Cost of living comparison

compared to

South Korea vs. Costa Rica Cost of Living Summary

South Korea is 2.5% cheaper than Costa Rica overall.

Restaurants: pay 37.0% less in South Korea
Groceries: pay 40.7% more in South Korea
Transportation: pay 26.9% less in South Korea
Housing: pay 6.1% less in South Korea
Childcare: pay 15.4% more in South Korea
Entertainment and Sports: pay 4.5% less in South Korea
Clothing: pay 0.6% more in South Korea

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

South Korea vs. Costa Rica Cost Breakdown

If you lived in South Korea instead of Costa Rica, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 37.0% less for restaurants

	Costa Rica	South Korea
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$9.77 CRC4,857.39	$6.72 ₩9,865	-31.2%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$9.53 CRC4,739.57	$5.50 ₩8,068	-42.3%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$2.00 CRC995.21	$1.47 ₩2,152	-26.8%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$1.57 CRC781.41	$0.82 ₩1,211	-47.5%
Average			-37.0%

Costa Rica vs. South Korea - Cost of restaurants

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 40.7% more for groceries

	Costa Rica	South Korea
Bread 1 loaf	$2.54 CRC1,262.79	$2.87 ₩4,217	+13.1%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$4.50 CRC2,237.94	$5.63 ₩8,255	+25.0%
Milk (1 gallon)	$7.52 CRC3,740.34	$7.67 ₩11,264	+2.0%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.80 CRC1,389.74	$2.84 ₩4,162	+1.5%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$3.83 CRC1,902.77	$3.34 ₩4,896	-12.8%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.78 CRC886.81	$3.24 ₩4,748	+81.4%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.62 CRC305.74	$1.39 ₩2,037	+125.7%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.65 CRC819.01	$2.80 ₩4,104	+69.7%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.24 CRC617.46	$2.40 ₩3,528	+93.5%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$1.28 CRC635.24	$1.78 ₩2,616	+39.5%
Onions (1 lb)	$1.10 CRC547.12	$1.20 ₩1,767	+9.4%
Average			+40.7%

Costa Rica vs. South Korea - Cost of groceries

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 26.9% less for transportation

	Costa Rica	South Korea
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$5.47 CRC2,719.23	$4.40 ₩6,458	-19.6%
Monthly public transit pass	$54.59 CRC27,137.81	$47.17 ₩69,233	-13.6%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$36,444.91 CRC18,117,972.89	$26,440.41 ₩38,804,738	-27.5%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$15.68 CRC7,794.48	$8.33 ₩12,228	-46.9%
Average			-26.9%

Costa Rica vs. South Korea - Cost of transportation

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 6.1% less for housing

	Costa Rica	South Korea
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$49.17 CRC24,446.08	$21.68 ₩31,824	-55.9%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$805.28 CRC400,329.95	$473.91 ₩695,518	-41.2%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$555.89 CRC276,349.98	$357.19 ₩524,216	-35.7%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$63.57 CRC31,602.67	$132.53 ₩194,509	+108.5%
Average			-6.1%

Costa Rica vs. South Korea - Cost of housing

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 15.4% more for childcare

	Costa Rica	South Korea
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$517.09 CRC257,060.35	$378.52 ₩555,533	-26.8%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$9,552.94 CRC4,749,083.93	$15,055.40 ₩22,095,763	+57.6%
Average			+15.4%

Costa Rica vs. South Korea - Cost of childcare

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 4.5% less for entertainment and sports

	Costa Rica	South Korea
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$2.59 CRC1,285.81	$3.12 ₩4,576	+20.6%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.84 CRC1,908.38	$3.57 ₩5,236	-7.1%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$4.70 CRC2,336.25	$3.18 ₩4,673	-32.2%
Monthly membership at local gym	$58.68 CRC29,171.56	$49.86 ₩73,176	-15.0%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$9.11 CRC4,527.37	$10.12 ₩14,850	+11.1%
Average			-4.5%

Costa Rica vs. South Korea - Cost of entertainment and sports

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 0.6% more for clothing

	Costa Rica	South Korea
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$58.22 CRC28,941.22	$66.46 ₩97,538	+14.2%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$44.70 CRC22,222.99	$50.68 ₩74,384	+13.4%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$112.79 CRC56,072.28	$72.74 ₩106,755	-35.5%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$93.41 CRC46,435.67	$103.23 ₩151,509	+10.5%
Average			+0.6%

Costa Rica vs. South Korea - Cost of clothing

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

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

More cost comparisons

Costa Rica vs.

Austria

Costa Rica vs.

Canada

Costa Rica vs.

Poland

Costa Rica vs.

France

Costa Rica vs.

United Kingdom

Costa Rica vs.

Iceland

Costa Rica vs.

China

Costa Rica vs.

Vietnam

Share this

Compare by city

For example, try comparing the cost of living in San Jose vs. Seoul

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 South Korea

ASK THE ELSEWHERE COMMUNITY

Join the Elsewhere community and ask a question about South Korea 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.