Which has higher rule of law index, Costa Rica or United States?

Costa Rica, at 0.935 against 0.924 in United States as of 2025.

How many years of comparable data are there for Costa Rica and United States?

188 years are reported by both, from 1838 to 2025.

Where does this data come from?

V-Dem (2026) – processed by Our World in Data, published as Rule of Law Index. Statizoid refreshes it automatically from the source and publishes the full history for both places.

Costa Rica vs United States: Rule of Law Index

Costa Rica

0.935

in 2025

United States

0.924

in 2025

Costa Rica rank

26th

United States rank

29th

Rule of Law Index over time

Costa Rica
United States

How they compare

Costa Rica currently reports 0.935 against 0.924 in United States, a difference of 0.011.

The two have swapped places 5 times across 188 shared years of data; in 1838 it was United States ahead.

Costa Rica ranks 26th and United States ranks 29th of 176 countries.

United States has averaged higher in every one of the 20 decades both report.

Head to head by decade

Decade	Costa Rica	United States	Difference	Ahead
1830s	0.569	0.887	0.318	United States
1840s	0.6069	0.887	0.2801	United States
1850s	0.566	0.887	0.321	United States
1860s	0.626	0.8739	0.2479	United States
1870s	0.5625	0.886	0.3235	United States
1880s	0.6462	0.886	0.2398	United States
1890s	0.6008	0.886	0.2852	United States
1900s	0.6186	0.9	0.2814	United States
1910s	0.5961	0.9232	0.3271	United States
1920s	0.67	0.9166	0.2466	United States
1930s	0.67	0.9318	0.2618	United States
1940s	0.6837	0.9322	0.2485	United States
1950s	0.8942	0.9305	0.0363	United States
1960s	0.9057	0.9325	0.0268	United States
1970s	0.9121	0.9607	0.0486	United States
1980s	0.9239	0.9672	0.0433	United States
1990s	0.9506	0.9774	0.0268	United States
2000s	0.9437	0.9794	0.0357	United States
2010s	0.9405	0.9681	0.0276	United States
2020s	0.9397	0.9547	0.015	United States

Averages of every year both report within each decade.

Frequently asked questions

Which has higher rule of law index, Costa Rica or United States?: Costa Rica, at 0.935 against 0.924 in United States as of 2025.
What is the difference in rule of law index between Costa Rica and United States?: 0.011, with Costa Rica ahead.
How many years of comparable data are there for Costa Rica and United States?: 188 years are reported by both, from 1838 to 2025.
How do Costa Rica and United States rank globally for rule of law index?: Costa Rica ranks 26th and United States ranks 29th of 176 countries.
Where does this data come from?: V-Dem (2026) – processed by Our World in Data, published as Rule of Law Index. Statizoid refreshes it automatically from the source and publishes the full history for both places.

Individual pages

Share, cite or embed this page

Cite this page

Costa Rica vs United States: Rule of Law Index. Statizoid, drawing on V-Dem (2026) – processed by Our World in Data. Retrieved 28 August 2026, from https://reference.statizoid.com/compare/rule-of-law-index/costa-rica/united-states/

Embed or link this data

Paste this into a page to link back to these figures. The data itself is free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data); please keep the attribution.

<a href="https://reference.statizoid.com/compare/rule-of-law-index/costa-rica/united-states/">Costa Rica vs United States: Rule of Law Index</a> — Statizoid

About this data

Indicator: Rule of Law Index
Source: V-Dem (2026) – processed by Our World in Data
Licence: CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data)
Coverage: 176 places, 30,303 data points, 1789–2025
Last refreshed: 28 August 2026

Central estimate of the extent to which the government complies with the law, courts are independent, laws transparent, justice accessible, corruption absent, and the bureaucracy is impartial.