Cost of living comparison

Costa Rica

compared to

Tamarindo, Costa Rica

Tamarindo vs. Costa Rica Cost of Living Summary

Tamarindo is 7.5% more expensive than Costa Rica overall.

Restaurants: pay 2.5% more in Tamarindo
Groceries: pay 6.4% more in Tamarindo
Transportation: pay 3.4% more in Tamarindo
Housing: pay 44.8% more in Tamarindo
Childcare: pay 10.9% less in Tamarindo
Entertainment and Sports: pay 11.0% more in Tamarindo
Clothing: pay 4.5% less in Tamarindo

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

Tamarindo vs. Costa Rica Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 2.5% more for restaurants

	Costa Rica	Tamarindo
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$9.75 CRC4,870.79	$10.80 CRC5,398.50	+10.8%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$9.08 CRC4,538.01	$9.28 CRC4,637.20	+2.2%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$2.01 CRC1,004.69	$1.99 CRC995.35	-0.9%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$1.49 CRC745.33	$1.46 CRC729.45	-2.1%
Average			+2.5%

Costa Rica vs. Tamarindo - Cost of restaurants

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pay 6.4% more for groceries

	Costa Rica	Tamarindo
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	$7.23 CRC3,610.65	+3.6%
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	$1.41 CRC702.60	+15.6%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.22 CRC610.46	$1.35 CRC673.04	+10.3%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$1.09 CRC546.82	$1.04 CRC520.53	-4.8%
Onions (1 lb)	$1.11 CRC556.53	$1.19 CRC594.52	+6.8%
Average			+6.4%

Costa Rica vs. Tamarindo - Cost of groceries

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pay 3.4% more for transportation

	Costa Rica	Tamarindo
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$5.63 CRC2,811.83	$5.49 CRC2,741.57	-2.5%
Monthly public transit pass	$49.00 CRC24,484.83	$55.44 CRC27,702.11	+13.1%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$35,063.37 CRC17,521,201.52	$35,472.63 CRC17,725,707.27	+1.2%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$15.62 CRC7,806.44	$15.94 CRC7,965.79	+2.0%
Average			+3.4%

Costa Rica vs. Tamarindo - Cost of transportation

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pay 44.8% more for housing

	Costa Rica	Tamarindo
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$48.50 CRC24,235.71	$51.60 CRC25,782.90	+6.4%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$778.04 CRC388,786.19	$1,792.59 CRC895,759.33	+130.4%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$547.50 CRC273,587.94	$821.55 CRC410,528.69	+50.1%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$68.26 CRC34,108.45	$63.04 CRC31,501.04	-7.6%
Average			+44.8%

Costa Rica vs. Tamarindo - Cost of housing

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pay 10.9% less for childcare

	Costa Rica	Tamarindo
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$519.07 CRC259,378.58	$513.42 CRC256,558.77	-1.1%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$10,987.74 CRC5,490,586.13	$8,729.74 CRC4,362,259.56	-20.6%
Average			-10.9%

Costa Rica vs. Tamarindo - Cost of childcare

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pay 11.0% more for entertainment and sports

	Costa Rica	Tamarindo
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	$4.82 CRC2,407.91	+5.2%
Monthly membership at local gym	$59.46 CRC29,712.51	$96.89 CRC48,415.32	+62.9%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$8.63 CRC4,310.38	$6.80 CRC3,399.00	-21.1%
Average			+11.0%

Costa Rica vs. Tamarindo - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 4.5% less for clothing

	Costa Rica	Tamarindo
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	$23.32 CRC11,653.71	-47.6%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$110.39 CRC55,159.76	$106.89 CRC53,412.82	-3.2%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$97.22 CRC48,579.36	$117.18 CRC58,554.60	+20.5%
Average			-4.5%

Costa Rica vs. Tamarindo - 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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