Cost of living comparison

Canberra, Australia

compared to

Costa Rica

Costa Rica vs. Canberra Cost of Living Summary

Costa Rica is 31.9% cheaper than Canberra.

Restaurants: pay 30.4% less in Costa Rica
Groceries: pay 17.2% less in Costa Rica
Transportation: pay 9.9% less in Costa Rica
Housing: pay 51.5% less in Costa Rica
Childcare: pay 48.1% less in Costa Rica
Entertainment and Sports: pay 39.0% less in Costa Rica
Clothing: pay 26.9% less in Costa Rica

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

Costa Rica vs. Canberra Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 30.4% less for restaurants

	Canberra	Costa Rica
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$19.77 A$30.05	$9.75 CRC4,914.81	-50.7%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$9.89 A$15.03	$9.08 CRC4,579.02	-8.1%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$2.76 A$4.20	$2.01 CRC1,013.78	-27.3%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$2.32 A$3.52	$1.49 CRC752.06	-35.6%
Average			-30.4%

Canberra vs. Costa Rica - Cost of restaurants

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pay 17.2% less for groceries

	Canberra	Costa Rica
Bread 1 loaf	$2.59 A$3.93	$2.53 CRC1,276.77	-2.1%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$5.39 A$8.20	$3.76 CRC1,897.23	-30.2%
Milk (1 gallon)	$6.59 A$10.02	$6.98 CRC3,517.37	+5.9%
Eggs 1 dozen	$4.63 A$7.04	$3.21 CRC1,619.65	-30.6%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$4.12 A$6.26	$3.97 CRC2,002.20	-3.6%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.62 A$2.46	$1.79 CRC902.23	+10.6%
Bananas (1 lb)	$1.34 A$2.04	$0.62 CRC311.05	-54.0%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.57 A$2.38	$1.22 CRC613.33	-22.4%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$2.46 A$3.75	$1.22 CRC615.98	-50.4%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$1.25 A$1.90	$1.09 CRC551.77	-12.3%
Onions (1 lb)	$1.11 A$1.69	$1.11 CRC561.56	+0.1%
Average			-17.2%

Canberra vs. Costa Rica - Cost of groceries

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pay 9.9% less for transportation

	Canberra	Costa Rica
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$5.07 A$7.71	$5.63 CRC2,837.24	+10.9%
Monthly public transit pass	$118.63 A$180.32	$49.00 CRC24,706.13	-58.7%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$29,276.08 A$44,501.84	$35,063.37 CRC17,679,564.44	+19.8%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$17.66 A$26.85	$15.62 CRC7,877.00	-11.5%
Average			-9.9%

Canberra vs. Costa Rica - Cost of transportation

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pay 51.5% less for housing

	Canberra	Costa Rica
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$65.39 A$99.40	$48.50 CRC24,454.77	-25.8%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$1,783.31 A$2,710.76	$778.04 CRC392,300.18	-56.4%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$1,413.05 A$2,147.94	$547.50 CRC276,060.73	-61.3%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$183.02 A$278.20	$68.26 CRC34,416.73	-62.7%
Average			-51.5%

Canberra vs. Costa Rica - Cost of housing

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pay 48.1% less for childcare

	Canberra	Costa Rica
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$1,847.17 A$2,807.83	$519.07 CRC261,722.93	-71.9%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$14,503.36 A$22,046.20	$10,987.74 CRC5,540,212.02	-24.2%
Average			-48.1%

Canberra vs. Costa Rica - Cost of childcare

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pay 39.0% less for entertainment and sports

	Canberra	Costa Rica
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$7.25 A$11.02	$2.73 CRC1,375.08	-62.4%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.68 A$5.60	$3.65 CRC1,842.53	-0.7%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$26.36 A$40.07	$4.58 CRC2,310.48	-82.6%
Monthly membership at local gym	$65.69 A$99.85	$59.46 CRC29,981.06	-9.5%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$14.33 A$21.79	$8.63 CRC4,349.34	-39.8%
Average			-39.0%

Canberra vs. Costa Rica - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 26.9% less for clothing

	Canberra	Costa Rica
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$86.77 A$131.90	$65.32 CRC32,937.33	-24.7%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$72.18 A$109.72	$44.54 CRC22,458.02	-38.3%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$119.51 A$181.67	$110.39 CRC55,658.31	-7.6%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$154.17 A$234.36	$97.22 CRC49,018.44	-36.9%
Average			-26.9%

Canberra 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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