Cost of living comparison

 Costa Rica
compared to
 Japan
Japan vs. Costa Rica Cost of Living Summary

Japan is 14.2% cheaper than Costa Rica overall.

Restaurants
pay 45.5% less in Japan
Groceries
pay 11.3% more in Japan
Transportation
pay 4.7% more in Japan
Housing
pay 11.7% less in Japan
Childcare
pay 21.8% less in Japan
Entertainment and Sports
pay 0.4% less in Japan
Clothing
pay 36.2% less in Japan

The cost of groceries and transportation in Japan are more expensive than in Costa Rica. Expenses including restaurants, clothing, childcare, housing, and entertainment and sports are lower in Japan.

Japan vs. Costa Rica Cost Breakdown

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

pay 45.5% less for restaurants

 
Costa Rica
Japan
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant $9.75
CRC4,861.38
$6.44
¥962
Fast food combo meal
McDonalds, or similar
$9.08
CRC4,529.24
$4.94
¥738
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz) $2.01
CRC1,002.75
$0.97
¥145

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pay 11.3% more for groceries

 
Costa Rica
Japan
Bread
1 loaf
$2.53
CRC1,262.89
$1.52
¥227
Local cheese (8 oz) $3.76
CRC1,876.61
$5.72
¥854
Milk (1 gallon) $6.98
CRC3,479.13
$5.46
¥815

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pay 4.7% more for transportation

 
Costa Rica
Japan
Gasoline (1 gallon) $5.63
CRC2,806.40
$4.22
¥631
Monthly public transit pass $49.00
CRC24,437.54
$57.82
¥8,633
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition) $35,063.37
CRC17,487,364.97
$22,042.19
¥3,291,449

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pay 11.7% less for housing

 
Costa Rica
Japan
Internet connection
50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl
$48.50
CRC24,188.91
$31.09
¥4,643
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area $778.04
CRC388,035.38
$500.38
¥74,719
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center $547.50
CRC273,059.59
$325.42
¥48,593

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pay 21.8% less for childcare

 
Costa Rica
Japan
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly $519.07
CRC258,877.67
$288.10
¥43,021
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters $10,987.74
CRC5,479,982.83
$11,095.30
¥1,656,806

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pay 0.4% less for entertainment and sports

 
Costa Rica
Japan
Domestic/local beer (1 pint) $2.73
CRC1,360.13
$2.71
¥404
Cappuccino in mid-range area $3.65
CRC1,822.50
$2.78
¥415
Pack of cigarettes
Marlboro or similar
$4.58
CRC2,285.36
$3.98
¥595

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pay 36.2% less for clothing

 
Costa Rica
Japan
Regular jeans
Levi's brand
$65.32
CRC32,579.25
$40.54
¥6,054
Regular dress
from H&M or similar store
$44.54
CRC22,213.88
$26.82
¥4,004
Running shoes
Nike or Adidas
$110.39
CRC55,053.23
$54.08
¥8,075

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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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