Cost of living comparison

Vietnam

compared to

Costa Rica

Costa Rica vs. Vietnam Cost of Living Summary

Costa Rica is 2.6 times more expensive than Vietnam overall.

Restaurants: pay 3.9 times more in Costa Rica
Groceries: pay 99.0% more in Costa Rica
Transportation: pay 3.1 times more in Costa Rica
Housing: pay 3.1 times more in Costa Rica
Childcare: pay 70.4% more in Costa Rica
Entertainment and Sports: pay 2.9 times more in Costa Rica
Clothing: pay 73.7% more in Costa Rica

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

Costa Rica vs. Vietnam Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 3.9 times more for restaurants

	Vietnam	Costa Rica
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$1.92 ₫49,931	$9.75 CRC4,938.34	+407.7%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$4.34 ₫112,872	$9.08 CRC4,600.95	+109.2%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.54 ₫14,005	$2.01 CRC1,018.63	+273.3%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.33 ₫8,456	$1.49 CRC755.66	+358.7%
Average			+287.2%

Vietnam vs. Costa Rica - Cost of restaurants

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pay 99.0% more for groceries

	Vietnam	Costa Rica
Bread 1 loaf	$0.90 ₫23,467	$2.53 CRC1,282.89	+180.6%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$6.05 ₫157,432	$3.76 CRC1,906.32	-37.8%
Milk (1 gallon)	$5.46 ₫142,021	$6.98 CRC3,534.22	+27.7%
Eggs 1 dozen	$1.46 ₫37,981	$3.21 CRC1,627.41	+119.9%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$1.55 ₫40,229	$3.97 CRC2,011.79	+156.7%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.20 ₫31,146	$1.79 CRC906.55	+49.4%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.43 ₫11,081	$0.62 CRC312.54	+44.8%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.57 ₫14,830	$1.22 CRC616.27	+113.3%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.45 ₫11,613	$1.22 CRC618.93	+173.6%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.48 ₫12,377	$1.09 CRC554.41	+129.9%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.48 ₫12,536	$1.11 CRC564.25	+131.0%
Average			+99.0%

Vietnam vs. Costa Rica - Cost of groceries

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pay 3.1 times more for transportation

	Vietnam	Costa Rica
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$3.47 ₫90,171	$5.63 CRC2,850.83	+62.3%
Monthly public transit pass	$7.11 ₫184,840	$49.00 CRC24,824.43	+589.4%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$35,423.92 ₫921,198,926	$35,063.37 CRC17,764,223.41	-1.0%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$5.64 ₫146,722	$15.62 CRC7,914.72	+176.9%
Average			+206.9%

Vietnam vs. Costa Rica - Cost of transportation

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pay 3.1 times more for housing

	Vietnam	Costa Rica
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$8.68 ₫225,808	$48.50 CRC24,571.87	+458.6%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$297.09 ₫7,725,803	$778.04 CRC394,178.72	+161.9%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$207.27 ₫5,390,040	$547.50 CRC277,382.65	+164.2%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$39.91 ₫1,037,892	$68.26 CRC34,581.54	+71.0%
Average			+213.9%

Vietnam vs. Costa Rica - Cost of housing

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pay 70.4% more for childcare

	Vietnam	Costa Rica
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$205.27 ₫5,337,948	$519.07 CRC262,976.20	+152.9%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$12,496.31 ₫324,966,473	$10,987.74 CRC5,566,741.44	-12.1%
Average			+70.4%

Vietnam vs. Costa Rica - Cost of childcare

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pay 2.9 times more for entertainment and sports

	Vietnam	Costa Rica
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$0.88 ₫22,790	$2.73 CRC1,381.67	+211.2%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$1.58 ₫41,095	$3.65 CRC1,851.35	+131.2%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$1.27 ₫32,916	$4.58 CRC2,321.54	+262.0%
Monthly membership at local gym	$22.09 ₫574,457	$59.46 CRC30,124.63	+169.2%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$3.38 ₫87,850	$8.63 CRC4,370.16	+155.3%
Average			+185.8%

Vietnam vs. Costa Rica - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 73.7% more for clothing

	Vietnam	Costa Rica
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$28.00 ₫728,064	$65.32 CRC33,095.05	+133.3%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$22.19 ₫577,147	$44.54 CRC22,565.56	+100.7%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$79.50 ₫2,067,274	$110.39 CRC55,924.83	+38.9%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$79.86 ₫2,076,699	$97.22 CRC49,253.16	+21.7%
Average			+73.7%

Vietnam 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: May 2025

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