Mexico is 19.7% cheaper than Costa Rica.

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

Display currency: USD

pay 13.6% less for restaurants

 
Costa Rica
Mexico
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant $9.05
CRC4,671.69
$10.14
MX$202.55
Fast food combo meal
McDonalds, or similar
$8.98
CRC4,635.06
$8.52
MX$170.22
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz) $1.93
CRC996.12
$1.35
MX$27.02

Improve prices ·

pay 15.2% less for groceries

 
Costa Rica
Mexico
Bread
1 loaf
$2.46
CRC1,267.28
$2.68
MX$53.53
Local cheese (8 oz) $3.95
CRC2,040.62
$4.17
MX$83.40
Milk (1 gallon) $6.91
CRC3,568.06
$5.88
MX$117.49

Improve prices ·

pay 11.1% less for transportation

 
Costa Rica
Mexico
Gasoline (1 gallon) $5.70
CRC2,939.60
$5.33
MX$106.47
Monthly public transit pass $45.78
CRC23,627.37
$28.94
MX$578.26
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition) $30,441.08
CRC15,711,679.65
$22,778.21
MX$455,197.50

Improve prices ·

pay 19.6% less for housing

 
Costa Rica
Mexico
Internet connection
50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl
$45.97
CRC23,724.64
$33.11
MX$661.70
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area $731.28
CRC377,438.28
$599.68
MX$11,984.01
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center $520.21
CRC268,500.67
$424.66
MX$8,486.43

Improve prices ·

pay 51.5% less for childcare

 
Costa Rica
Mexico
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly $476.14
CRC245,750.98
$230.47
MX$4,605.74
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters $9,916.17
CRC5,118,074.51
$4,822.04
MX$96,363.14

Improve prices ·

pay 15.3% less for entertainment and sports

 
Costa Rica
Mexico
Domestic/local beer (1 pint) $2.97
CRC1,531.48
$2.57
MX$51.39
Cappuccino in mid-range area $3.43
CRC1,771.17
$3.35
MX$67.04
Pack of cigarettes
Marlboro or similar
$4.33
CRC2,234.62
$4.34
MX$86.71

Improve prices ·

pay 11.5% less for clothing

 
Costa Rica
Mexico
Regular jeans
Levi's brand
$71.44
CRC36,870.65
$54.74
MX$1,093.91
Regular dress
from H&M or similar store
$46.89
CRC24,202.66
$42.64
MX$852.01
Running shoes
Nike or Adidas
$105.63
CRC54,517.97
$96.11
MX$1,920.67

Improve prices ·
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: October 2024
Share this

ASK THE ELSEWHERE COMMUNITY

Join the Elsewhere community and ask a question about Mexico or Costa Rica. It's a free, question-and-answer based forum to discuss what life is like in countries and cities around the world.

Compare by city

For example, try comparing the cost of living in San Jose vs. Mexico City

Help us improve these prices

MyLifeElsewhere is a collaborative project. Please enter price information for your location to help assist us in making these comparisons more accurate. Learn more