Columbus vs San Salvador - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: June 21, 2026

	Columbus	San Salvador
🚶 Cost of living one person	$2140	$1291
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$5154	$2925
🏠 One person rent	$1207	$734
🏘️ Family rent	$2066	$1288
🍽️ Food expenses	$667	$369
🚐 Transport expenses	$126	$87.6
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$3790	$378
😷 Air quality	Excellent	Moderate
✈️ Airport proximity	10 km	8 km
🎓 Higher education	73	41
😀 Quality of life	88	56
🏙️ Population	906K	331K

The cost of living in Columbus is 66% more expensive than in San Salvador. Cities ranked 1634th and 4553rd ($2140 vs $1291) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 1324th and 2nd in the United States and El Salvador, respectively. Check the United States vs El Salvador comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 1.8 months in Columbus compared to 0.3 months in San Salvador. Columbus ranked 73rd best city to live in the United States vs San Salvador ranked 1st in El Salvador, while ranked 266th and 6244th among best cities to live in the world.

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the estimated difference in money purchasing power

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<img src="https://livingcost.org/assets/photo/cost/columbus/san-salvador.jpg" alt="Cost of living in Columbus vs San Salvador infographic" style="max-width: 100%; height: auto;"><p>Source: <a href="https://livingcost.org/cost/columbus/san-salvador" target="_blank">Columbus vs San Salvador - Cost of Living Comparison</a></p>

Prices in Columbus vs San Salvador

Prices for goods and services in Columbus and San Salvador are partly crowdsourced by our visitors, just like yourself. Please consider telling us about your city.

	Columbus	San Salvador
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$20.9	$7.29
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$68.2	$37.2
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$12.1	$7.27
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$6.36	$2
☕ Cappuccino	$5.1	$4.19
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$2.65	$1.24
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1354	$746
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$919	$590
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$2171	$1319
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1698	$1089
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$141	$75
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$213	$116
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$60.4	$37.6
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	6.08%	8.49%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$3423	$2803
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1817	$1836
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$1.99	$0.35
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$60.7	$18.8
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$15.5	$27.9
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$0.92	$1.08
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.89	$1.85
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$3.07	$2.22
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.49	$1.26
🥚 Eggs, x12	$4.28	$2.64
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$14.1	$7.87
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$14	$6.52
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$16	$10.2
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$5.58	$4.08
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.65	$1.61
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$6.1	$2.9
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.77	$2.69
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.59	$2.24
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.43	$2.49
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.55	$0.64
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$4.03	$2.15
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$18.5	$13.4
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.77	$2
🚬 Cigarette pack	$9.99	$4.05
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$9.23	$6.1
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$3.74	$7.05
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$4.09	$2.77
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$2.21	$2.42
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$38.4	$31.6
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$12.2	$5.28
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$86.1	$39
💇 Haircut, simple	$20.2	$8
👖 Brand Jeans	$56.5	$65.4
👟 Brand Sneakers	$90.8	$120
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$1464	$161
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$20945	$4732

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

Cost of Living in the nearest cities

Cities near Columbus

Distance	City	Cost of living
8.6 km or 5.3 mi	Upper Arlington	$2116
11 km or 7.1 mi	Grove	$2075
13 km or 8.3 mi	Gahanna	$2088
15 km or 9 mi	Hilliard	$2120
17 km or 11 mi	Reynoldsburg	$2064
18 km or 11 mi	Dublin	$2117
19 km or 12 mi	Westerville	$1897
22 km or 13 mi	Pickerington	$2021
38 km or 24 mi	Delaware	$2018
43 km or 27 mi	Lancaster	$1928
43 km or 27 mi	Marysville	$2008
51 km or 32 mi	Newark	$1919
69 km or 43 mi	Springfield	$1836
70 km or 43 mi	Chillicothe	$1849
70 km or 44 mi	Marion	$1941
84 km or 52 mi	Zanesville	$1626
86 km or 53 mi	Xenia	$1824
89 km or 55 mi	Fairborn	$1663
94 km or 59 mi	Beavercreek	$1811
97 km or 60 mi	Huber Heights	$1833
97 km or 60 mi	Mansfield	$1567
98 km or 61 mi	Riverside	$1880
103 km or 64 mi	Kettering	$1908
103 km or 64 mi	Troy	$1855
104 km or 65 mi	Athens	$1579
104 km or 65 mi	Centerville	$1906
105 km or 65 mi	Dayton	$1898
105 km or 65 mi	Sidney	$1745
108 km or 67 mi	Piqua	$1836
112 km or 69 mi	Trotwood	$1933
116 km or 72 mi	Ashland	$1707
120 km or 74 mi	Lebanon	$1843
128 km or 80 mi	Middletown	$1617
128 km or 80 mi	Lima	$2066
130 km or 81 mi	Wooster	$1599
131 km or 81 mi	Mason	$1900
132 km or 82 mi	Findlay	$1881
136 km or 84 mi	Portsmouth	$1495
144 km or 90 mi	New Philadelphia	$1818
146 km or 91 mi	Norwalk	$1936

Cities near San Salvador

Distance	City	Cost of living
5.2 km or 3.2 mi	Mejicanos	$1254
6.1 km or 3.8 mi	Soyapango	$1261
11 km or 6.8 mi	Santa Tecla	$1183
11 km or 7 mi	Apopa	$1231
49 km or 30 mi	Santa Ana	$770
57 km or 35 mi	Sonsonate	$905
75 km or 46 mi	Ahuachapan	$1476
89 km or 55 mi	Usulutan	$1123
112 km or 69 mi	San Miguel	$1132
135 km or 84 mi	Jalapa	$1130
172 km or 107 mi	San Miguel Petapa	$1127
176 km or 109 mi	Guatemala City	$1204
185 km or 115 mi	Mixco	$790
187 km or 116 mi	Comayagua	$678
219 km or 136 mi	Tegucigalpa	$909
220 km or 137 mi	Villanueva	$860
235 km or 146 mi	Coban	$935
236 km or 147 mi	San Pedro Sula	$1004
237 km or 147 mi	La Lima	$854
241 km or 150 mi	Panajachel	$951
241 km or 150 mi	El Progreso	$832
250 km or 156 mi	Choloma	$681
253 km or 157 mi	Chinandega	$791
266 km or 165 mi	Mazatenango	$962
273 km or 170 mi	Yoro	$756
277 km or 172 mi	Puerto Cortes	$767
281 km or 174 mi	Quetzaltenango	$871
282 km or 175 mi	Momostenango	$960
287 km or 178 mi	Leon	$759
315 km or 196 mi	Esteli	$716
347 km or 216 mi	La Ceiba	$619
352 km or 219 mi	Jinotega	$503
357 km or 222 mi	Tapachula	$775
361 km or 224 mi	Managua	$788
365 km or 227 mi	Matagalpa	$665
367 km or 228 mi	Flores	$1014
385 km or 239 mi	San Ignacio	$1049
387 km or 240 mi	Masaya	$817
397 km or 247 mi	Belmopan	$1008
402 km or 250 mi	Granada	$706