🇺🇸 United States vs 🇨🇷 Costa Rica
Side by side on the data that actually changes your life: prices, taxes, climate, air, safety. Every number has a source and a date.
Climate (capital)
Open-Meteo historical weather
Jan -2° · Jul 27° · Washington, D.C.
Jan 20° · Jul 21° · San José
Air quality (capital)
WAQI, capital station
AQI 36 · Good
AQI 20 · Good
Big Mac price
The Economist Big Mac index
$6.12
$6.04
Taxes on salary
OECD tax wedge, single average worker
~30% of labour cost (2025)
~28% of labour cost (2025)
Special tax regimes
Official tax authorities, verified 2026-06
No inbound regime (worldwide taxation)
Territorial taxation
Inflation
World Bank
3.0% / yr (2024)
-0.1% / yr (2025)
Internet (median fixed)
Ookla Speedtest Global Index
~250 Mbps
—
English proficiency
EF English Proficiency Index
native
—
Messenger apps
OONI network measurements, 6-month window
All measured apps work
All measured apps work
Safety advisory
U.S. State Department travel advisory
Level 1 · Exercise Normal Precautions
—
Foreign-born residents
World Bank migrant stock
15.2% of population (2024)
12.2% of population (2024)
Life expectancy
WHO
76 yrs
79 yrs
Currency
ISO 4217
USD
CRC
Timezone (capital)
Open-Meteo
UTC-4
UTC-6
Climate, inflation and life expectancy verified 2026-07-07. Prices, taxes and air quality verified 2026-07-07. Sources shown per row.
Special tax regimes, verified
Regimes change often and many sites still advertise closed ones. We link the official source for each.
🇺🇸 United States
Residents are taxed on worldwide income
Verified 2026-06 · IRS
🇨🇷 Costa Rica
Foreign-source income untaxed
Verified 2026-06 · Ministerio de Hacienda
Numbers are half the story
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