Cost of living comparison

Costa Rica

compared to

Colombia

Colombia vs. Costa Rica Cost of Living Summary

Colombia is 45.6% cheaper than Costa Rica overall.

Restaurants: pay 51.3% less in Colombia
Groceries: pay 46.9% less in Colombia
Transportation: pay 33.8% less in Colombia
Housing: pay 44.4% less in Colombia
Childcare: pay 61.8% less in Colombia
Entertainment and Sports: pay 58.7% less in Colombia
Clothing: pay 22.4% less in Colombia

Expenses including childcare, entertainment and sports, restaurants, groceries, housing, and transportation are lower in Colombia.

Colombia vs. Costa Rica Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 51.3% less for restaurants

	Costa Rica	Colombia
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$9.75 CRC4,861.38	$4.20 COP17,489.04	-56.9%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$9.08 CRC4,529.24	$6.62 COP27,556.90	-27.1%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$2.01 CRC1,002.75	$0.78 COP3,265.35	-61.0%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$1.49 CRC743.89	$0.60 COP2,478.40	-60.1%
Average			-51.3%

Costa Rica vs. Colombia - Cost of restaurants

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pay 46.9% less for groceries

	Costa Rica	Colombia
Bread 1 loaf	$2.53 CRC1,262.89	$1.27 COP5,292.76	-49.8%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$3.76 CRC1,876.61	$2.16 COP9,008.62	-42.5%
Milk (1 gallon)	$6.98 CRC3,479.13	$3.88 COP16,152.81	-44.4%
Eggs 1 dozen	$3.21 CRC1,602.04	$2.02 COP8,411.08	-37.1%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$3.97 CRC1,980.43	$2.19 COP9,110.13	-44.9%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.79 CRC892.43	$1.07 COP4,459.72	-40.1%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.62 CRC307.67	$0.45 COP1,892.99	-26.3%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.22 CRC606.66	$0.55 COP2,296.85	-54.6%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.22 CRC609.28	$0.46 COP1,903.90	-62.6%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$1.09 CRC545.77	$0.50 COP2,083.03	-54.3%
Onions (1 lb)	$1.11 CRC555.45	$0.45 COP1,885.12	-59.3%
Average			-46.9%

Costa Rica vs. Colombia - Cost of groceries

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pay 33.8% less for transportation

	Costa Rica	Colombia
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$5.63 CRC2,806.40	$3.05 COP12,711.19	-45.7%
Monthly public transit pass	$49.00 CRC24,437.54	$34.31 COP142,795.23	-30.0%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$35,063.37 CRC17,487,364.97	$17,642.99 COP73,429,879.62	-49.7%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$15.62 CRC7,791.37	$14.10 COP58,676.11	-9.8%
Average			-33.8%

Costa Rica vs. Colombia - Cost of transportation

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pay 44.4% less for housing

	Costa Rica	Colombia
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$48.50 CRC24,188.91	$22.88 COP95,212.04	-52.8%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$778.04 CRC388,035.38	$272.41 COP1,133,778.42	-65.0%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$547.50 CRC273,059.59	$235.87 COP981,690.02	-56.9%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$68.26 CRC34,042.58	$66.40 COP276,367.49	-2.7%
Average			-44.4%

Costa Rica vs. Colombia - Cost of housing

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pay 61.8% less for childcare

	Costa Rica	Colombia
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$519.07 CRC258,877.67	$190.65 COP793,500.92	-63.3%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$10,987.74 CRC5,479,982.83	$4,364.51 COP18,165,046.50	-60.3%
Average			-61.8%

Costa Rica vs. Colombia - Cost of childcare

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pay 58.7% less for entertainment and sports

	Costa Rica	Colombia
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$2.73 CRC1,360.13	$1.15 COP4,802.46	-57.7%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.65 CRC1,822.50	$1.40 COP5,844.47	-61.6%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$4.58 CRC2,285.36	$2.09 COP8,709.58	-54.3%
Monthly membership at local gym	$59.46 CRC29,655.13	$22.45 COP93,455.79	-62.2%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$8.63 CRC4,302.05	$3.65 COP15,207.32	-57.6%
Average			-58.7%

Costa Rica vs. Colombia - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 22.4% less for clothing

	Costa Rica	Colombia
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$65.32 CRC32,579.25	$52.02 COP216,507.78	-20.4%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$44.54 CRC22,213.88	$38.22 COP159,091.23	-14.2%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$110.39 CRC55,053.23	$81.60 COP339,638.17	-26.1%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$97.22 CRC48,485.54	$69.09 COP287,535.25	-28.9%
Average			-22.4%

Costa Rica vs. Colombia - 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: March 2025

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