOP283.04	-3.6%
Monthly membership at local gym	$58.68 CRC29,171.56	$28.27 DOP1,765.76	-51.8%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$9.11 CRC4,527.37	$6.24 DOP389.50	-31.5%
Average			-28.8%

Costa Rica vs. Dominican Republic - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 14.4% less for clothing

	Costa Rica	Dominican Republic
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$58.22 CRC28,941.22	$44.65 DOP2,788.98	-23.3%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$44.70 CRC22,222.99	$43.79 DOP2,735.23	-2.0%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$112.79 CRC56,072.28	$75.83 DOP4,736.94	-32.8%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$93.41 CRC46,435.67	$93.99 DOP5,871.20	+0.6%
Average			-14.4%

Costa Rica vs. Dominican Republic - Cost of clothing

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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

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