Cost of living comparison

Athens, Greece

compared to

Costa Rica

Costa Rica vs. Athens Cost of Living Summary

Costa Rica is 12.6% more expensive than Athens.

Restaurants: pay 31.2% more in Costa Rica
Groceries: pay 38.1% more in Costa Rica
Transportation: pay 18.5% more in Costa Rica
Housing: pay 3.6% more in Costa Rica
Childcare: pay 7.3% more in Costa Rica
Entertainment and Sports: pay 9.3% less in Costa Rica
Clothing: pay 1.5% less in Costa Rica

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

Costa Rica vs. Athens Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 31.2% more for restaurants

	Athens	Costa Rica
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$16.08 €13.75	$9.75 CRC4,914.81	-39.4%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$9.65 €8.25	$9.08 CRC4,579.02	-5.9%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$2.06 €1.76	$2.01 CRC1,013.78	-2.4%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.55 €0.47	$1.49 CRC752.06	+172.5%
Average			+31.2%

Athens vs. Costa Rica - Cost of restaurants

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pay 38.1% more for groceries

	Athens	Costa Rica
Bread 1 loaf	$1.27 €1.09	$2.53 CRC1,276.77	+98.7%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$6.59 €5.64	$3.76 CRC1,897.23	-42.9%
Milk (1 gallon)	$6.29 €5.38	$6.98 CRC3,517.37	+10.9%
Eggs 1 dozen	$4.50 €3.85	$3.21 CRC1,619.65	-28.7%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$4.89 €4.18	$3.97 CRC2,002.20	-18.8%
Apples (1 lb)	$0.93 €0.79	$1.79 CRC902.23	+92.6%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.89 €0.77	$0.62 CRC311.05	-31.0%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.60 €0.51	$1.22 CRC613.33	+102.5%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.93 €0.79	$1.22 CRC615.98	+31.9%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.57 €0.49	$1.09 CRC551.77	+91.9%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.53 €0.45	$1.11 CRC561.56	+111.8%
Average			+38.1%

Athens vs. Costa Rica - Cost of groceries

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pay 18.5% more for transportation

	Athens	Costa Rica
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$7.64 €6.53	$5.63 CRC2,837.24	-26.3%
Monthly public transit pass	$30.01 €25.67	$49.00 CRC24,706.13	+63.3%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$30,384.48 €25,993.93	$35,063.37 CRC17,679,564.44	+15.4%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$12.86 €11.00	$15.62 CRC7,877.00	+21.5%
Average			+18.5%

Athens vs. Costa Rica - Cost of transportation

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pay 3.6% more for housing

	Athens	Costa Rica
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$32.55 €27.85	$48.50 CRC24,454.77	+49.0%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$634.68 €542.97	$778.04 CRC392,300.18	+22.6%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$557.32 €476.78	$547.50 CRC276,060.73	-1.8%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$153.41 €131.24	$68.26 CRC34,416.73	-55.5%
Average			+3.6%

Athens vs. Costa Rica - Cost of housing

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pay 7.3% more for childcare

	Athens	Costa Rica
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$463.20 €396.27	$519.07 CRC261,722.93	+12.1%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$10,722.29 €9,172.92	$10,987.74 CRC5,540,212.02	+2.5%
Average			+7.3%

Athens vs. Costa Rica - Cost of childcare

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pay 9.3% less for entertainment and sports

	Athens	Costa Rica
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$5.36 €4.58	$2.73 CRC1,375.08	-49.1%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.71 €3.17	$3.65 CRC1,842.53	-1.4%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$4.88 €4.17	$4.58 CRC2,310.48	-6.0%
Monthly membership at local gym	$49.36 €42.23	$59.46 CRC29,981.06	+20.5%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$9.65 €8.25	$8.63 CRC4,349.34	-10.6%
Average			-9.3%

Athens vs. Costa Rica - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 1.5% less for clothing

	Athens	Costa Rica
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$86.11 €73.67	$65.32 CRC32,937.33	-24.1%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$38.32 €32.79	$44.54 CRC22,458.02	+16.2%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$93.75 €80.21	$110.39 CRC55,658.31	+17.7%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$115.38 €98.71	$97.22 CRC49,018.44	-15.7%
Average			-1.5%

Athens 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: July 2025

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