Province · Costa Rica
Alajuela
Province of Costa Rica. Official statistics compared with the whole country, and REAL NOW market prices.
This page covers the whole region. The city or zone named Alajuela has its own market page, with other figures: Alajuela
Population
1,035,464
INEC estimate, 2022 #2 of 7
Crimes per 1,000 residents
5.7
5,880 reports in 12 months -4.8% #5 of 7
Homicides
79
last 12 months · previous 12: 103
Official land value
US$111/m²
median of urban residential zones #4 of 7
Median sale price per m²
US$1,473
apartments and houses
Official statistics
Population, housing and safety
Each figure next to the parent region and the country, so you can tell whether it stands out.
Population and housing
| AlajuelaProvince | Costa RicaCountry | |
|---|---|---|
| Population | 1,035,464 | 5,044,197 |
| Area, km² | 9,772.1 | 51,146.6 |
| Density per km² | 106 | 99 |
| Population growth, a year | 1.8% | 1.4% |
| Dwellings | 370,120 | 1,836,035 |
| Unoccupied dwellings | 11.1% | 11.7% |
| Persons per occupied dwelling | 3.12 | 3.10 |
Source: INEC Costa Rica, 2022 estimate
Crime, last 12 closed months
2025-10 – 2026-09 · per 1,000 residents of the 2022 estimate
| AlajuelaProvince | Costa RicaCountry | |
|---|---|---|
| All reported crimes | 5,880 | 36,302 |
| Per 1,000 residents | 5.68 | 7.20 |
| Change vs previous 12 months | -4.8% | -8.0% |
| Homicides | 79 | 775 |
| Reported crimes in 2024homicides: 105 | 6,755 | 43,137 |
| Reported crimes in 2025homicides: 102 | 6,023 | 38,780 |
Source: OIJ – Poder Judicial de Costa Rica (CC BY 4.0)
Crime by type
Reports to the OIJ in this region, last 12 closed months, and the monthly history.
| Type | 12 months | Per 1,000 | vs prior 12 m | Country, per 1,000 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Assault and mugging | 916 | 0.88 | -4.2% | 1.51 |
| Theft | 1,904 | 1.84 | -4.0% | 2.40 |
| Break-ins | 1,574 | 1.52 | -3.7% | 1.53 |
| Theft from vehicles | 433 | 0.42 | -0.9% | 0.73 |
| Vehicle theft | 974 | 0.94 | -8.4% | 0.87 |
| Homicide | 79 | 0.08 | -23.3% | 0.15 |
Source: OIJ – Poder Judicial de Costa Rica (CC BY 4.0)
Land value
Official land value
What the Ministry of Finance uses as the reference value of land for property tax, by homogeneous zone. A fiscal reference, not an appraisal.
Urban residential zones
704 zones in this region
| AlajuelaProvince | Costa RicaCountry | |
|---|---|---|
| Median per m², US$ | US$111 | US$177 |
| Median per m², colones | ₡50,000 | ₡80,000 |
Source: ONT – Ministerio de Hacienda. Fiscal reference value, not an appraisal.
How the zones are spread
Number of urban residential zones by value, US$ per m²
81
72
162
125
119
105
36
4
0
0–2525–5050–100100–150150–200200–300300–500500–10001000+
Converted at 452.13 colones per US dollar (2026-09).
Source: ONT – Ministerio de Hacienda. Fiscal reference value, not an appraisal.
Market
Prices, rent and yield
Medians over the aggregated public offer seen in the last 30 days. List prices, not closed sales.
For sale
| AlajuelaProvince | Costa RicaCountry | |
|---|---|---|
| Median per m², homes | US$1,473 | US$1,963 |
| Apartments, per m² | US$1,497 | US$2,296 |
| Houses, per m² | US$1,460 | US$1,845 |
Source: REAL NOW, aggregated public offer (list prices)
For rent
| AlajuelaProvince | Costa RicaCountry | |
|---|---|---|
| Median monthly rent | US$1,700 | US$2,000 |
| Gross rental yield | 6.47% | 6.43% |
Source: REAL NOW rent benchmarks, aggregated public offer
Cantons
Cantons of Alajuela
16 regions. Open one for its full profile.
| Canton | Population | Crimes per 1,000 | Land value, US$/m² | Sale, US$/m² |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alajuela | 322,143 | 8.1 | US$210 | PRO |
| Atenas | 30,407 | 4.2 | US$94 | PRO |
| Grecia | 76,226 | 4.2 | US$128 | PRO |
| Guatuso | 18,316 | 5.2 | US$16 | PRO |
| Los Chiles | 34,701 | 5.2 | US$16 | PRO |
| Naranjo | 46,647 | 3.0 | US$77 | PRO |
| Orotina | 24,217 | 9.8 | US$69 | PRO |
| Palmares | 39,148 | 2.5 | US$133 | PRO |
| Poás | 36,207 | 2.5 | US$166 | PRO |
| Río Cuarto | 14,418 | 3.5 | US$30 | PRO |
| San Carlos | 198,742 | 4.8 | US$122 | PRO |
| San Mateo | 6,952 | 7.6 | US$58 | PRO |
| San Ramón | 93,264 | 5.5 | US$88 | PRO |
| Sarchí | 21,562 | 2.3 | US$60 | PRO |
| Upala | 57,361 | 5.6 | US$22 | PRO |
| Zarcero | 15,153 | 1.8 | US$100 | PRO |
Methodology
Sources and methodology
Official statistics
- Population, dwellings, density and growth: INEC Costa Rica, 2022 estimate by district. Unoccupied share = unoccupied dwellings divided by all dwellings.
- Crimes: reports to the OIJ of assault, theft, break-ins, vehicle theft, theft from vehicles and homicide, summed over the last 12 closed months (2025-10 to 2026-09). The rate per 1,000 residents uses the 2022 population; the trend compares with the previous 12 months and is shown only when that window has at least 10 cases.
- Land value: ONT (Ministerio de Hacienda) homogeneous-zone values for urban residential zones. It is a fiscal reference value, not an appraisal and not the current value of any property. Median across zones, not weighted by area.
REAL NOW market metrics
- Sale: median asking price per m² of apartments and houses for sale seen in the last 30 days in the aggregated public offer, with the same outlier bounds as Analytics. List prices, not closed sales.
- Confidence: solid = 30 or more listings, preliminary = 15 to 29; below 15 nothing is published.
- Rent and gross yield: REAL NOW rent benchmarks, median monthly rent of homes; gross yield = rent × 12 ÷ sale price of the same cell, published only between 3 and 12 percent. Available by province or department and by municipality or canton.
Sources: INEC Costa Rica (2022 estimate) · OIJ – Poder Judicial de Costa Rica (CC BY 4.0) · ONT – Ministerio de Hacienda (fiscal reference value, not an appraisal) · REAL NOW aggregated public offer.