Cost of living comparison

compared to

Costa Rica vs. Saint Lucia Cost of Living Summary

Costa Rica is 28.6% more expensive than Saint Lucia overall.

Restaurants: pay 31.4% more in Costa Rica
Groceries: pay 17.9% less in Costa Rica
Transportation: pay 10.3% more in Costa Rica
Housing: pay 29.1% more in Costa Rica
Childcare: pay 2.6 times more in Costa Rica
Entertainment and Sports: pay 6.0% less in Costa Rica
Clothing: pay 6.4% less in Costa Rica

The cost of childcare, restaurants, housing, and transportation in Costa Rica are more expensive than in Saint Lucia. Expenses including groceries, clothing, and entertainment and sports are lower in Costa Rica. Notably, childcare is significantly more expensive in Costa Rica.

Costa Rica vs. Saint Lucia Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Costa Rica instead of Saint Lucia, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 31.4% more for restaurants

	Saint Lucia	Costa Rica
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$7.40 EC$20.00	$9.77 CRC4,556.03	+32.0%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$7.40 EC$20.00	$9.53 CRC4,445.52	+28.8%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.94 EC$5.25	$2.00 CRC933.46	+3.1%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.97 EC$2.63	$1.57 CRC732.93	+61.8%
Average			+31.4%

Saint Lucia vs. Costa Rica - Cost of restaurants

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pay 17.9% less for groceries

	Saint Lucia	Costa Rica
Bread 1 loaf	$1.67 EC$4.52	$2.54 CRC1,184.44	+51.9%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$5.61 EC$15.17	$4.50 CRC2,099.09	-19.8%
Milk (1 gallon)	$7.76 EC$20.96	$7.52 CRC3,508.28	-3.0%
Eggs 1 dozen	$4.24 EC$11.46	$2.80 CRC1,303.52	-34.1%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$4.41 EC$11.93	$3.83 CRC1,784.72	-13.3%
Apples (1 lb)	$3.43 EC$9.27	$1.78 CRC831.79	-48.0%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.75 EC$2.04	$0.62 CRC286.77	-18.4%
Oranges (1 lb)	$2.86 EC$7.72	$1.65 CRC768.19	-42.3%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$3.01 EC$8.13	$1.24 CRC579.15	-58.7%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$2.62 EC$7.09	$1.28 CRC595.83	-51.3%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.78 EC$2.12	$1.10 CRC513.18	+40.3%
Average			-17.9%

Saint Lucia vs. Costa Rica - Cost of groceries

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pay 10.3% more for transportation

	Saint Lucia	Costa Rica
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$5.85 EC$15.82	$5.47 CRC2,550.53	-6.5%
Monthly public transit pass	??	$54.59 CRC25,454.13
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$28,676.62 EC$77,500.00	$36,444.91 CRC17M	+27.1%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	??	$15.68 CRC7,310.89
Average			+10.3%

Saint Lucia vs. Costa Rica - Cost of transportation

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pay 29.1% more for housing

	Saint Lucia	Costa Rica
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$41.07 EC$111.00	$49.17 CRC22,929.41	+19.7%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$461.11 EC$1,246.17	$805.28 CRC375K	+74.6%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$391.61 EC$1,058.33	$555.89 CRC259K	+42.0%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$79.23 EC$214.12	$63.57 CRC29,641.99	-19.8%
Average			+29.1%

Saint Lucia vs. Costa Rica - Cost of housing

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pay 2.6 times more for childcare

	Saint Lucia	Costa Rica
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$198.89 EC$537.50	$517.09 CRC241K	+160.0%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	??	$9,552.94 CRC4M
Average			+160.0%

Saint Lucia vs. Costa Rica - Cost of childcare

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pay 6.0% less for entertainment and sports

	Saint Lucia	Costa Rica
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$3.89 EC$10.51	$2.59 CRC1,206.04	-33.5%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.70 EC$10.00	$3.84 CRC1,789.98	+3.7%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$9.25 EC$25.00	$4.70 CRC2,191.31	-49.2%
Monthly membership at local gym	$49.03 EC$132.50	$58.68 CRC27,361.71	+19.7%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$7.03 EC$19.00	$9.11 CRC4,246.48	+29.5%
Average			-6.0%

Saint Lucia vs. Costa Rica - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 6.4% less for clothing

	Saint Lucia	Costa Rica
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$50.57 EC$136.67	$58.22 CRC27,145.66	+15.1%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$53.96 EC$145.83	$44.70 CRC20,844.24	-17.2%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$107.92 EC$291.67	$112.79 CRC52,593.47	+4.5%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$129.51 EC$350.00	$93.41 CRC43,554.72	-27.9%
Average			-6.4%

Saint Lucia 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: March 2026

Compare further: Saint Lucia vs. Costa Rica

Quality of Life Comparison · 8 statistics

Be 25.2% less likely to be unemployed in Costa Rica

Size Comparison · See true size

Saint Lucia is about 83 times smaller than Costa Rica.

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