Detroit vs Sao Paulo - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 11, 2026

	Detroit	Sao Paulo
🚶 Cost of living one person	$2032	$1115
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$4925	$2824
🏠 One person rent	$1105	$537
🏘️ Family rent	$1878	$943
🍽️ Food expenses	$664	$318
🚐 Transport expenses	$121	$147
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$3072	$794
😷 Air quality	Excellent	Moderate
✈️ Airport proximity	9 km	5 km
🎓 Higher education	77	96
😀 Quality of life	88	74
🏙️ Population	639K	11.5M

The cost of living in Detroit is 82% more expensive than in Sao Paulo. Cities ranked 1947th and 5003rd ($2032 vs $1115) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 1526th and 1st in the United States and Brazil, respectively. Check the United States vs Brazil comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 1.5 months in Detroit compared to 0.7 months in Sao Paulo. Detroit ranked 95th best city to live in the United States vs Sao Paulo ranked 1st in Brazil, while ranked 318th and 2408th among best cities to live in the world.

Salary adjustment calculator
the estimated difference in money purchasing power

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Prices in Detroit vs Sao Paulo

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

	Detroit	Sao Paulo
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$18.1	$7.85
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$66.5	$38.2
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$11.5	$7.52
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$6.88	$2.45
☕ Cappuccino	$5.48	$2.66
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$2.95	$1.26
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1299	$631
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$820	$419
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$2296	$1111
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1448	$769
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$130	$56.1
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$201	$85.4
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$59.3	$19.9
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	6.34%	11.97%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1602	$2842
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1188	$2178
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$2	$1
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$75.1	$49.2
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$15.4	$7.86
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$0.88	$1.15
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.95	$1.13
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$3.34	$1.63
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$6.68	$1.28
🥚 Eggs, x12	$3.71	$2.81
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$13.8	$12.2
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$12.1	$5.07
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$16.1	$10.3
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$5.04	$2.7
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.4	$1.82
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$5.46	$1.63
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$5.71	$1.86
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.49	$1.34
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.83	$1.18
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.6	$0.54
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$3.05	$2.25
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$15.8	$9.77
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$3.04	$1.45
🚬 Cigarette pack	$10.3	$2.76
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$13.9	$5.92
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$7.05	$3.82
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$3.46	$1.68
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$1.75	$1.29
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$40.6	$31.9
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$11.8	$8.87
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$88.2	$55.2
💇 Haircut, simple	$18.2	$11.3
👖 Brand Jeans	$58.3	$61.4
👟 Brand Sneakers	$100	$105
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$1360	$494
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$19339	$16798

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

Cost of Living in the nearest cities

Cities near Detroit

Distance	City	Cost of living
1.9 km or 1.2 mi	Windsor	$1980
7.4 km or 4.6 mi	Hamtramck	$1947
14 km or 8.6 mi	Dearborn	$1975
15 km or 9.1 mi	Lincoln Park	$1926
16 km or 9.8 mi	Allen Park	$1993
16 km or 10 mi	Ferndale	$1939
17 km or 10 mi	Wyandotte	$1758
17 km or 11 mi	Eastpointe	$1909
18 km or 11 mi	Madison Heights	$1969
18 km or 11 mi	Warren	$1820
19 km or 12 mi	Oak Park	$1943
19 km or 12 mi	Southgate	$1907
19 km or 12 mi	Royal Oak	$1946
20 km or 12 mi	Dearborn Heights	$1926
21 km or 13 mi	Roseville	$1905
21 km or 13 mi	Taylor	$2030
21 km or 13 mi	Southfield	$1915
22 km or 14 mi	St. Clair Shores	$1905
22 km or 14 mi	Inkster	$1941
24 km or 15 mi	Garden	$1876
26 km or 16 mi	Amherstburg	$1926
27 km or 17 mi	Birmingham	$1968
28 km or 17 mi	Sterling Heights	$1837
28 km or 17 mi	Livonia	$1920
29 km or 18 mi	Troy	$1972
29 km or 18 mi	Westland	$1945
30 km or 19 mi	Clinton Township	$1944
31 km or 19 mi	Romulus	$2004
32 km or 20 mi	Farmington Hills	$2181
37 km or 23 mi	Rochester Hills	$1940
39 km or 24 mi	Novi	$2307
40 km or 25 mi	Pontiac	$1796
42 km or 26 mi	Auburn Hills	$1913
54 km or 34 mi	Monroe	$1701
58 km or 36 mi	Ann Arbor	$2285
71 km or 44 mi	Chatham-Kent	$1843
86 km or 54 mi	Toledo	$1624
88 km or 54 mi	Burton	$1635
88 km or 54 mi	Port Huron	$1957
89 km or 55 mi	Sarnia	$1619

Cities near Sao Paulo

Distance	City	Cost of living
12 km or 7.3 mi	Sao Caetano do Sul	$795
13 km or 8.3 mi	Taboao da Serra	$754
14 km or 8.6 mi	Guarulhos	$753
15 km or 9.4 mi	Diadema	$753
16 km or 9.7 mi	Santo Andre	$742
16 km or 10 mi	Osasco	$782
17 km or 11 mi	Sao Bernardo do Campo	$699
21 km or 13 mi	Carapicuiba	$645
22 km or 14 mi	Maua	$746
23 km or 15 mi	Caieiras	$741
25 km or 15 mi	Embu das Artes	$753
25 km or 16 mi	Barueri	$883
26 km or 16 mi	Mairipora	$724
26 km or 16 mi	Franco da Rocha	$752
27 km or 17 mi	Ferraz de Vasconcelos	$687
28 km or 17 mi	Jandira	$750
29 km or 18 mi	Ribeirao Pires	$716
29 km or 18 mi	Itapecerica da Serra	$754
30 km or 18 mi	Poa	$684
30 km or 18 mi	Cotia	$841
30 km or 19 mi	Itaquaquecetuba	$723
31 km or 19 mi	Itapevi	$700
31 km or 19 mi	Santana de Parnaiba	$741
32 km or 20 mi	Francisco Morato	$753
33 km or 20 mi	Itanhaem	$715
33 km or 20 mi	Cajamar	$741
36 km or 22 mi	Embu-Guacu	$727
36 km or 22 mi	Aruja	$713
41 km or 26 mi	Campo Limpo Paulista	$739
43 km or 26 mi	Varzea Paulista	$737
44 km or 27 mi	Cubatao	$695
45 km or 28 mi	Mogi das Cruzes	$789
48 km or 30 mi	Jundiai	$783
49 km or 30 mi	Atibaia	$651
51 km or 32 mi	Sao Roque	$725
52 km or 32 mi	Sao Vicente	$655
55 km or 34 mi	Santos	$882
56 km or 35 mi	Praia Grande	$691
61 km or 38 mi	Bertioga	$703
61 km or 38 mi	Ibiuna	$719