---
title: "What Is a Good Salary in Costa Rica? — Geo-Parity"
description: "Median wage in Costa Rica ≈ $1,061/mo; top 10% above $3,178/mo, minimum $696/mo. Full local wage ladder from World Bank data."
canonical: "https://geo-parity.com/wage-bands/costa-rica/"
json: "https://geo-parity.com/api/wage-bands.json?country=CR"
generator: geo-parity markdown twin
---
Local Salaries · Costa Rica

# What is a good salary in 🇨🇷 Costa Rica (San Jose)?

The median is about **$1,061/month**; top-10% earners clear **$3,178/month**.

## The local wage ladder

| Band | Monthly | Annual | Local currency |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Survival floorsingle-person essentials | $1,287 | $15,444 | 648,001 CRC/mo |
| Statutory minimumILOSTAT statutory monthly minimum wage, 2024 (USD). | $696 | $8,352 | 350,434 CRC/mo |
| Median (p50)typical earner | $1,061 | $12,732 | 534,210 CRC/mo |
| Comfortable (p75)upper-middle | $1,890 | $22,680 | 951,609 CRC/mo |
| Top 10% (p90)high earner | $3,178 | $38,136 | 1,600,113 CRC/mo |
| Top 1% (p99)elite | $7,771 | $93,252 | 3,912,675 CRC/mo |

Modelled from World Bank GNI $17,930 (2025) and Gini 45.5. Check where you stand in the [interactive benchmarker](https://geo-parity.com/wage-bands/?country=CR).

## Countries with similar median pay

- [🇲🇪 Montenegro](https://geo-parity.com/wage-bands/montenegro/) — median $1,063/mo
- [🇹🇷 Türkiye](https://geo-parity.com/wage-bands/turkiye/) — median $1,076/mo
- [🇷🇺 Russia](https://geo-parity.com/wage-bands/russia/) — median $1,020/mo
- [🇨🇱 Chile](https://geo-parity.com/wage-bands/chile/) — median $993/mo

See also: [what everyday life costs in Costa Rica](https://geo-parity.com/ppp/costa-rica/)

## Frequently asked questions

- **What is a good salary in Costa Rica?**: The median wage is about $1,061/month ($12,732/year). A "comfortable" p75 salary is around $1,890/month, and you'd be a top-10% earner above $3,178/month.
- **What is a top 10% salary in Costa Rica?**: Roughly $3,178/month ($38,136/year) puts you in the top 10%; the top 1% starts near $7,771/month.
- **What is the minimum wage in Costa Rica?**: About $696/month. ILOSTAT statutory monthly minimum wage, 2024 (USD).
- **How are these Costa Rica salary figures calculated?**: A log-normal wage model calibrated from World Bank GNI per capita ($17,930, 2025) and the Gini index (45.5). Estimates for benchmarking, not payroll data.

Log-normal model from World Bank data — estimates for benchmarking, not payroll data. Agents: GET /api/wage-bands.json?country=CR.

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Source: Geo-Parity — https://geo-parity.com/wage-bands/costa-rica/ · JSON: https://geo-parity.com/api/wage-bands.json?country=CR