Cost of living comparison

compared to

Costa Rica vs. Barbados Cost of Living Summary

Costa Rica is 8.1% cheaper than Barbados overall.

Restaurants: pay 16.2% less in Costa Rica
Groceries: pay 38.3% less in Costa Rica
Transportation: pay 25.1% less in Costa Rica
Housing: pay 13.3% less in Costa Rica
Childcare: pay 69.5% more in Costa Rica
Entertainment and Sports: pay 19.6% less in Costa Rica
Clothing: pay 13.9% less in Costa Rica

Expenses including groceries, transportation, entertainment and sports, restaurants, clothing, and housing are lower in Costa Rica.

Costa Rica vs. Barbados Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 16.2% less for restaurants

	Barbados	Costa Rica
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$31.67 BBD63.33	$9.75 CRC4,990.88	-69.2%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$10.75 BBD21.50	$9.08 CRC4,649.90	-15.5%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.79 BBD3.58	$2.01 CRC1,029.47	+12.3%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$1.39 BBD2.77	$1.49 CRC763.70	+7.6%
Average			-16.2%

Barbados vs. Costa Rica - Cost of restaurants

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 38.3% less for groceries

	Barbados	Costa Rica
Bread 1 loaf	$2.57 BBD5.15	$2.53 CRC1,296.53	-1.6%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$7.32 BBD14.65	$3.76 CRC1,926.60	-48.6%
Milk (1 gallon)	$13.65 BBD27.30	$6.98 CRC3,571.81	-48.9%
Eggs 1 dozen	$5.22 BBD10.44	$3.21 CRC1,644.72	-38.4%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$6.15 BBD12.30	$3.97 CRC2,033.19	-35.4%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.78 BBD3.57	$1.79 CRC916.20	+0.3%
Bananas (1 lb)	$1.42 BBD2.83	$0.62 CRC315.86	-56.4%
Oranges (1 lb)	$2.52 BBD5.05	$1.22 CRC622.82	-51.8%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$2.65 BBD5.29	$1.22 CRC625.51	-53.8%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$1.92 BBD3.83	$1.09 CRC560.31	-42.9%
Onions (1 lb)	$1.98 BBD3.96	$1.11 CRC570.25	-43.8%
Average			-38.3%

Barbados vs. Costa Rica - Cost of groceries

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 25.1% less for transportation

	Barbados	Costa Rica
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$7.82 BBD15.64	$5.63 CRC2,881.16	-28.0%
Monthly public transit pass	$51.00 BBD102.00	$49.00 CRC25,088.53	-3.9%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$41,250.00 BBD82,500.00	$35,063.37 CRC17,953,207.21	-15.0%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$33.60 BBD67.20	$15.62 CRC7,998.92	-53.5%
Average			-25.1%

Barbados vs. Costa Rica - Cost of transportation

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 13.3% less for housing

	Barbados	Costa Rica
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$59.67 BBD119.33	$48.50 CRC24,833.27	-18.7%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$716.11 BBD1,432.22	$778.04 CRC398,372.17	+8.6%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$615.56 BBD1,231.11	$547.50 CRC280,333.57	-11.1%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$100.37 BBD200.74	$68.26 CRC34,949.43	-32.0%
Average			-13.3%

Barbados vs. Costa Rica - Cost of housing

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 69.5% more for childcare

	Barbados	Costa Rica
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$318.06 BBD636.11	$519.07 CRC265,773.86	+63.2%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$6,250.00 BBD12,500.00	$10,987.74 CRC5,625,962.94	+75.8%
Average			+69.5%

Barbados vs. Costa Rica - Cost of childcare

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 19.6% less for entertainment and sports

	Barbados	Costa Rica
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$2.43 BBD4.86	$2.73 CRC1,396.36	+12.2%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$4.68 BBD9.36	$3.65 CRC1,871.05	-21.9%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$8.70 BBD17.40	$4.58 CRC2,346.24	-47.3%
Monthly membership at local gym	$79.38 BBD158.75	$59.46 CRC30,445.11	-25.1%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$10.25 BBD20.50	$8.63 CRC4,416.65	-15.8%
Average			-19.6%

Barbados vs. Costa Rica - Cost of entertainment and sports

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 13.9% less for clothing

	Barbados	Costa Rica
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$66.94 BBD133.89	$65.32 CRC33,447.13	-2.4%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$57.50 BBD115.00	$44.54 CRC22,805.63	-22.5%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$142.01 BBD284.03	$110.39 CRC56,519.78	-22.3%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$106.39 BBD212.78	$97.22 CRC49,777.14	-8.6%
Average			-13.9%

Barbados vs. Costa Rica - Cost of clothing

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

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: February 2025

More cost comparisons

Barbados vs.

United Kingdom

Barbados vs.

France

Barbados vs.

United States

Barbados vs.

Germany

Barbados vs.

Ireland

Barbados vs.

Peru

Barbados vs.

Greece

Barbados vs.

Iceland

Share this

Compare by city

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

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

Add prices for Barbados

Add prices for Costa Rica

ASK THE ELSEWHERE COMMUNITY

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