Cost of living comparison

compared to
Massachusetts vs. Costa Rica Cost of Living Summary

Massachusetts is 76.1% more expensive than Costa Rica overall.

Restaurants
pay 50.3% more in Massachusetts
Groceries
pay 47.2% more in Massachusetts
Transportation
pay 4.1% more in Massachusetts
Housing
pay 2.4 times more in Massachusetts
Childcare
pay 3.1 times more in Massachusetts
Entertainment and Sports
pay 89.2% more in Massachusetts
Clothing
pay 8.7% less in Massachusetts

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

Massachusetts vs. Costa Rica Cost Breakdown

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

pay 50.3% more for restaurants

 
Costa Rica
Massachusetts
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant $9.75
CRC4,960.41
$21.19
 
Fast food combo meal
McDonalds, or similar
$9.08
CRC4,621.51
$10.79
 
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz) $2.01
CRC1,023.18
$2.62
 

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pay 47.2% more for groceries

 
Costa Rica
Massachusetts
Bread
1 loaf
$2.53
CRC1,288.62
$3.71
 
Local cheese (8 oz) $3.76
CRC1,914.83
$7.31
 
Milk (1 gallon) $6.98
CRC3,550.00
$4.52
 

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pay 4.1% more for transportation

 
Costa Rica
Massachusetts
Gasoline (1 gallon) $5.63
CRC2,863.57
$3.51
 
Monthly public transit pass $49.00
CRC24,935.34
$71.71
 
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition) $35,063.37
CRC17,843,584.03
$33,785.54
 

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pay 2.4 times more for housing

 
Costa Rica
Massachusetts
Internet connection
50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl
$48.50
CRC24,681.64
$68.08
 
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area $778.04
CRC395,939.69
$2,074.76
 
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center $547.50
CRC278,621.84
$1,940.55
 

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pay 3.1 times more for childcare

 
Costa Rica
Massachusetts
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly $519.07
CRC264,151.03
$1,960.62
 
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters $10,987.74
CRC5,591,610.53
$26,428.57
 

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pay 89.2% more for entertainment and sports

 
Costa Rica
Massachusetts
Domestic/local beer (1 pint) $2.73
CRC1,387.84
$6.63
 
Cappuccino in mid-range area $3.65
CRC1,859.63
$5.00
 
Pack of cigarettes
Marlboro or similar
$4.58
CRC2,331.92
$12.10
 

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pay 8.7% less for clothing

 
Costa Rica
Massachusetts
Regular jeans
Levi's brand
$65.32
CRC33,242.90
$50.62
 
Regular dress
from H&M or similar store
$44.54
CRC22,666.37
$41.05
 
Running shoes
Nike or Adidas
$110.39
CRC56,174.67
$83.58
 

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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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