Cost of living comparison

compared to

Costa Rica vs. Mexico Cost of Living Summary

Costa Rica is 36.9% more expensive than Mexico overall.

Restaurants: pay 26.6% more in Costa Rica
Groceries: pay 23.9% more in Costa Rica
Transportation: pay 33.0% more in Costa Rica
Housing: pay 39.7% more in Costa Rica
Childcare: pay 94.9% more in Costa Rica
Entertainment and Sports: pay 28.9% more in Costa Rica
Clothing: pay 11.2% more in Costa Rica

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

Costa Rica vs. Mexico Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 26.6% more for restaurants

	Mexico	Costa Rica
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$10.13 MX$187.27	$9.77 CRC4,884.76	-3.6%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$8.37 MX$154.63	$9.53 CRC4,766.28	+13.9%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.38 MX$25.43	$2.00 CRC1,000.81	+45.5%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$1.04 MX$19.27	$1.57 CRC785.81	+50.7%
Average			+26.6%

Mexico vs. Costa Rica - Cost of restaurants

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pay 23.9% more for groceries

	Mexico	Costa Rica
Bread 1 loaf	$2.62 MX$48.36	$2.54 CRC1,269.90	-2.9%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$4.26 MX$78.74	$4.50 CRC2,250.55	+5.6%
Milk (1 gallon)	$5.95 MX$109.92	$7.52 CRC3,761.42	+26.5%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.45 MX$45.27	$2.80 CRC1,397.57	+14.1%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$3.68 MX$67.92	$3.83 CRC1,913.49	+4.1%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.27 MX$23.41	$1.78 CRC891.81	+40.8%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.67 MX$12.43	$0.62 CRC307.46	-8.6%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.93 MX$17.12	$1.65 CRC823.62	+77.8%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.83 MX$15.25	$1.24 CRC620.94	+50.5%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.90 MX$16.59	$1.28 CRC638.82	+42.3%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.98 MX$18.09	$1.10 CRC550.20	+12.4%
Average			+23.9%

Mexico vs. Costa Rica - Cost of groceries

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pay 33.0% more for transportation

	Mexico	Costa Rica
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$5.00 MX$92.44	$5.47 CRC2,734.56	+9.3%
Monthly public transit pass	$28.70 MX$530.34	$54.59 CRC27,290.73	+90.2%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$23,996.60 MX$443,413.94	$36,444.91 CRC18,220,071.91	+51.9%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$19.51 MX$360.54	$15.68 CRC7,838.40	-19.6%
Average			+33.0%

Mexico vs. Costa Rica - Cost of transportation

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pay 39.7% more for housing

	Mexico	Costa Rica
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$29.35 MX$542.37	$49.17 CRC24,583.84	+67.5%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$587.67 MX$10,859.01	$805.28 CRC402,585.90	+37.0%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$443.50 MX$8,194.99	$555.89 CRC277,907.28	+25.3%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$49.22 MX$909.58	$63.57 CRC31,780.76	+29.1%
Average			+39.7%

Mexico vs. Costa Rica - Cost of housing

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pay 94.9% more for childcare

	Mexico	Costa Rica
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$236.91 MX$4,377.67	$517.09 CRC258,508.95	+118.3%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$5,569.03 MX$102,905.67	$9,552.94 CRC4,775,846.13	+71.5%
Average			+94.9%

Mexico vs. Costa Rica - Cost of childcare

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pay 28.9% more for entertainment and sports

	Mexico	Costa Rica
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$2.44 MX$45.02	$2.59 CRC1,293.06	+6.2%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.34 MX$61.70	$3.84 CRC1,919.13	+15.0%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$4.42 MX$81.61	$4.70 CRC2,349.42	+6.4%
Monthly membership at local gym	$39.27 MX$725.59	$58.68 CRC29,335.95	+49.4%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$5.43 MX$100.40	$9.11 CRC4,552.88	+67.6%
Average			+28.9%

Mexico vs. Costa Rica - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 11.2% more for clothing

	Mexico	Costa Rica
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$53.04 MX$980.06	$58.22 CRC29,104.31	+9.8%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$40.66 MX$751.24	$44.70 CRC22,348.22	+10.0%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$95.33 MX$1,761.61	$112.79 CRC56,388.26	+18.3%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$87.49 MX$1,616.63	$93.41 CRC46,697.34	+6.8%
Average			+11.2%

Mexico 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: November 2025

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