Cost of living comparison

Bangkok, Thailand

compared to

Costa Rica

Costa Rica vs. Bangkok Cost of Living Summary

Costa Rica is 55.8% more expensive than Bangkok.

Restaurants: pay 3.3 times more in Costa Rica
Groceries: pay 40.5% more in Costa Rica
Transportation: pay 16.3% more in Costa Rica
Housing: pay 83.7% more in Costa Rica
Childcare: pay 17.4% less in Costa Rica
Entertainment and Sports: pay 19.0% more in Costa Rica
Clothing: pay 16.3% more in Costa Rica

The cost of restaurants, housing, groceries, entertainment and sports, transportation, and clothing in Costa Rica are more expensive than in Bangkok. Notably, restaurants and housing are significantly more expensive in Costa Rica.

Costa Rica vs. Bangkok Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 3.3 times more for restaurants

	Bangkok	Costa Rica
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$2.91 THB99.55	$9.75 CRC4,910.60	+234.6%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$5.83 THB199.10	$9.08 CRC4,575.11	+55.9%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.62 THB21.04	$2.01 CRC1,012.91	+226.5%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.29 THB9.97	$1.49 CRC751.42	+411.3%
Average			+232.1%

Bangkok vs. Costa Rica - Cost of restaurants

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pay 40.5% more for groceries

	Bangkok	Costa Rica
Bread 1 loaf	$1.52 THB52.02	$2.53 CRC1,275.68	+66.4%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$11.74 THB401.21	$3.76 CRC1,895.61	-67.9%
Milk (1 gallon)	$7.32 THB250.12	$6.98 CRC3,514.36	-4.7%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.27 THB77.65	$3.21 CRC1,618.26	+41.4%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$1.31 THB44.93	$3.97 CRC2,000.48	+202.0%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.47 THB50.28	$1.79 CRC901.46	+21.6%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.73 THB24.83	$0.62 CRC310.78	-15.1%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.04 THB35.38	$1.22 CRC612.81	+17.5%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.80 THB27.50	$1.22 CRC615.45	+51.8%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.71 THB24.35	$1.09 CRC551.29	+53.6%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.62 THB21.27	$1.11 CRC561.08	+78.9%
Average			+40.5%

Bangkok vs. Costa Rica - Cost of groceries

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pay 16.3% more for transportation

	Bangkok	Costa Rica
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$4.47 THB152.60	$5.63 CRC2,834.82	+26.0%
Monthly public transit pass	$39.32 THB1,343.93	$49.00 CRC24,684.99	+24.6%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$55,345.18 THB1,891,463.23	$35,063.37 CRC17,664,435.33	-36.6%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$10.34 THB353.40	$15.62 CRC7,870.26	+51.1%
Average			+16.3%

Bangkok vs. Costa Rica - Cost of transportation

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pay 83.7% more for housing

	Bangkok	Costa Rica
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$15.36 THB524.94	$48.50 CRC24,433.84	+215.8%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$571.31 THB19,524.78	$778.04 CRC391,964.48	+36.2%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$301.88 THB10,317.07	$547.50 CRC275,824.49	+81.4%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$67.33 THB2,301.08	$68.26 CRC34,387.28	+1.4%
Average			+83.7%

Bangkok vs. Costa Rica - Cost of housing

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pay 17.4% less for childcare

	Bangkok	Costa Rica
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$632.63 THB21,620.72	$519.07 CRC261,498.97	-18.0%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$13,191.37 THB450,824.90	$10,987.74 CRC5,535,471.04	-16.7%
Average			-17.4%

Bangkok vs. Costa Rica - Cost of childcare

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pay 19.0% more for entertainment and sports

	Bangkok	Costa Rica
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$2.33 THB79.64	$2.73 CRC1,373.90	+17.0%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.58 THB88.30	$3.65 CRC1,840.96	+41.4%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$4.20 THB143.60	$4.58 CRC2,308.50	+9.1%
Monthly membership at local gym	$54.58 THB1,865.25	$59.46 CRC29,955.41	+8.9%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$7.28 THB248.88	$8.63 CRC4,345.61	+18.5%
Average			+19.0%

Bangkok vs. Costa Rica - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 16.3% more for clothing

	Bangkok	Costa Rica
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$55.27 THB1,888.84	$65.32 CRC32,909.14	+18.2%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$34.84 THB1,190.65	$44.54 CRC22,438.81	+27.8%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$97.10 THB3,318.32	$110.39 CRC55,610.68	+13.7%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$92.12 THB3,148.29	$97.22 CRC48,976.49	+5.5%
Average			+16.3%

Bangkok 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: April 2025

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