Cost of living comparison

Estonia

compared to

Costa Rica

Costa Rica vs. Estonia Cost of Living Summary

Costa Rica is 22.1% more expensive than Estonia overall.

Restaurants: pay 12.6% less in Costa Rica
Groceries: pay 69.3% more in Costa Rica
Transportation: pay 12.1% more in Costa Rica
Housing: pay 24.2% more in Costa Rica
Childcare: pay 71.8% more in Costa Rica
Entertainment and Sports: pay 10.1% less in Costa Rica
Clothing: pay 4.8% less in Costa Rica

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

Planning a move to Costa Rica? Get up to 5 free, no-obligation quotes from vetted international movers. Get free quotes →

Costa Rica vs. Estonia Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 12.6% less for restaurants

	Estonia	Costa Rica
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$14.56 €12.96	$11.15 CRC5,073.49	-23.4%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$10.34 €9.20	$10.85 CRC4,937.06	+5.0%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$2.57 €2.29	$2.43 CRC1,106.42	-5.4%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$2.32 €2.06	$1.79 CRC813.02	-22.9%
Average			-12.6%

Estonia vs. Costa Rica - Cost of restaurants

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 69.3% more for groceries

	Estonia	Costa Rica
Bread 1 loaf	$1.41 €1.25	$2.77 CRC1,261.89	+97.3%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$5.39 €4.80	$4.82 CRC2,192.99	-10.6%
Milk (1 gallon)	$4.14 €3.69	$8.37 CRC3,808.87	+102.0%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.81 €2.50	$3.63 CRC1,653.83	+29.5%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$3.93 €3.50	$4.40 CRC2,002.78	+12.0%
Apples (1 lb)	$0.91 €0.81	$2.20 CRC1,003.04	+141.2%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.65 €0.58	$0.73 CRC329.98	+11.2%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.08 €0.96	$1.67 CRC758.13	+53.8%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.24 €1.10	$1.43 CRC652.25	+15.6%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.37 €0.33	$1.44 CRC655.18	+288.6%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.39 €0.35	$1.33 CRC603.93	+241.0%
Average			+69.3%

Estonia vs. Costa Rica - Cost of groceries

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 12.1% more for transportation

	Estonia	Costa Rica
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$7.27 €6.47	$5.78 CRC2,631.55	-20.4%
Monthly public transit pass	$26.37 €23.47	$66.80 CRC30,402.28	+153.3%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$27,988.91 €24,911.14	$22,830.95 CRC10M	-18.4%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$12.52 €11.14	$15.71 CRC7,149.33	+25.5%
Average			+12.1%

Estonia vs. Costa Rica - Cost of transportation

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 24.2% more for housing

	Estonia	Costa Rica
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$31.76 €28.27	$51.66 CRC23,510.13	+62.6%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$512.18 €455.86	$834.08 CRC380K	+62.9%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$387.48 €344.88	$597.43 CRC272K	+54.2%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$221.29 €196.96	$68.56 CRC31,201.98	-69.0%
Average			+24.2%

Estonia vs. Costa Rica - Cost of housing

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 71.8% more for childcare

	Estonia	Costa Rica
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$324.72 €289.02	$742.27 CRC338K	+128.6%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$10,400.01 €9,256.38	$13,434.66 CRC6M	+29.2%
Average			+71.8%

Estonia vs. Costa Rica - Cost of childcare

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 10.1% less for entertainment and sports

	Estonia	Costa Rica
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$5.67 €5.04	$2.91 CRC1,323.10	-48.7%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$4.06 €3.61	$4.06 CRC1,847.37
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$6.56 €5.84	$5.29 CRC2,409.48	-19.3%
Monthly membership at local gym	$45.01 €40.06	$66.37 CRC30,203.17	+47.5%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$9.62 €8.56	$7.92 CRC3,603.80	-17.7%
Average			-10.1%

Estonia vs. Costa Rica - Cost of entertainment and sports

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 4.8% less for clothing

	Estonia	Costa Rica
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$97.14 €86.46	$67.50 CRC30,717.09	-30.5%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$49.85 €44.37	$49.52 CRC22,538.15	-0.7%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$94.67 €84.26	$122.64 CRC55,811.48	+29.5%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$118.18 €105.19	$108.52 CRC49,389.03	-8.2%
Average			-4.8%

Estonia vs. Costa Rica - Cost of clothing

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

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

Compare further: Estonia vs. Costa Rica

Salary Calculator · Free tool

What salary would you need in Costa Rica?

Quality of Life Comparison · 20 statistics

Make 42.0% less money in Costa Rica

Size Comparison · See true size

Estonia is around the same size as Costa Rica.

Moving from Estonia to Costa Rica · UN DESA 2020

3 people born in Estonia live in Costa Rica.

More cost comparisons

Estonia vs.

United Kingdom

Estonia vs.

Russia

Estonia vs.

Finland

Estonia vs.

United States

Estonia vs.

Germany

Estonia vs.

Ukraine

Estonia vs.

Sweden

Estonia vs.

Norway

Share this

Compare by city

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

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 Estonia

Add prices for Costa Rica

Ask the Elsewhere Community

Join the Elsewhere community and ask a question about Costa Rica or Estonia. It's a free, question-and-answer based forum to discuss what life is like in countries and cities around the world.