Moving to Costa Rica? The True Cost of Living in 2026 | What I Actually Spend

What's the ONE expense you're most worried about when planning your move to Costa Rica? Healthcare? Rent? The exchange rate? Let me know — I read every comment and respond.

What town do you live in?

Re the Caja, it is not mandatory, i am a permanent resident and we're enrolled as ''Securo Voluntaria Fisica Extranjera '' and pay 31.000 colones montly. We only have US Soc. Securety income, not local income.

Costa Rica electricity is VERY EXPENSIVE. we ran A/C for 1 month, in Liberia. My 1st powerbill was $1130.00 because it was hot as hell and the humidity was so high. Your stated cost is very unique and is not an average of the typical gringo living in CR. The $$$ has lost so much value in CR. The central valley is beautiful and I agree, with altitude, one can get away with less A/C vs other areas.

The mountain towns are too cold especially the rainy season.

Costa Rica sucks

Excellent, excellent, excellent!!!! 🎉🎉🎉❤️❤️❤️

Who in there right mind would get a pensinado visa now ? $475 - $700 USD per month to CAJA ...NO Thank You, a single persion with a $3,000 pension pays $475 per month to CAJA ( Not the stated "roughly 200-450 ) x2 people thats $950 combined...Ya Disgusting

Oh my goodness! I am planning on moving there and that is exactly how much rent I want to pay. I don't like big cities. I rather save to do a little traveling. I am kind of minimalist. How did you find that place, where is it at? Do you know of anyone who is renting a house? Thank you so much for sharing your videos in your channel. I love that you are so honest withe information that you share, Todo lo mejor.

I have been living in Costa Rica for 6 years with my local wife and her two children.
Retired and,(as soon as her ex husband finally signs a release for their children to travel outside CR), were moving. Belize or Nicaragua are two of our favorite countries.
Shortly after moving here the dollar was 690 colones to $1 dollar. Now,at my local bank, it’s 442 colones to the dollar, a 35% decline. Costa Rica is the 2nd most expensive Latin country after Uruguay. Its cost of living in 47% higher than Mexico. Expat health insurance costs me $750 a month. Cars, electronics, good steaks, cheeses, California wines, liquors, anything imported ,which are most items,are more expensive here than in the States.
CR is as expensive as many parts of America, so if your looking to live comfortably on a fixed income a couple will need to budget $3,600 to $5,000. If your looking for inexpensive it’s not here unless you want to retire, live in the middle of nowhere, skip regularly going out to nicer restaurants and live frugally that’s reality.
Cartels are a big problem, so much so, that America has expanded its military presence along the North and Southern borders along with FBI, DEA and CIA thankfully.
Costa Rica is attracting a great deal of money laundering, somewhere between 40% to 50% of what the government calls foreign investments, are flooding CR and that has unfortunately contributed to the over supply of U.S. Dollars and its declining value to the CR Colone.
If you are looking to vacation it is a nice place to start for your first time Latin adventure and if you prefer a little more structure, it is a good choice. CR has become touristy in many beaches areas, but it is well developed with many amenities.
If retirement is your goal, than visit and stay for at least 3 to 6 months and see if the living costs and what you are looking for and meet your expectations.
As for crime and corruption, well its Central America; My wife owns a trucking business so we see a lot of it here but that’s life. Overall, it has become over hyped and overpriced for the last 6 years but it’s still very enjoyable to vacation here.
For those looking for retirement, look around and investigate before making any sudden decisions about your future in any country.
Good luck to you.

WOW!!! I LIVE IN U.S., IN FLORIDA!!!! AND PAY 1/2 THAT AMOUNT TO LIVE. JUST DON'T SPEND MONEY THAT "YOU" DON'T HAVE......GOT IT

Are you in carrago?

I appreciate the video. I am considering trying out Costa Rica for retirement. But I couldn’t live like you do. I need to be in a more active environment, closer to health care, maybe an area I could find a date once in a while.
I’m 62 and single, my income is around $4,000 a month. I don’t need luxury, but I would like walking distance to a beach.
Is that possible on my income?

Thank you, Dave. I live in San Luis next to Lake Arenal. I live on $1000 a month with two cats and a dog. The bus comes by seven times a day on time starting at 5:30am. Door-to-door service that costs 500colones($1.00) each way into Tilaran. The beach is 1.5 hours away to Playa Hermosa. The weather is great at 1800 feet above sea level. I have an unobstructed lake view from my apartment with complete privacy at $445,00 a month all included. Pura Vida!

Me and my dad are trying to leave the states and wanting to move to Costa Rica I'm 22 and my dad is almost 50 and we are wanting a change this video definitely gave us more of a slightly clear view of things and we have made our mind and hopefully move soon. Glad to find your channel gave us a eye opener

Good Video... #1 thing should be quality of food.... North American food is straight up Poison! Yes some foods are more here but how can you compare them when the cheaper food is killing you. Don't buy import food! A lot of people move to Costa Rica and all their fatigue and mental fog goes away when they switch food. Cars are more but insurance is much cheaper in general... car repairs are a fraction.
In the end it all comes down to the person... I have seen people from USA come here and try to live way better than they did back home and then whine that its expensive living in a beach towns like Jaco..... spending $$$ on hookers and $20 burgers and $300 a/c bills when back home they lived outside Dayton Ohio and had no g/f..... It works for you because you have your head screwed on.... If you can't make it here even with the colon @450 good luck making it in North America.... Also get your dog off dry garbage food.... meat / vegetables .... your dog will be much better off.