Cost of living comparison

Costa Rica

compared to

Florida, USA

Florida vs. Costa Rica Cost of Living Summary

Florida is 45.5% more expensive than Costa Rica overall.

Restaurants: pay 43.0% more in Florida
Groceries: pay 7.2% more in Florida
Transportation: pay 4.1% less in Florida
Housing: pay 2.3 times more in Florida
Childcare: pay 59.1% more in Florida
Entertainment and Sports: pay 32.3% more in Florida
Clothing: pay 15.1% less in Florida

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

Planning a move to Florida? Get up to 5 free, no-obligation quotes from vetted international movers. Get free quotes →

Florida vs. Costa Rica Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 43.0% more for restaurants

	Costa Rica	Florida
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$11.15 CRC5,083.73	$22.12	+98.4%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$10.85 CRC4,947.03	$11.51	+6.1%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$2.43 CRC1,108.65	$2.72	+12.0%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$1.79 CRC814.67	$2.13	+19.3%
Average			+43.0%

Costa Rica vs. Florida - Cost of restaurants

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 7.2% more for groceries

	Costa Rica	Florida
Bread 1 loaf	$2.77 CRC1,264.43	$3.68	+32.8%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$4.82 CRC2,197.42	$6.24	+29.5%
Milk (1 gallon)	$8.37 CRC3,816.56	$4.01	-52.1%
Eggs 1 dozen	$3.63 CRC1,657.17	$4.08	+12.2%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$4.40 CRC2,006.83	$5.39	+22.5%
Apples (1 lb)	$2.20 CRC1,005.07	$2.37	+7.3%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.73 CRC330.65	$0.74	+2.4%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.67 CRC759.66	$1.86	+11.8%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.43 CRC653.57	$2.06	+43.7%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$1.44 CRC656.50	$1.40	-2.9%
Onions (1 lb)	$1.33 CRC605.15	$1.47	+10.6%
Average			+7.2%

Costa Rica vs. Florida - Cost of groceries

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 4.1% less for transportation

	Costa Rica	Florida
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$5.78 CRC2,636.86	$3.67	-36.5%
Monthly public transit pass	$66.80 CRC30,463.66	$61.90	-7.3%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$22,830.95 CRC10M	$35,017.93	+53.4%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$15.71 CRC7,163.76	$16.97	+8.0%
Average			-4.1%

Costa Rica vs. Florida - Cost of transportation

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 2.3 times more for housing

	Costa Rica	Florida
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$51.66 CRC23,557.59	$73.00	+41.3%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$834.08 CRC380K	$1,897.60	+127.5%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$597.43 CRC272K	$1,578.21	+164.2%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$68.56 CRC31,264.97	$146.96	+114.3%
Average			+133.7%

Costa Rica vs. Florida - Cost of housing

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 59.1% more for childcare

	Costa Rica	Florida
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$742.27 CRC338K	$1,132.71	+52.6%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$13,434.66 CRC6M	$22,290.86	+65.9%
Average			+59.1%

Costa Rica vs. Florida - Cost of childcare

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 32.3% more for entertainment and sports

	Costa Rica	Florida
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$2.91 CRC1,325.77	$5.89	+102.5%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$4.06 CRC1,851.10	$5.16	+27.0%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$5.29 CRC2,414.34	$8.78	+65.8%
Monthly membership at local gym	$66.37 CRC30,264.14	$42.25	-36.3%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$7.92 CRC3,611.08	$14.64	+84.9%
Average			+32.3%

Costa Rica vs. Florida - Cost of entertainment and sports

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 15.1% less for clothing

	Costa Rica	Florida
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$67.50 CRC30,779.10	$53.85	-20.2%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$49.52 CRC22,583.65	$42.77	-13.6%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$122.64 CRC55,924.15	$90.40	-26.3%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$108.52 CRC49,488.74	$111.20	+2.5%
Average			-15.1%

Costa Rica vs. Florida - Cost of clothing

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

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. Florida

Salary Calculator · Free tool

What salary would you need in Florida?

Quality of Life Comparison · 3 statistics

Make 2.9 times more money in Florida

Size Comparison · See true size

Costa Rica is about 2.7 times smaller than Florida.

Moving from Costa Rica to Florida · Cost, visas & climate

Compare cost of living, salary and climate.

More cost comparisons

Costa Rica vs.

United States

Costa Rica vs.

Nicaragua

Costa Rica vs.

Panama

Costa Rica vs.

Spain

Costa Rica vs.

Canada

Costa Rica vs.

Mexico

Costa Rica vs.

Germany

Costa Rica vs.

Colombia

Share this

Compare countries by overall cost of living

See the cost of living in Costa Rica vs. United States. This provides a comparison of the average cost of living from cities within Costa Rica and United States.

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 Florida

Ask the Elsewhere Community

Join the Elsewhere community and ask a question about Florida 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.