Cost of living comparison

Guatemala

compared to

Costa Rica

Costa Rica vs. Guatemala Cost of Living Summary

Costa Rica is 58.6% more expensive than Guatemala overall.

Restaurants: pay 89.1% more in Costa Rica
Groceries: pay 13.5% more in Costa Rica
Transportation: pay 2.2 times more in Costa Rica
Housing: pay 36.0% more in Costa Rica
Childcare: pay 2.2 times more in Costa Rica
Entertainment and Sports: pay 21.3% more in Costa Rica
Clothing: pay 9.0% more in Costa Rica

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

Costa Rica vs. Guatemala Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 89.1% more for restaurants

	Guatemala	Costa Rica
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$4.86 GTQ37.52	$9.75 CRC4,870.79	+100.4%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$6.24 GTQ48.10	$9.08 CRC4,538.01	+45.7%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.94 GTQ7.23	$2.01 CRC1,004.69	+114.4%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.76 GTQ5.88	$1.49 CRC745.33	+95.7%
Average			+89.1%

Guatemala vs. Costa Rica - Cost of restaurants

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pay 13.5% more for groceries

	Guatemala	Costa Rica
Bread 1 loaf	$2.77 GTQ21.36	$2.53 CRC1,265.34	-8.5%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$3.39 GTQ26.11	$3.76 CRC1,880.24	+11.2%
Milk (1 gallon)	$6.82 GTQ52.60	$6.98 CRC3,485.87	+2.3%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.38 GTQ18.38	$3.21 CRC1,605.14	+34.8%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$3.24 GTQ25.01	$3.97 CRC1,984.26	+22.5%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.48 GTQ11.38	$1.79 CRC894.15	+21.3%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.71 GTQ5.47	$0.62 CRC308.26	-13.0%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.55 GTQ11.93	$1.22 CRC607.84	-21.4%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.76 GTQ5.84	$1.22 CRC610.46	+61.3%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.84 GTQ6.45	$1.09 CRC546.82	+30.9%
Onions (1 lb)	$1.04 GTQ8.02	$1.11 CRC556.53	+7.1%
Average			+13.5%

Guatemala vs. Costa Rica - Cost of groceries

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pay 2.2 times more for transportation

	Guatemala	Costa Rica
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$3.90 GTQ30.11	$5.63 CRC2,811.83	+44.1%
Monthly public transit pass	$13.42 GTQ103.55	$49.00 CRC24,484.83	+265.0%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$17,023.47 GTQ131,317.49	$35,063.37 CRC17,521,201.52	+106.0%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$8.64 GTQ66.65	$15.62 CRC7,806.44	+80.8%
Average			+124.0%

Guatemala vs. Costa Rica - Cost of transportation

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pay 36.0% more for housing

	Guatemala	Costa Rica
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$43.14 GTQ332.76	$48.50 CRC24,235.71	+12.4%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$525.45 GTQ4,053.24	$778.04 CRC388,786.19	+48.1%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$368.89 GTQ2,845.56	$547.50 CRC273,587.94	+48.4%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$50.59 GTQ390.23	$68.26 CRC34,108.45	+34.9%
Average			+36.0%

Guatemala vs. Costa Rica - Cost of housing

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pay 2.2 times more for childcare

	Guatemala	Costa Rica
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$217.77 GTQ1,679.86	$519.07 CRC259,378.58	+138.4%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$5,593.73 GTQ43,149.54	$10,987.74 CRC5,490,586.13	+96.4%
Average			+117.4%

Guatemala vs. Costa Rica - Cost of childcare

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pay 21.3% more for entertainment and sports

	Guatemala	Costa Rica
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$2.59 GTQ19.99	$2.73 CRC1,362.76	+5.2%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.03 GTQ23.39	$3.65 CRC1,826.03	+20.5%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$3.47 GTQ26.79	$4.58 CRC2,289.78	+31.9%
Monthly membership at local gym	$43.30 GTQ334.04	$59.46 CRC29,712.51	+37.3%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$7.72 GTQ59.54	$8.63 CRC4,310.38	+11.8%
Average			+21.3%

Guatemala vs. Costa Rica - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 9.0% more for clothing

	Guatemala	Costa Rica
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$41.32 GTQ318.70	$65.32 CRC32,642.29	+58.1%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$55.74 GTQ430.01	$44.54 CRC22,256.86	-20.1%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$108.63 GTQ837.96	$110.39 CRC55,159.76	+1.6%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$100.77 GTQ777.32	$97.22 CRC48,579.36	-3.5%
Average			+9.0%

Guatemala vs. Costa Rica - 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: April 2025

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