Country size comparison
compared to
Iowa is about 2.8 times bigger than Costa Rica.
Costa Rica is approximately 51,100 sq km, while Iowa is approximately 144,701 sq km, making Iowa 183% larger than Costa Rica. Meanwhile, the population of Costa Rica is ~5.2 million people (2.2 million fewer people live in Iowa).
Tip:
This to-scale comparison of
Costa Rica
vs.
Iowa
uses the Mercator projection, which distorts the size of regions near the poles.
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Compare further: Iowa vs. Costa Rica
Flip Comparison · See true size
See Iowa on top of Costa Rica
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Quality of Life Comparison · 4 statistics
Be 2.5 times more likely to be unemployed in Costa Rica
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Cost of Living Comparison · 7 categories - 2026 data
Costa Rica is 12.7% cheaper than Iowa
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Moving from Iowa to Costa Rica · Cost, visas & climate
Compare cost of living, salary and climate.
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