Future Expats will be happy to know

The Cost of Living in Costa Rica is 23 percent lower than in United States according to Numbeo

A lot has been said about the cost of living in Costa Rica, and for the most part we can safely say that you can save money on services such as medical and dental care as well as real estate for example, but you will spend a lot more on other commodities such as clothes, cars and electronics. In Costa Rica your lifestyle has a big influence in how much you spend on a month to month basis.

A database will help determine how living in Costa Rica compares in terms of costs with other countries.

Numbeo is the world’s largest database of user contributed data about cities and countries worldwide. It provides current and timely information on world living conditions including cost of living, housing indicators, health care, traffic, crime and pollution.

When it comes to the cost of living it takes into consideration parameters such as the cost of renting a house, purchasing real estate, restaurant prices, transportation, utilities, etc.

According to this database “Cost of living in Costa Rica is 23.08 percent lower than in United States (aggregate data for all cities, rent is not taken into account). Rent in Costa Rica is 55.24 percent lower than in United States (average data for all cities)”.

In comparison to other Central American countries Costa Rica is the most expensive in the region, the cost of living in El Salvador, for instance is 13.72 percent lower than in Costa Rica, Nicaragua is 17.99 percent cheaper than Costa Rica, Guatemala 17.45 percent cheaper; Honduras has a considerable 22.27 percent lower cost of living than in Costa Rica and Panama only 5.89 percent lower .

When you compare the cost of living in New York City, which is one of the most expensive cities in the United Sates, versus the cost of living in San Jose Costa Rica, this is what Numbeo shows:

“You would need around 4,307,760.68? (7,574.15$) in New York, NY to maintain the same standard of life that you can have with 1,700,000.00? in San Jose (assuming you rent in both cities). This calculation uses our Cost of Living Plus Rent Index to compare cost of living. This assumes net earnings (after income tax)”.