Cost of living comparison

compared to

Jaco Beach vs. Costa Rica Cost of Living Summary

Jaco Beach is 8.4% cheaper than Costa Rica overall.

Restaurants: pay 10.5% less in Jaco Beach
Groceries: pay 10.0% less in Jaco Beach
Transportation: pay 1.5% more in Jaco Beach
Housing: pay 11.9% less in Jaco Beach
Childcare: pay 23.1% less in Jaco Beach
Entertainment and Sports: pay 0.2% more in Jaco Beach
Clothing: pay 5.3% less in Jaco Beach

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

Jaco Beach vs. Costa Rica Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Jaco Beach instead of Costa Rica, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 10.5% less for restaurants

	Costa Rica	Jaco Beach
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$9.77 CRC4,772.77	$7.73 CRC3,774.04	-20.9%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$9.53 CRC4,657.00	$9.91 CRC4,838.51	+3.9%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$2.00 CRC977.87	$1.58 CRC770.52	-21.2%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$1.57 CRC767.80	$1.51 CRC738.26	-3.8%
Average			-10.5%

Costa Rica vs. Jaco Beach - Cost of restaurants

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pay 10.0% less for groceries

	Costa Rica	Jaco Beach
Bread 1 loaf	$2.54 CRC1,240.79	$2.03 CRC991.89	-20.1%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$4.50 CRC2,198.95	$4.95 CRC2,419.25	+10.0%
Milk (1 gallon)	$7.52 CRC3,675.18	$5.39 CRC2,632.15	-28.4%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.80 CRC1,365.53	$2.39 CRC1,165.19	-14.7%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$3.83 CRC1,869.62	$3.68 CRC1,799.66	-3.7%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.78 CRC871.36	$1.94 CRC946.86	+8.7%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.62 CRC300.41	$0.65 CRC319.23	+6.3%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.65 CRC804.74	$1.89 CRC921.78	+14.5%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.24 CRC606.70	$1.43 CRC697.92	+15.0%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$1.28 CRC624.18	$0.62 CRC302.87	-51.5%
Onions (1 lb)	$1.10 CRC537.59	$0.59 CRC289.70	-46.1%
Average			-10.0%

Costa Rica vs. Jaco Beach - Cost of groceries

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pay 1.5% more for transportation

	Costa Rica	Jaco Beach
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$5.47 CRC2,671.86	$5.39 CRC2,631.82	-1.5%
Monthly public transit pass	$54.59 CRC26,665.03	??
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$36,444.91 CRC17,802,336.11	$37,640.45 CRC18,386,324.93	+3.3%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$15.68 CRC7,658.69	$16.12 CRC7,872.25	+2.8%
Average			+1.5%

Costa Rica vs. Jaco Beach - Cost of transportation

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pay 11.9% less for housing

	Costa Rica	Jaco Beach
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$49.17 CRC24,020.20	$42.59 CRC20,805.58	-13.4%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$805.28 CRC393,355.72	$730.71 CRC356,931.46	-9.3%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$555.89 CRC271,535.63	$497.43 CRC242,979.15	-10.5%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$63.57 CRC31,052.11	$54.43 CRC26,587.39	-14.4%
Average			-11.9%

Costa Rica vs. Jaco Beach - Cost of housing

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pay 23.1% less for childcare

	Costa Rica	Jaco Beach
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$517.09 CRC252,582.05	$438.62 CRC214,254.88	-15.2%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$9,552.94 CRC4,666,349.20	$6,584.85 CRC3,216,516.75	-31.1%
Average			-23.1%

Costa Rica vs. Jaco Beach - Cost of childcare

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pay 0.2% more for entertainment and sports

	Costa Rica	Jaco Beach
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$2.59 CRC1,263.41	$2.67 CRC1,306.40	+3.4%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.84 CRC1,875.13	$3.78 CRC1,845.66	-1.6%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$4.70 CRC2,295.55	$5.15 CRC2,516.02	+9.6%
Monthly membership at local gym	$58.68 CRC28,663.36	$47.55 CRC23,224.83	-19.0%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$9.11 CRC4,448.49	$9.91 CRC4,838.51	+8.8%
Average			+0.2%

Costa Rica vs. Jaco Beach - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 5.3% less for clothing

	Costa Rica	Jaco Beach
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$58.22 CRC28,437.03	$24.98 CRC12,201.65	-57.1%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$44.70 CRC21,835.84	$51.31 CRC25,062.18	+14.8%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$112.79 CRC55,095.43	$120.28 CRC58,753.29	+6.6%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$93.41 CRC45,626.70	$106.98 CRC52,255.87	+14.5%
Average			-5.3%

Costa Rica vs. Jaco Beach - 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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