Cost of living comparison

Costa Rica

compared to

Santa Ana, Costa Rica

Santa Ana vs. Costa Rica Cost of Living Summary

Santa Ana is 2.1% more expensive than Costa Rica overall.

Restaurants: pay 1.8% less in Santa Ana
Groceries: pay 2.4% more in Santa Ana
Transportation: pay 15.2% less in Santa Ana
Housing: pay 5.5% less in Santa Ana
Childcare: pay 1.6% more in Santa Ana
Entertainment and Sports: pay 19.1% more in Santa Ana
Clothing: pay 13.9% more in Santa Ana

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

Santa Ana vs. Costa Rica Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Santa Ana instead of Costa Rica, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 1.8% less for restaurants

	Costa Rica	Santa Ana
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$9.75 CRC4,870.79	$9.72 CRC4,855.71	-0.3%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$9.08 CRC4,538.01	$9.23 CRC4,612.93	+1.7%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$2.01 CRC1,004.69	$1.88 CRC938.77	-6.6%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$1.49 CRC745.33	$1.46 CRC729.45	-2.1%
Average			-1.8%

Costa Rica vs. Santa Ana - Cost of restaurants

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pay 2.4% more for groceries

	Costa Rica	Santa Ana
Bread 1 loaf	$2.53 CRC1,265.34	$2.59 CRC1,295.74	+2.4%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$3.76 CRC1,880.24	$4.26 CRC2,131.12	+13.3%
Milk (1 gallon)	$6.98 CRC3,485.87	$6.45 CRC3,222.78	-7.5%
Eggs 1 dozen	$3.21 CRC1,605.14	$3.26 CRC1,628.41	+1.4%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$3.97 CRC1,984.26	$4.40 CRC2,198.97	+10.8%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.79 CRC894.15	$1.95 CRC973.65	+8.9%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.62 CRC308.26	$0.63 CRC314.83	+2.1%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.22 CRC607.84	$0.76 CRC382.11	-37.1%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.22 CRC610.46	$1.35 CRC673.04	+10.3%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$1.09 CRC546.82	$1.25 CRC626.06	+14.5%
Onions (1 lb)	$1.11 CRC556.53	$1.19 CRC594.52	+6.8%
Average			+2.4%

Costa Rica vs. Santa Ana - Cost of groceries

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pay 15.2% less for transportation

	Costa Rica	Santa Ana
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$5.63 CRC2,811.83	$5.49 CRC2,741.57	-2.5%
Monthly public transit pass	$49.00 CRC24,484.83	$19.43 CRC9,711.42	-60.3%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$35,063.37 CRC17,521,201.52	$34,982.04 CRC17,480,559.54	-0.2%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$15.62 CRC7,806.44	$15.94 CRC7,965.79	+2.0%
Average			-15.2%

Costa Rica vs. Santa Ana - Cost of transportation

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pay 5.5% less for housing

	Costa Rica	Santa Ana
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$48.50 CRC24,235.71	$47.29 CRC23,631.13	-2.5%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$778.04 CRC388,786.19	$831.69 CRC415,596.13	+6.9%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$547.50 CRC273,587.94	$586.85 CRC293,249.79	+7.2%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$68.26 CRC34,108.45	$45.39 CRC22,679.03	-33.5%
Average			-5.5%

Costa Rica vs. Santa Ana - Cost of housing

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pay 1.6% more for childcare

	Costa Rica	Santa Ana
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$519.07 CRC259,378.58	$521.49 CRC260,589.82	+0.5%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$10,987.74 CRC5,490,586.13	$11,268.88 CRC5,631,070.91	+2.6%
Average			+1.6%

Costa Rica vs. Santa Ana - Cost of childcare

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pay 19.1% more for entertainment and sports

	Costa Rica	Santa Ana
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$2.73 CRC1,362.76	$2.92 CRC1,456.71	+6.9%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.65 CRC1,826.03	$3.69 CRC1,842.50	+0.9%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$4.58 CRC2,289.78	$5.05 CRC2,524.97	+10.3%
Monthly membership at local gym	$59.46 CRC29,712.51	$97.94 CRC48,938.54	+64.7%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$8.63 CRC4,310.38	$9.72 CRC4,855.71	+12.7%
Average			+19.1%

Costa Rica vs. Santa Ana - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 13.9% more for clothing

	Costa Rica	Santa Ana
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$65.32 CRC32,642.29	$73.45 CRC36,703.90	+12.4%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$44.54 CRC22,256.86	$50.76 CRC25,364.13	+14.0%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$110.39 CRC55,159.76	$119.85 CRC59,887.10	+8.6%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$97.22 CRC48,579.36	$117.18 CRC58,554.60	+20.5%
Average			+13.9%

Costa Rica vs. Santa Ana - 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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