Cost of living comparison

compared to
Illinois vs. Costa Rica Cost of Living Summary

Illinois is 46.2% more expensive than Costa Rica overall.

Restaurants
pay 31.5% more in Illinois
Groceries
pay 16.5% more in Illinois
Transportation
pay 2.0% more in Illinois
Housing
pay 80.9% more in Illinois
Childcare
pay 2.5 times more in Illinois
Entertainment and Sports
pay 56.4% more in Illinois
Clothing
pay 8.9% less in Illinois

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

Illinois vs. Costa Rica Cost Breakdown

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

pay 31.5% more for restaurants

 
Costa Rica
Illinois
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant $9.75
CRC4,960.41
$16.03
 
Fast food combo meal
McDonalds, or similar
$9.08
CRC4,621.51
$10.33
 
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz) $2.01
CRC1,023.18
$2.49
 

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pay 16.5% more for groceries

 
Costa Rica
Illinois
Bread
1 loaf
$2.53
CRC1,288.62
$3.19
 
Local cheese (8 oz) $3.76
CRC1,914.83
$5.63
 
Milk (1 gallon) $6.98
CRC3,550.00
$3.30
 

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pay 2.0% more for transportation

 
Costa Rica
Illinois
Gasoline (1 gallon) $5.63
CRC2,863.57
$3.61
 
Monthly public transit pass $49.00
CRC24,935.34
$72.95
 
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition) $35,063.37
CRC17,843,584.03
$28,096.73
 

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pay 80.9% more for housing

 
Costa Rica
Illinois
Internet connection
50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl
$48.50
CRC24,681.64
$65.96
 
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area $778.04
CRC395,939.69
$1,375.37
 
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center $547.50
CRC278,621.84
$1,146.99
 

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pay 2.5 times more for childcare

 
Costa Rica
Illinois
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly $519.07
CRC264,151.03
$1,394.11
 
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters $10,987.74
CRC5,591,610.53
$24,405.00
 

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pay 56.4% more for entertainment and sports

 
Costa Rica
Illinois
Domestic/local beer (1 pint) $2.73
CRC1,387.84
$5.17
 
Cappuccino in mid-range area $3.65
CRC1,859.63
$4.81
 
Pack of cigarettes
Marlboro or similar
$4.58
CRC2,331.92
$9.79
 

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pay 8.9% less for clothing

 
Costa Rica
Illinois
Regular jeans
Levi's brand
$65.32
CRC33,242.90
$51.50
 
Regular dress
from H&M or similar store
$44.54
CRC22,666.37
$41.59
 
Running shoes
Nike or Adidas
$110.39
CRC56,174.67
$80.60
 

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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: January 2025
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