Cost of living comparison

Poland

compared to

Costa Rica

Costa Rica vs. Poland Cost of Living Summary

Costa Rica is 26.9% more expensive than Poland overall.

Restaurants: pay 17.7% more in Costa Rica
Groceries: pay 89.3% more in Costa Rica
Transportation: pay 15.6% more in Costa Rica
Housing: pay 4.6% more in Costa Rica
Childcare: pay 90.3% more in Costa Rica
Entertainment and Sports: pay 19.5% more in Costa Rica
Clothing: pay 16.3% more in Costa Rica

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

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Costa Rica vs. Poland Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 17.7% more for restaurants

	Poland	Costa Rica
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$10.02 PLN38.91	$11.15 CRC5,073.49	+11.3%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$8.33 PLN32.36	$10.85 CRC4,937.06	+30.2%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$2.06 PLN7.99	$2.43 CRC1,106.42	+18.2%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$1.69 PLN6.55	$1.79 CRC813.02	+5.9%
Average			+17.7%

Poland vs. Costa Rica - Cost of restaurants

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pay 89.3% more for groceries

	Poland	Costa Rica
Bread 1 loaf	$1.26 PLN4.91	$2.77 CRC1,261.89	+119.5%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$4.34 PLN16.87	$4.82 CRC2,192.99	+10.9%
Milk (1 gallon)	$3.75 PLN14.56	$8.37 CRC3,808.87	+123.3%
Eggs 1 dozen	$3.32 PLN12.89	$3.63 CRC1,653.83	+9.5%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.84 PLN11.04	$4.40 CRC2,002.78	+54.9%
Apples (1 lb)	$0.51 PLN1.99	$2.20 CRC1,003.04	+331.2%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.72 PLN2.79	$0.73 CRC329.98	+1.0%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.77 PLN3.00	$1.67 CRC758.13	+115.8%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.22 PLN4.76	$1.43 CRC652.25	+17.1%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.38 PLN1.49	$1.44 CRC655.18	+276.6%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.45 PLN1.76	$1.33 CRC603.93	+192.7%
Average			+89.3%

Poland vs. Costa Rica - Cost of groceries

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pay 15.6% more for transportation

	Poland	Costa Rica
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$6.15 PLN23.90	$5.78 CRC2,631.55	-6.0%
Monthly public transit pass	$30.85 PLN119.83	$66.80 CRC30,402.28	+116.6%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$30,440.20 PLN118K	$22,830.95 CRC10M	-25.0%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$8.65 PLN33.58	$15.71 CRC7,149.33	+81.7%
Average			+15.6%

Poland vs. Costa Rica - Cost of transportation

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pay 4.6% more for housing

	Poland	Costa Rica
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$16.87 PLN65.54	$51.66 CRC23,510.13	+206.2%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$635.08 PLN2,467.09	$834.08 CRC380K	+31.3%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$525.98 PLN2,043.28	$597.43 CRC272K	+13.6%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$213.80 PLN830.55	$68.56 CRC31,201.98	-67.9%
Average			+4.6%

Poland vs. Costa Rica - Cost of housing

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pay 90.3% more for childcare

	Poland	Costa Rica
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$375.24 PLN1,457.68	$742.27 CRC338K	+97.8%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$7,342.23 PLN28,522.48	$13,434.66 CRC6M	+83.0%
Average			+90.3%

Poland vs. Costa Rica - Cost of childcare

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pay 19.5% more for entertainment and sports

	Poland	Costa Rica
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$3.44 PLN13.36	$2.91 CRC1,323.10	-15.4%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.38 PLN13.13	$4.06 CRC1,847.37	+20.1%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$5.25 PLN20.38	$5.29 CRC2,409.48	+0.9%
Monthly membership at local gym	$36.23 PLN140.74	$66.37 CRC30,203.17	+83.2%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$7.22 PLN28.04	$7.92 CRC3,603.80	+9.7%
Average			+19.5%

Poland vs. Costa Rica - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 16.3% more for clothing

	Poland	Costa Rica
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$81.02 PLN314.75	$67.50 CRC30,717.09	-16.7%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$36.65 PLN142.38	$49.52 CRC22,538.15	+35.1%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$85.93 PLN333.81	$122.64 CRC55,811.48	+42.7%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$95.22 PLN369.91	$108.52 CRC49,389.03	+14.0%
Average			+16.3%

Poland 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: Poland vs. Costa Rica

Salary Calculator · Free tool

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Quality of Life Comparison · 21 statistics

Be 2.3 times more likely to be unemployed in Costa Rica

Size Comparison · See true size

Poland is about 6 times bigger than Costa Rica.

Moving from Poland to Costa Rica · UN DESA 2020

361 people born in Poland live in Costa Rica.

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