COSTA RICA COST OF LIVING INFORMATION:

1. Property Gains tax – 0.00
2 . Property tax - 115.00 annually for a 100,000.00 home
3 . Cost to build $60-90 per sq. foot vs 200-300 in the US.
4 . Auto taxes -- approximately $75/year on average used car
5 . Electricity -- $25/month average
6 . Telephone -- $6.50/month average
7 . Public water -- $1.75/month average
8 . Medical insurance -- 9% of salary paid by employees and 9% paid by employer
9 . Dentist -- $20 average; Medical visit is $20 average too
10 . Labor (plentiful) -- unskilled $1.25/hour; skilled $2.50/hour
11 . Auto repair -- approximately 30% US costs
12 . Taxi fare -- $2 to $3 average
13. Gasoline (premium) -- $0.67/liter or $2.50/gallon
14. Haircut -- $1.75 for man; $2.25 for woman
15. P.O. Box -- $5.00/year
16. Furniture -- custom built, top quality materials and finish approximately 30% of comparable US products
17. Tire repair (pinchata) -- $2.00 average
18. Tools (quality) -- approximately 80% US cost
19. Restaurants -- lunch about $4.00, dinner about $10.00 (medium pizza $4.50)
20. Red wine (vino rojo) top quality Chilean (Santa Carolina) -- $6.00/bottle
21 . Food -- fresh fruits (all varieties) about 40% US cost, fresh vegetables (all varieties) about 35% US cost, beef steaks (top cuts) about 50% US cost

These cost of living values are at estimated costs and do not always reflect the true Costa Rican amounts. - Costaricaventanas.com