Cost of living comparison

compared to

Cartago vs. Quito Cost of Living Summary

Cartago is 45.2% more expensive than Quito.

Restaurants
pay 56.4% more in Cartago
Groceries
pay 69.7% more in Cartago
Transportation
pay 92.2% more in Cartago
Housing
pay 73.4% more in Cartago
Childcare
pay 25.6% more in Cartago
Entertainment and Sports
pay 1.0% less in Cartago
Clothing
pay 0.3% more in Cartago

The cost of transportation, housing, groceries, restaurants, childcare, and clothing in Cartago are more expensive than in Quito. Notably, transportation is significantly more expensive in Cartago.

Cartago vs. Quito Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Cartago instead of Quito, you would:

pay 56.4% more for restaurants

 
Quito
Cartago
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant $5.00
 
$7.93
CRC3,874.03
Fast food combo meal
McDonalds, or similar
$7.38
 
$8.92
CRC4,358.28
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz) $1.13
 
$1.98
CRC968.51

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pay 69.7% more for groceries

 
Quito
Cartago
Bread
1 loaf
$1.62
 
$2.17
CRC1,062.13
Local cheese (8 oz) $4.18
 
$3.97
CRC1,937.02
Milk (1 gallon) $4.06
 
$7.79
CRC3,804.39

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pay 92.2% more for transportation

 
Quito
Cartago
Gasoline (1 gallon) $2.63
 
$5.39
CRC2,634.01
Monthly public transit pass $27.00
 
$69.61
CRC34,003.04
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition) $20,000.00
 
$37,671.80
CRC18,401,642.97

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pay 73.4% more for housing

 
Quito
Cartago
Internet connection
50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl
$28.44
 
$56.84
CRC27,763.88
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area $448.12
 
??
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center $317.19
 
??

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pay 25.6% more for childcare

 
Quito
Cartago
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly $283.25
 
$495.68
CRC242,126.88
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters $9,360.00
 
$7,137.82
CRC3,486,627.09

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pay 1.0% less for entertainment and sports

 
Quito
Cartago
Domestic/local beer (1 pint) $2.38
 
$1.98
CRC968.51
Cappuccino in mid-range area $2.96
 
$3.86
CRC1,884.12
Pack of cigarettes
Marlboro or similar
$6.00
 
$5.16
CRC2,518.12

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pay 0.3% more for clothing

 
Quito
Cartago
Regular jeans
Levi's brand
$60.15
 
$61.79
CRC30,185.15
Regular dress
from H&M or similar store
$46.83
 
$51.35
CRC25,083.06
Running shoes
Nike or Adidas
$105.42
 
$109.05
CRC53,267.91

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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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