Cost of living comparison

compared to

Costa Rica vs. Northern Mariana Islands Cost of Living Summary

Costa Rica is 9.3% more expensive than Northern Mariana Islands overall.

Restaurants: pay 1.0% more in Costa Rica
Groceries: pay 23.2% less in Costa Rica
Transportation: pay 9.5% less in Costa Rica
Housing: pay 10.2% less in Costa Rica
Childcare: pay 59.2% more in Costa Rica
Entertainment and Sports: pay 11.2% less in Costa Rica
Clothing: pay 59.2% more in Costa Rica

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

Costa Rica vs. Northern Mariana Islands Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Costa Rica instead of Northern Mariana Islands, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 1.0% more for restaurants

	Northern Mariana Islands	Costa Rica
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$11.50	$9.77 CRC4,857.39	-15.0%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$12.00	$9.53 CRC4,739.57	-20.6%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.67	$2.00 CRC995.21	+20.1%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$1.32	$1.57 CRC781.41	+19.4%
Average			+1.0%

Northern Mariana Islands vs. Costa Rica - Cost of restaurants

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pay 23.2% less for groceries

	Northern Mariana Islands	Costa Rica
Bread 1 loaf	$3.33	$2.54 CRC1,262.79	-23.8%
Local cheese (8 oz)	??	$4.50 CRC2,237.94
Milk (1 gallon)	$8.44	$7.52 CRC3,740.34	-10.8%
Eggs 1 dozen	$6.33	$2.80 CRC1,389.74	-55.8%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$6.00	$3.83 CRC1,902.77	-36.2%
Apples (1 lb)	$2.99	$1.78 CRC886.81	-40.3%
Bananas (1 lb)	$1.00	$0.62 CRC305.74	-38.5%
Oranges (1 lb)	$2.99	$1.65 CRC819.01	-44.9%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	??	$1.24 CRC617.46
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.95	$1.28 CRC635.24	+35.0%
Onions (1 lb)	$1.03	$1.10 CRC547.12	+6.4%
Average			-23.2%

Northern Mariana Islands vs. Costa Rica - Cost of groceries

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pay 9.5% less for transportation

	Northern Mariana Islands	Costa Rica
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$5.49	$5.47 CRC2,719.23	-0.3%
Monthly public transit pass	??	$54.59 CRC27,137.81
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$36,999.00	$36,444.91 CRC18,117,972.89	-1.5%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$21.41	$15.68 CRC7,794.48	-26.8%
Average			-9.5%

Northern Mariana Islands vs. Costa Rica - Cost of transportation

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pay 10.2% less for housing

	Northern Mariana Islands	Costa Rica
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$60.00	$49.17 CRC24,446.08	-18.0%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$625.00	$805.28 CRC400,329.95	+28.8%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$450.00	$555.89 CRC276,349.98	+23.5%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$254.42	$63.57 CRC31,602.67	-75.0%
Average			-10.2%

Northern Mariana Islands vs. Costa Rica - Cost of housing

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pay 59.2% more for childcare

	Northern Mariana Islands	Costa Rica
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	??	$517.09 CRC257,060.35
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$6,000.00	$9,552.94 CRC4,749,083.93	+59.2%
Average			+59.2%

Northern Mariana Islands vs. Costa Rica - Cost of childcare

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pay 11.2% less for entertainment and sports

	Northern Mariana Islands	Costa Rica
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$6.00	$2.59 CRC1,285.81	-56.9%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$5.12	$3.84 CRC1,908.38	-25.1%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	??	$4.70 CRC2,336.25
Monthly membership at local gym	$47.50	$58.68 CRC29,171.56	+23.5%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$8.00	$9.11 CRC4,527.37	+13.8%
Average			-11.2%

Northern Mariana Islands vs. Costa Rica - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 59.2% more for clothing

	Northern Mariana Islands	Costa Rica
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$30.00	$58.22 CRC28,941.22	+94.1%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$40.00	$44.70 CRC22,222.99	+11.8%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$70.00	$112.79 CRC56,072.28	+61.1%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$55.00	$93.41 CRC46,435.67	+69.8%
Average			+59.2%

Northern Mariana Islands 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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