Cost of living comparison
compared to
New York vs. Costa Rica Cost of Living Summary
New York is 60.0% more expensive than Costa Rica overall.
New York vs. Costa Rica Cost Breakdown
If you lived in New York instead of Costa Rica, you would:
pay 42.3% more for restaurants
|
Costa Rica
|
New York
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant |
$11.15
CRC5,083.73
|
$21.61
|
|
|
Fast food combo meal
McDonalds, or similar
|
$10.85
CRC4,947.03
|
$12.15
|
|
| Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz) |
$2.43
CRC1,108.65
|
$2.60
|
|
| Bottle of water (11 fl. oz) |
$1.79
CRC814.67
|
$1.95
|
|
Costa Rica vs. New York - Cost of restaurants
pay 15.7% more for groceries
|
Costa Rica
|
New York
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Bread
1 loaf
|
$2.77
CRC1,264.43
|
$3.79
|
|
| Local cheese (8 oz) |
$4.82
CRC2,197.42
|
$6.62
|
|
| Milk (1 gallon) |
$8.37
CRC3,816.56
|
$4.20
|
|
|
Eggs
1 dozen
|
$3.63
CRC1,657.17
|
$4.80
|
|
| Boneless chicken breast (1 lb) |
$4.40
CRC2,006.83
|
$5.68
|
|
| Apples (1 lb) |
$2.20
CRC1,005.07
|
$2.37
|
|
| Bananas (1 lb) |
$0.73
CRC330.65
|
$0.79
|
|
| Oranges (1 lb) |
$1.67
CRC759.66
|
$2.16
|
|
| Tomatoes (1 lb) |
$1.43
CRC653.57
|
$2.49
|
|
| Potatoes (1 lb) |
$1.44
CRC656.50
|
$1.48
|
|
| Onions (1 lb) |
$1.33
CRC605.15
|
$1.53
|
|
Costa Rica vs. New York - Cost of groceries
pay 12.0% more for transportation
|
Costa Rica
|
New York
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Gasoline (1 gallon) |
$5.78
CRC2,636.86
|
$4.00
|
|
| Monthly public transit pass |
$66.80
CRC30,463.66
|
$99.85
|
|
| New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition) |
$22,830.95
CRC10M
|
$34,323.33
|
|
| Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles) |
$15.71
CRC7,163.76
|
$19.12
|
|
Costa Rica vs. New York - Cost of transportation
pay 2.5 times more for housing
|
Costa Rica
|
New York
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Internet connection
50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl
|
$51.66
CRC23,557.59
|
$67.35
|
|
| 1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area |
$834.08
CRC380K
|
$2,049.97
|
|
| 1-Bedroom apartment outside city center |
$597.43
CRC272K
|
$1,695.08
|
|
|
Utilities for two
(700 sq ft apartment)
including electric, gas, water, heating
|
$68.56
CRC31,264.97
|
$157.44
|
|
Costa Rica vs. New York - Cost of housing
pay 2.3 times more for childcare
|
Costa Rica
|
New York
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Private preschool for 1 child, monthly |
$742.27
CRC338K
|
$1,922.82
|
|
| Middle school for 1 child, two semesters |
$13,434.66
CRC6M
|
$27,489.62
|
|
Costa Rica vs. New York - Cost of childcare
pay 59.9% more for entertainment and sports
|
Costa Rica
|
New York
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Domestic/local beer (1 pint) |
$2.91
CRC1,325.77
|
$6.72
|
|
| Cappuccino in mid-range area |
$4.06
CRC1,851.10
|
$5.48
|
|
|
Pack of cigarettes
Marlboro or similar
|
$5.29
CRC2,414.34
|
$14.10
|
|
| Monthly membership at local gym |
$66.37
CRC30,264.14
|
$61.08
|
|
| Movie ticket to theater/cinema |
$7.92
CRC3,611.08
|
$15.30
|
|
Costa Rica vs. New York - Cost of entertainment and sports
pay 14.2% less for clothing
|
Costa Rica
|
New York
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Regular jeans
Levi's brand
|
$67.50
CRC30,779.10
|
$51.80
|
|
|
Regular dress
from H&M or similar store
|
$49.52
CRC22,583.65
|
$44.51
|
|
|
Running shoes
Nike or Adidas
|
$122.64
CRC55,924.15
|
$92.29
|
|
| Men's business shoes (leather) |
$108.52
CRC49,488.74
|
$113.37
|
|
Costa Rica vs. New York - Cost of clothing
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
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Compare further: Costa Rica vs. New York
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Moving from Costa Rica to New York · Cost, visas & climate
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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.
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