Cost of living comparison

Costa Rica

compared to

El Salvador vs. Costa Rica Cost of Living Summary

El Salvador is 20.4% cheaper than Costa Rica overall.

Restaurants: pay 37.9% less in El Salvador
Groceries: pay 8.8% less in El Salvador
Transportation: pay 4.5% less in El Salvador
Housing: pay 10.8% less in El Salvador
Childcare: pay 58.4% less in El Salvador
Entertainment and Sports: pay 29.9% less in El Salvador
Clothing: pay 7.7% more in El Salvador

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

El Salvador vs. Costa Rica Cost Breakdown

If you lived in El Salvador instead of Costa Rica, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 37.9% less for restaurants

	Costa Rica	El Salvador
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$9.75 CRC4,861.38	$7.50 SVC65.47	-23.1%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$9.08 CRC4,529.24	$6.33 SVC55.25	-30.3%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$2.01 CRC1,002.75	$0.96 SVC8.37	-52.3%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$1.49 CRC743.89	$0.81 SVC7.06	-45.8%
Average			-37.9%

Costa Rica vs. El Salvador - Cost of restaurants

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 8.8% less for groceries

	Costa Rica	El Salvador
Bread 1 loaf	$2.53 CRC1,262.89	$2.12 SVC18.51	-16.3%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$3.76 CRC1,876.61	$3.24 SVC28.25	-14.0%
Milk (1 gallon)	$6.98 CRC3,479.13	$6.95 SVC60.69	-0.3%
Eggs 1 dozen	$3.21 CRC1,602.04	$2.80 SVC24.42	-12.9%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$3.97 CRC1,980.43	$2.68 SVC23.43	-32.4%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.79 CRC892.43	$1.44 SVC12.59	-19.4%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.62 CRC307.67	$0.77 SVC6.71	+24.5%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.22 CRC606.66	$1.17 SVC10.17	-4.2%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.22 CRC609.28	$1.22 SVC10.61	-0.5%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$1.09 CRC545.77	$0.99 SVC8.67	-9.2%
Onions (1 lb)	$1.11 CRC555.45	$0.98 SVC8.51	-12.4%
Average			-8.8%

Costa Rica vs. El Salvador - Cost of groceries

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 4.5% less for transportation

	Costa Rica	El Salvador
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$5.63 CRC2,806.40	$3.80 SVC33.15	-32.5%
Monthly public transit pass	$49.00 CRC24,437.54	$20.00 SVC174.58	-59.2%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$35,063.37 CRC17,487,364.97	$24,333.33 SVC212,406.35	-30.6%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$15.62 CRC7,791.37	$31.95 SVC278.91	+104.5%
Average			-4.5%

Costa Rica vs. El Salvador - Cost of transportation

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 10.8% less for housing

	Costa Rica	El Salvador
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$48.50 CRC24,188.91	$42.14 SVC367.87	-13.1%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$778.04 CRC388,035.38	$652.78 SVC5,698.12	-16.1%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$547.50 CRC273,059.59	$463.89 SVC4,049.30	-15.3%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$68.26 CRC34,042.58	$69.00 SVC602.33	+1.1%
Average			-10.8%

Costa Rica vs. El Salvador - Cost of housing

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 58.4% less for childcare

	Costa Rica	El Salvador
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$519.07 CRC258,877.67	$160.29 SVC1,399.14	-69.1%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$10,987.74 CRC5,479,982.83	$5,740.67 SVC50,110.44	-47.8%
Average			-58.4%

Costa Rica vs. El Salvador - Cost of childcare

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 29.9% less for entertainment and sports

	Costa Rica	El Salvador
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$2.73 CRC1,360.13	$2.00 SVC17.46	-26.7%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.65 CRC1,822.50	$2.82 SVC24.64	-22.8%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$4.58 CRC2,285.36	$4.00 SVC34.92	-12.7%
Monthly membership at local gym	$59.46 CRC29,655.13	$30.22 SVC263.81	-49.2%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$8.63 CRC4,302.05	$5.33 SVC46.55	-38.2%
Average			-29.9%

Costa Rica vs. El Salvador - Cost of entertainment and sports

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 7.7% more for clothing

	Costa Rica	El Salvador
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$65.32 CRC32,579.25	$72.14 SVC629.74	+10.4%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$44.54 CRC22,213.88	$47.86 SVC417.75	+7.4%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$110.39 CRC55,053.23	$112.14 SVC978.90	+1.6%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$97.22 CRC48,485.54	$108.33 SVC945.64	+11.4%
Average			+7.7%

Costa Rica vs. El Salvador - 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: March 2025

More cost comparisons

Costa Rica vs.

Russia

Costa Rica vs.

United Kingdom

Costa Rica vs.

Italy

Costa Rica vs.

Germany

Costa Rica vs.

Iceland

Costa Rica vs.

Ireland

Costa Rica vs.

Poland

Costa Rica vs.

Australia

Share this

Compare by city

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

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 Costa Rica

Add prices for El Salvador

ASK THE ELSEWHERE COMMUNITY

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