Costa Rica
Republic of Costa Rica
- Capital
- San José
- Region
- Central America
- Population, 2025
- 5.2 million
- Currency
- CRC
- Area
- 51,100 km²
Across Costa Rica's 30 priced cities, one person needs about $1,647 a month, rent included; the average net salary is $1,058.
Livability
The same seven domains as for cities, scored at country level; safety falls back to the homicide rate where Numbeo has no survey.
58out of 100
- Purchasing power25%42
- Safety20%46
- Health care15%65
- Climate10%93
- Air quality10%78
- Connectivity10%72
- Cost10%40
How each domain is scored
- Purchasing power, 25%
- What a local net salary buys against local prices, as a percentile.
- Safety, 20%
- Numbeo safety index for the city, or for its country when the city has no survey.
- Health care, 15%
- Numbeo health care index, city first, then country.
- Climate, 10%
- Numbeo climate index where surveyed, otherwise a comfort score from NASA climate normals.
- Air quality, 10%
- 30-day mean US AQI on a 0-100 scale: 100 at AQI 25 or cleaner, 0 at 150 or worse.
- Connectivity, 10%
- Percentile of median fixed broadband download speed, city first, then country.
- Cost, 10%
- Cheaper places score higher: the percentile of the cost-of-living plus rent index, inverted.
- Livability rank among countries
- #78
What it costs
Averages over the country’s cities, weighted by population. New York = 100.
Cost of living index
58.0
New York = 100, rent excluded
Rent index
22.1
New York = 100
Purchasing power
65.7
New York = 100
One person
$1,647
A month, rent included
Net salary
$1,058
Average, a month after tax
Rent, one bedroom in the centre
$946
A month
Economy
World Bank development indicators; each figure is the latest year with data.
GDP per person
$19,970
2025
Growth
+4.6%
2025
Unemployment
6.8%
2025
Inflation
−0.1%
2025
Life expectancy
81.0 years
2024
Internet users
87%
2024
Taxes
Headline rates side by side from three references, with the source of each.
- Top income tax rate
- 25%
- SourceTrading Economics
- Lowest income tax rate
- 0%
- SourceWikipedia
- Corporate tax
- 30%
- SourcePwC
- VAT or sales tax
- 13%
- SourcePwC
- Capital gains, individuals
- 15%
- SourcePwC
- Social security, employee
- 10.8%
- SourceTrading Economics
- Social security, employer
- 26.8%
- SourceTrading Economics
Headline statutory rates as of Sep 2026; brackets, allowances and regional taxes change what a given person pays.
Safety and internet
Numbeo’s crime survey, the World Bank homicide series and the Speedtest Global Index.
Safety
- Safety indexNumbeo, higher is safer
- 45.8
- Crime indexNumbeo, lower is better
- 54.2
- HomicidesPer 100,000 people, 2023
- 17.7
Internet
- Fixed downloadMbps, median, #43 worldwide
- 182
- Mobile downloadMbps, median, #63 worldwide
- 71
- Change in a yearFixed download speed
- +24%
Cities in Costa Rica
Sort by any column. Livability and cost use the same scales as every city page.
| 1Alajuela | 57 | 58.0 | $750 | $2,138 | 150.7 | 47.5K | Medium confidence, 12 contributors |
| 2San Jose | 56 | 59.7 | $946 | $1,058 | 65.7 | 335K | High confidence, 38 contributors |
| 3Guanacaste | 55 | 51.2 | $222 | — | — | — | Medium confidence, 8 contributors |
| 4Puntarenas | 55 | 44.7 | $369 | $881 | 96.8 | 35.7K | Medium confidence, 5 contributors |
| 5Liberia | 54 | 50.3 | $336 | $895 | 93.8 | 45.4K | Medium confidence, 10 contributors |
| 6Guadalupe | 54 | 52.9 | $560 | $1,231 | 103.9 | 26K | Low confidence, 2 contributors |
| 7Escazu | 54 | 59.7 | $850 | $1,791 | 117.2 | 12.1K | Medium confidence, 14 contributors |
| 8San Ramon | 54 | 53.6 | $334 | — | — | 10.8K | Low confidence, 0 contributors |
| 9Perez Zeledon | 54 | 49.2 | $403 | — | — | — | Medium confidence, 9 contributors |
| 10Cartago | 53 | 52.0 | — | $1,354 | 102.0 | 26.6K | Medium confidence, 7 contributors |
| 11Quesada | 53 | 53.6 | $487 | — | — | 27.3K | Low confidence, 2 contributors |
| 12Tibas | 53 | 55.7 | $448 | $1,007 | 89.6 | — | Low confidence, 3 contributors |
| 13San Pedro | 53 | 57.6 | $499 | — | — | 27.5K | Low confidence, 2 contributors |
| 14San Isidro | 52 | — | — | — | — | 34.9K | Low confidence, 0 contributors |
| 15Desamparados | 52 | — | — | — | — | 14.4K | Low confidence, 0 contributors |
| 16Acosta | 52 | — | — | $1,490 | — | — | Low confidence, 1 contributors |
| 17Ojochal | 52 | — | — | — | — | — | Low confidence, 0 contributors |
| 18Turrialba | 52 | 57.6 | — | — | — | 29K | Low confidence, 0 contributors |
| 19San Juan | 52 | 57.6 | — | — | — | 26K | Low confidence, 0 contributors |
| 20San Rafael | 52 | 57.6 | — | — | — | 25.4K | Low confidence, 0 contributors |
| 21Palmares | 52 | 57.6 | — | — | — | — | Low confidence, 0 contributors |
| 22Santa Barbara | 52 | 57.6 | — | — | — | — | Low confidence, 0 contributors |
| 23Vazquez de Coronado | 52 | 57.6 | — | — | — | — | Low confidence, 0 contributors |
| 24Arenal | 52 | 57.6 | — | — | — | — | Low confidence, 1 contributors |
| 25Puerto Viejo - de Talamanca, Limon | 51 | 49.9 | — | $1,007 | 77.4 | — | Medium confidence, 9 contributors |
| 26San Francisco | 51 | 56.0 | $560 | $895 | 73.1 | 55.9K | Low confidence, 2 contributors |
| 27Grecia | 50 | 49.5 | $444 | $666 | 64.1 | — | Medium confidence, 8 contributors |
| 28Heredia | 50 | 58.2 | $994 | $1,366 | 83.6 | 21.9K | Medium confidence, 10 contributors |
| 29Santa Ana | 49 | 64.4 | $1,070 | $1,412 | 79.2 | 8K | Medium confidence, 5 contributors |
| 30Samara | 48 | 60.4 | $1,376 | — | — | — | Medium confidence, 6 contributors |
| 31Playa del Coco | 47 | 58.5 | — | $783 | 55.4 | — | Low confidence, 1 contributors |
| 32Curridabat | 44 | 56.4 | $800 | $500 | 34.7 | 34.6K | Low confidence, 4 contributors |
| 33Jaco Beach | 44 | 51.2 | $761 | $400 | 29.9 | — | Medium confidence, 8 contributors |
| 34Tamarindo | 40 | 61.1 | $1,929 | $947 | 38.0 | 6.4K | Medium confidence, 14 contributors |