Cost of living comparison

Costa Rica

compared to

Dominican Republic

Dominican Republic vs. Costa Rica Cost of Living Summary

Dominican Republic is 33.3% cheaper than Costa Rica overall.

Restaurants: pay 39.2% less in Dominican Republic
Groceries: pay 37.0% less in Dominican Republic
Transportation: pay 27.2% less in Dominican Republic
Housing: pay 25.7% less in Dominican Republic
Childcare: pay 66.5% less in Dominican Republic
Entertainment and Sports: pay 29.8% less in Dominican Republic
Clothing: pay 32.9% less in Dominican Republic

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

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Dominican Republic vs. Costa Rica Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 39.2% less for restaurants

	Costa Rica	Dominican Republic
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$11.15 CRC5,073.49	$8.79 DOP540.07	-21.1%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$10.85 CRC4,937.06	$7.21 DOP443.09	-33.5%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$2.43 CRC1,106.42	$0.81 DOP49.84	-66.6%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$1.79 CRC813.02	$0.45 DOP27.80	-74.7%
Average			-39.2%

Costa Rica vs. Dominican Republic - Cost of restaurants

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pay 37.0% less for groceries

	Costa Rica	Dominican Republic
Bread 1 loaf	$2.77 CRC1,261.89	$1.60 DOP98.24	-42.3%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$4.82 CRC2,192.99	$3.31 DOP203.37	-31.3%
Milk (1 gallon)	$8.37 CRC3,808.87	$4.73 DOP290.63	-43.5%
Eggs 1 dozen	$3.63 CRC1,653.83	$1.76 DOP108.34	-51.5%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$4.40 CRC2,002.78	$1.93 DOP118.36	-56.2%
Apples (1 lb)	$2.20 CRC1,003.04	$1.41 DOP86.47	-36.1%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.73 CRC329.98	$0.46 DOP28.17	-36.7%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.67 CRC758.13	$1.32 DOP81.15	-20.7%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.43 CRC652.25	$0.89 DOP54.43	-38.2%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$1.44 CRC655.18	$1.14 DOP70.25	-20.6%
Onions (1 lb)	$1.33 CRC603.93	$1.11 DOP68.13	-16.4%
Average			-37.0%

Costa Rica vs. Dominican Republic - Cost of groceries

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pay 27.2% less for transportation

	Costa Rica	Dominican Republic
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$5.78 CRC2,631.55	$5.33 DOP327.30	-7.9%
Monthly public transit pass	$66.80 CRC30,402.28	$24.26 DOP1,490.25	-63.7%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$22,830.95 CRC10M	$17,685.93 DOP1M	-22.5%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$15.71 CRC7,149.33	$23.54 DOP1,446.41	+49.9%
Average			-27.2%

Costa Rica vs. Dominican Republic - Cost of transportation

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pay 25.7% less for housing

	Costa Rica	Dominican Republic
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$51.66 CRC23,510.13	$37.10 DOP2,278.94	-28.2%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$834.08 CRC380K	$781.82 DOP48,029.48	-6.3%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$597.43 CRC272K	$310.77 DOP19,091.31	-48.0%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$68.56 CRC31,201.98	$71.51 DOP4,392.81	+4.3%
Average			-25.7%

Costa Rica vs. Dominican Republic - Cost of housing

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pay 66.5% less for childcare

	Costa Rica	Dominican Republic
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$742.27 CRC338K	$183.57 DOP11,277.30	-75.3%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$13,434.66 CRC6M	$6,114.38 DOP376K	-54.5%
Average			-66.5%

Costa Rica vs. Dominican Republic - Cost of childcare

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pay 29.8% less for entertainment and sports

	Costa Rica	Dominican Republic
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$2.91 CRC1,323.10	$2.49 DOP152.79	-14.5%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$4.06 CRC1,847.37	$1.96 DOP120.11	-51.8%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$5.29 CRC2,409.48	$4.98 DOP305.92	-5.9%
Monthly membership at local gym	$66.37 CRC30,203.17	$45.88 DOP2,818.55	-30.9%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$7.92 CRC3,603.80	$5.80 DOP356.51	-26.7%
Average			-29.8%

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

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pay 32.9% less for clothing

	Costa Rica	Dominican Republic
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$67.50 CRC30,717.09	$32.95 DOP2,024.47	-51.2%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$49.52 CRC22,538.15	$45.95 DOP2,822.96	-7.2%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$122.64 CRC55,811.48	$69.63 DOP4,277.89	-43.2%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$108.52 CRC49,389.03	$85.66 DOP5,262.46	-21.1%
Average			-32.9%

Costa Rica vs. Dominican Republic - 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. Dominican Republic

Salary Calculator · Free tool

What salary would you need in Dominican Republic?

Quality of Life Comparison · 17 statistics

Make 44.6% less money in Dominican Republic

Size Comparison · See true size

Costa Rica is around the same size as Dominican Republic.

Moving from Costa Rica to Dominican Republic · UN DESA 2020

320 people born in Costa Rica live in Dominican Republic.

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