Cost of living comparison

compared to

Costa Rica vs. Dominican Republic Cost of Living Summary

Costa Rica is 59.8% more expensive than Dominican Republic overall.

Restaurants: pay 90.3% more in Costa Rica
Groceries: pay 61.1% more in Costa Rica
Transportation: pay 25.3% more in Costa Rica
Housing: pay 50.6% more in Costa Rica
Childcare: pay 2.2 times more in Costa Rica
Entertainment and Sports: pay 52.8% more in Costa Rica
Clothing: pay 20.2% more in Costa Rica

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

Costa Rica vs. Dominican Republic Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Costa Rica instead of Dominican Republic, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 90.3% more for restaurants

	Dominican Republic	Costa Rica
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$6.57 DOP410.40	$9.77 CRC4,857.39	+48.7%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$7.06 DOP441.19	$9.53 CRC4,739.57	+35.0%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.92 DOP57.76	$2.00 CRC995.21	+116.5%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.60 DOP37.61	$1.57 CRC781.41	+161.0%
Average			+90.3%

Dominican Republic vs. Costa Rica - Cost of restaurants

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pay 61.1% more for groceries

	Dominican Republic	Costa Rica
Bread 1 loaf	$1.44 DOP89.98	$2.54 CRC1,262.79	+76.3%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$3.10 DOP193.39	$4.50 CRC2,237.94	+45.4%
Milk (1 gallon)	$4.52 DOP282.20	$7.52 CRC3,740.34	+66.5%
Eggs 1 dozen	$1.74 DOP108.73	$2.80 CRC1,389.74	+60.6%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.20 DOP137.15	$3.83 CRC1,902.77	+74.3%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.17 DOP73.35	$1.78 CRC886.81	+51.9%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.37 DOP23.25	$0.62 CRC305.74	+65.3%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.09 DOP68.38	$1.65 CRC819.01	+50.5%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.70 DOP43.90	$1.24 CRC617.46	+76.7%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.67 DOP41.99	$1.28 CRC635.24	+90.1%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.96 DOP60.03	$1.10 CRC547.12	+14.5%
Average			+61.1%

Dominican Republic vs. Costa Rica - Cost of groceries

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pay 25.3% more for transportation

	Dominican Republic	Costa Rica
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$4.63 DOP289.40	$5.47 CRC2,719.23	+18.1%
Monthly public transit pass	$31.27 DOP1,953.45	$54.59 CRC27,137.81	+74.6%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$27,585.12 DOP1,723,103.52	$36,444.91 CRC18,117,972.89	+32.1%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$20.50 DOP1,280.68	$15.68 CRC7,794.48	-23.5%
Average			+25.3%

Dominican Republic vs. Costa Rica - Cost of transportation

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pay 50.6% more for housing

	Dominican Republic	Costa Rica
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$31.80 DOP1,986.14	$49.17 CRC24,446.08	+54.7%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$495.90 DOP30,976.64	$805.28 CRC400,329.95	+62.4%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$352.53 DOP22,021.04	$555.89 CRC276,349.98	+57.7%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$49.81 DOP3,111.25	$63.57 CRC31,602.67	+27.6%
Average			+50.6%

Dominican Republic vs. Costa Rica - Cost of housing

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pay 2.2 times more for childcare

	Dominican Republic	Costa Rica
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$203.07 DOP12,685.05	$517.09 CRC257,060.35	+154.6%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$5,232.64 DOP326,857.01	$9,552.94 CRC4,749,083.93	+82.6%
Average			+118.6%

Dominican Republic vs. Costa Rica - Cost of childcare

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pay 52.8% more for entertainment and sports

	Dominican Republic	Costa Rica
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$2.40 DOP149.71	$2.59 CRC1,285.81	+7.9%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$1.93 DOP120.59	$3.84 CRC1,908.38	+98.8%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$4.53 DOP283.04	$4.70 CRC2,336.25	+3.7%
Monthly membership at local gym	$28.27 DOP1,765.76	$58.68 CRC29,171.56	+107.6%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$6.24 DOP389.50	$9.11 CRC4,527.37	+46.0%
Average			+52.8%

Dominican Republic vs. Costa Rica - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 20.2% more for clothing

	Dominican Republic	Costa Rica
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$44.65 DOP2,788.98	$58.22 CRC28,941.22	+30.4%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$43.79 DOP2,735.23	$44.70 CRC22,222.99	+2.1%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$75.83 DOP4,736.94	$112.79 CRC56,072.28	+48.7%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$93.99 DOP5,871.20	$93.41 CRC46,435.67	-0.6%
Average			+20.2%

Dominican Republic vs. Costa Rica - 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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