Cost of living comparison

compared to

Iceland vs. Costa Rica Cost of Living Summary

Iceland is 95.8% more expensive than Costa Rica overall.

Restaurants: pay 2.1 times more in Iceland
Groceries: pay 60.8% more in Iceland
Transportation: pay 55.0% more in Iceland
Housing: pay 2.3 times more in Iceland
Childcare: pay 93.1% more in Iceland
Entertainment and Sports: pay 2.4 times more in Iceland
Clothing: pay 90.6% more in Iceland

The cost of entertainment and sports, housing, restaurants, childcare, clothing, and groceries in Iceland are more expensive than in Costa Rica. Notably, entertainment and sports, housing, and restaurants are significantly more expensive in Iceland.

Iceland vs. Costa Rica Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 2.1 times more for restaurants

	Costa Rica	Iceland
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$9.77 CRC4,857.39	$26.52 ISK3,394	+171.4%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$9.53 CRC4,739.57	$21.32 ISK2,728	+123.6%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$2.00 CRC995.21	$3.11 ISK398	+55.3%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$1.57 CRC781.41	$2.72 ISK348	+73.0%
Average			+105.8%

Costa Rica vs. Iceland - Cost of restaurants

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pay 60.8% more for groceries

	Costa Rica	Iceland
Bread 1 loaf	$2.54 CRC1,262.79	$3.80 ISK487	+49.7%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$4.50 CRC2,237.94	$9.44 ISK1,208	+109.6%
Milk (1 gallon)	$7.52 CRC3,740.34	$7.78 ISK996	+3.4%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.80 CRC1,389.74	$6.71 ISK859	+140.0%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$3.83 CRC1,902.77	$11.22 ISK1,436	+193.1%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.78 CRC886.81	$1.50 ISK191	-16.2%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.62 CRC305.74	$1.15 ISK147	+86.4%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.65 CRC819.01	$1.41 ISK181	-14.2%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.24 CRC617.46	$2.34 ISK300	+88.4%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$1.28 CRC635.24	$1.65 ISK211	+28.9%
Onions (1 lb)	$1.10 CRC547.12	$1.09 ISK140	-0.7%
Average			+60.8%

Costa Rica vs. Iceland - Cost of groceries

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pay 55.0% more for transportation

	Costa Rica	Iceland
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$5.47 CRC2,719.23	$9.65 ISK1,235	+76.5%
Monthly public transit pass	$54.59 CRC27,137.81	$79.56 ISK10,182	+45.7%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$36,444.91 CRC18,117,972.89	$49,144.25 ISK6,289,481	+34.8%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$15.68 CRC7,794.48	$25.55 ISK3,270	+63.0%
Average			+55.0%

Costa Rica vs. Iceland - Cost of transportation

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pay 2.3 times more for housing

	Costa Rica	Iceland
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$49.17 CRC24,446.08	$95.65 ISK12,241	+94.5%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$805.28 CRC400,329.95	$2,289.17 ISK292,968	+184.3%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$555.89 CRC276,349.98	$1,830.04 ISK234,209	+229.2%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$63.57 CRC31,602.67	$65.15 ISK8,338	+2.5%
Average			+127.6%

Costa Rica vs. Iceland - Cost of housing

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pay 93.1% more for childcare

	Costa Rica	Iceland
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$517.09 CRC257,060.35	$334.67 ISK42,830	-35.3%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$9,552.94 CRC4,749,083.93	$30,711.08 ISK3,930,404	+221.5%
Average			+93.1%

Costa Rica vs. Iceland - Cost of childcare

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pay 2.4 times more for entertainment and sports

	Costa Rica	Iceland
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$2.59 CRC1,285.81	$11.14 ISK1,426	+330.8%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.84 CRC1,908.38	$5.62 ISK720	+46.5%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$4.70 CRC2,336.25	$13.90 ISK1,778	+195.7%
Monthly membership at local gym	$58.68 CRC29,171.56	$78.17 ISK10,004	+33.2%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$9.11 CRC4,527.37	$16.75 ISK2,144	+84.0%
Average			+138.0%

Costa Rica vs. Iceland - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 90.6% more for clothing

	Costa Rica	Iceland
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$58.22 CRC28,941.22	$130.91 ISK16,753	+124.9%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$44.70 CRC22,222.99	$61.83 ISK7,913	+38.3%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$112.79 CRC56,072.28	$163.81 ISK20,965	+45.2%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$93.41 CRC46,435.67	$237.31 ISK30,371	+154.1%
Average			+90.6%

Costa Rica vs. Iceland - 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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