Costa Rica Cost of Living – The Real Skinny

I read so much yada yada on the Costa Rica cost of living that I thought I outta chime in…

For a bit of background: I’ve lived here for over two decades. I was a permanent resident for the majority of that time and as of last year, a naturalized citizen. I was born in the U.S. and lived the first two-thirds of my life in the Carolinas, where I practiced law, among other things.

I operated a tourism business in Costa Rica for many years, before joining the Coldwell Banker real estate team in Dominical about 10 years ago. While I’ve made a decent income, by Costa Rica’s standards, during my many years here, I’ve never lived high on the hog. For reasons that I won’t go into, I’ve always chosen to live a relatively meager middle class tico style of life.

I lived my first decade in the Central Valley, in various locations. For the last ten, I’ve lived in Perez Zeledon. I’ve always preferred to live in places that are not dominated by tourism. I’ve been married to a tica (Colombian-borne and Costa Rica naturalized) for the last 14 years. I guess I’ve chosen my lifestyle for two reasons: first, because it’s the one I’ve best been able to afford and second, because it’s the one my wife and I have been most comfortable with.

Now, with all that said, what’s my opinion on the Costa Rica cost of living…

Well, I can only compare it to what I’ve experienced in the past in the U.S., as well as that of Colombia, since my wife and I spend a lot of time in the latter country…

There is no way the Costa Rica cost of living “needs to be” anywhere near as high as in the U.S. Now I know there are many who will read that and vehemently object. The first thing I would ask these detractors is WHERE and HOW do they live? Because I’d venture a bet it’s in a tourist dominated economy. Expats tend to gravitate towards those for a number of reasons…

For one, it’s probably all they know about Costa Rica, having visited here as a tourist initially and then liked the experience enough to try calling the place home. They also like the variety of entertainment options in tourist environments, which usually features an ocean! Lastly, they like being around others like them, who have made that similar choice…

And all that makes perfectly good sense…

However, those tourist environs are not what I would consider real world Costa Rica…

For example, I live in Perez Zeledon. Specifically, I live about 45 minutes from the beach in Dominical, which is definitely one of those touristy places. I chose this area because it offers a comfortable and high quality tico style of life, while being close enough to the beach that I can go when I want. And the cost of living up here versus down at the beach is dramatically different.

Yes, you can spend as much living in Costa Rica that you would in the U.S. But you have to try pretty hard to do so and really not pay much attention to your buying and consuming habits.

I know many expats who live in areas like Perez Zeledon who get by somewhere in the range of $1,000 to $2,000 per month. I myself, with a pretty healthy car payment, spend about $3,500 per month. And I consider my standard of living to be, well, quite comfortable!

Try getting by in the U.S. on that kind of money!

Now, compared to Colombia and probably other Latin American countries, Costa Rica is quite expensive. I know that in Colombia I could probably get by with the same standard of living perhaps closer to 1/2 of what I spend in Costa Rica…

So, why do I stay in Costa Rica, you ask?

Well, my reasons for being in Costa Rica extend well beyond the economic. However, economically speaking, I don’t know how I would make anywhere near the amount of money in Colombia as I do in Costa Rica, unless, possibly, if I resorted to illegal activities!

Bottom line, the Costa Rica cost of living can be quite high, at least compared to other Latin American living options. However, it doesn’t have to be that much higher. It just depends on where you choose to live and how you choose to consume and spend.

And there are so many reasons to choose Costa Rica that extend beyond the economic. In fact, if you choose to live like and amongst the ticos, you will enjoy the double benefit of rubbing elbows with some of the most gentle and humble (not to mention the downright nicest) people on the planet AND your Costa Rica cost of living will probably be a lot less!

At any rate, if you’re down here complaining about how the Costa Rica cost of living is as high, or higher, than in the U.S., then you just ain’t doing it right!

There seems to be a wave of “reverse immigration” these days, with expats flooding to Costa Rica to try the pura vida style of life. Like I mentioned above, most of them are settling in the tourist dominated locales, like Tamarindo, Jaco, Manuel Antonio, Dominical, Uvita, Ojochal, etc., etc. The already high prices will probably rise even more in those places and for this reason I will continue to read complaints about how Costa Rica is unaffordable…

For those folks, I guess it just might be…