Cost of living comparison

Norway

compared to

Costa Rica

Costa Rica vs. Norway Cost of Living Summary

Costa Rica is 32.3% cheaper than Norway overall.

Restaurants: pay 41.7% less in Costa Rica
Groceries: pay 16.4% less in Costa Rica
Transportation: pay 35.7% less in Costa Rica
Housing: pay 44.3% less in Costa Rica
Childcare: pay 99.9% more in Costa Rica
Entertainment and Sports: pay 45.0% less in Costa Rica
Clothing: pay 21.2% less in Costa Rica

Expenses including entertainment and sports, housing, restaurants, transportation, clothing, and groceries are lower in Costa Rica. Notably, childcare is significantly more expensive in Costa Rica.

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Costa Rica vs. Norway Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 41.7% less for restaurants

	Norway	Costa Rica
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$22.46 NOK211.73	$11.15 CRC5,073.49	-50.4%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$15.20 NOK143.30	$10.85 CRC4,937.06	-28.6%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$3.98 NOK37.57	$2.43 CRC1,106.42	-39.0%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$3.16 NOK29.84	$1.79 CRC813.02	-43.6%
Average			-41.7%

Norway vs. Costa Rica - Cost of restaurants

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pay 16.4% less for groceries

	Norway	Costa Rica
Bread 1 loaf	$3.73 NOK35.18	$2.77 CRC1,261.89	-25.7%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$6.51 NOK61.37	$4.82 CRC2,192.99	-26.0%
Milk (1 gallon)	$9.11 NOK85.89	$8.37 CRC3,808.87	-8.1%
Eggs 1 dozen	$5.06 NOK47.73	$3.63 CRC1,653.83	-28.2%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$6.95 NOK65.50	$4.40 CRC2,002.78	-36.7%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.62 NOK15.25	$2.20 CRC1,003.04	+36.3%
Bananas (1 lb)	$1.22 NOK11.51	$0.73 CRC329.98	-40.6%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.65 NOK15.58	$1.67 CRC758.13	+0.8%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$2.31 NOK21.81	$1.43 CRC652.25	-38.0%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$1.20 NOK11.27	$1.44 CRC655.18	+20.5%
Onions (1 lb)	$1.34 NOK12.62	$1.33 CRC603.93	-0.8%
Average			-16.4%

Norway vs. Costa Rica - Cost of groceries

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pay 35.7% less for transportation

	Norway	Costa Rica
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$8.73 NOK82.31	$5.78 CRC2,631.55	-33.8%
Monthly public transit pass	$78.63 NOK741.28	$66.80 CRC30,402.28	-15.0%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$45,459.95 NOK429K	$22,830.95 CRC10M	-49.8%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$25.74 NOK242.62	$15.71 CRC7,149.33	-39.0%
Average			-35.7%

Norway vs. Costa Rica - Cost of transportation

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pay 44.3% less for housing

	Norway	Costa Rica
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$65.87 NOK621.01	$51.66 CRC23,510.13	-21.6%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$1,278.72 NOK12,055.43	$834.08 CRC380K	-34.8%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$1,052.00 NOK9,917.95	$597.43 CRC272K	-43.2%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$221.33 NOK2,086.60	$68.56 CRC31,201.98	-69.0%
Average			-44.3%

Norway vs. Costa Rica - Cost of housing

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pay 99.9% more for childcare

	Norway	Costa Rica
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$256.93 NOK2,422.26	$742.27 CRC338K	+188.9%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$9,715.88 NOK91,598.41	$13,434.66 CRC6M	+38.3%
Average			+99.9%

Norway vs. Costa Rica - Cost of childcare

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pay 45.0% less for entertainment and sports

	Norway	Costa Rica
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$11.32 NOK106.75	$2.91 CRC1,323.10	-74.3%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$5.55 NOK52.32	$4.06 CRC1,847.37	-26.9%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$16.96 NOK159.92	$5.29 CRC2,409.48	-68.8%
Monthly membership at local gym	$53.57 NOK505.04	$66.37 CRC30,203.17	+23.9%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$17.67 NOK166.62	$7.92 CRC3,603.80	-55.2%
Average			-45.0%

Norway vs. Costa Rica - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 21.2% less for clothing

	Norway	Costa Rica
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$102.56 NOK966.91	$67.50 CRC30,717.09	-34.2%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$56.21 NOK529.89	$49.52 CRC22,538.15	-11.9%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$125.90 NOK1,186.93	$122.64 CRC55,811.48	-2.6%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$159.02 NOK1,499.22	$108.52 CRC49,389.03	-31.8%
Average			-21.2%

Norway vs. Costa Rica - Cost of clothing

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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: Norway vs. Costa Rica

Salary Calculator · Free tool

What salary would you need in Costa Rica?

Quality of Life Comparison · 19 statistics

Make 78.9% less money in Costa Rica

Size Comparison · See true size

Norway is about 6 times bigger than Costa Rica.

Moving from Norway to Costa Rica · UN DESA 2020

91 people born in Norway live in Costa Rica.

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