Detroit vs Sao Paulo - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: October 14, 2025

	Detroit	Sao Paulo
🚶 Cost of living one person	$2133	$1052
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$5076	$2682
🏠 One person rent	$1225	$496
🏘️ Family rent	$2140	$872
🍽️ Food expenses	$655	$302
🚐 Transport expenses	$110	$143
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$3098	$701
😷 Air quality	Excellent	Moderate
✈️ Airport proximity	9 km	5 km
🎓 Higher education	77	95
😀 Quality of life	88	69
🏙️ Population	639K	11.5M

The cost of living in Detroit is 103% more expensive than in Sao Paulo. Cities ranked 1636th and 5192nd ($2133 vs $1052) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 1374th 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 99th best city to live in the United States vs Sao Paulo ranked 1st in Brazil, while ranked 311th and 4142nd among best cities to live in the world.

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the estimated difference in money purchasing power

Cost of living in Detroit vs Sao Paulo infographic

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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	$19.9	$7.6
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$75.4	$34
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$10	$7.12
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$6.03	$2.3
☕ Cappuccino	$4.82	$2.55
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$2.58	$1.19
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1309	$622
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$949	$380
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$2383	$1124
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1719	$691
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$153	$48.7
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$236	$75
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$52.1	$18.7
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	6.39%	12.27%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1383	$2855
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1272	$1938
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$2.02	$0.96
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$65.4	$48.5
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$13.8	$7.53
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$0.91	$1.11
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.95	$1.04
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$3.36	$1.56
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$5.96	$1.19
🥚 Eggs, x12	$3.6	$2.66
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$12	$11.5
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$11.6	$4.68
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$18.7	$9.54
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.56	$2.7
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.21	$1.84
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$5.85	$1.61
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$6.1	$1.82
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.17	$1.39
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.46	$1.26
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.46	$0.48
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$3.08	$1.98
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$14.9	$8.72
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.63	$1.3
🚬 Cigarette pack	$9.93	$2.55
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$13.9	$6.16
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$6.96	$4.2
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$3.51	$1.52
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$1.77	$1.39
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$43.1	$27.9
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$12.4	$7.81
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$88.4	$65.2
💇 Haircut, simple	$18.4	$12.8
👖 Brand Jeans	$59.1	$55.2
👟 Brand Sneakers	$97.3	$92.9
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$1177	$475
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$16684	$15428

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	$1961
7.4 km or 4.6 mi	Hamtramck	$2062
14 km or 8.6 mi	Dearborn	$2052
15 km or 9.1 mi	Lincoln Park	$1940
16 km or 9.8 mi	Allen Park	$2048
16 km or 10 mi	Ferndale	$2080
17 km or 10 mi	Wyandotte	$1737
17 km or 11 mi	Eastpointe	$2032
18 km or 11 mi	Madison Heights	$2124
18 km or 11 mi	Warren	$1963
19 km or 12 mi	Oak Park	$2061
19 km or 12 mi	Southgate	$1911
19 km or 12 mi	Royal Oak	$2085
20 km or 12 mi	Dearborn Heights	$2041
21 km or 13 mi	Roseville	$2039
21 km or 13 mi	Taylor	$2167
21 km or 13 mi	Southfield	$2062
22 km or 14 mi	St. Clair Shores	$2036
22 km or 14 mi	Inkster	$2053
24 km or 15 mi	Garden	$1996
26 km or 16 mi	Amherstburg	$1913
27 km or 17 mi	Birmingham	$2045
28 km or 17 mi	Sterling Heights	$1973
28 km or 17 mi	Livonia	$1874
29 km or 18 mi	Troy	$1958
29 km or 18 mi	Westland	$2048
30 km or 19 mi	Clinton Township	$2100
31 km or 19 mi	Romulus	$2078
32 km or 20 mi	Farmington Hills	$2345
37 km or 23 mi	Rochester Hills	$2002
39 km or 24 mi	Novi	$2295
40 km or 25 mi	Pontiac	$1822
42 km or 26 mi	Auburn Hills	$1957
54 km or 34 mi	Monroe	$1721
58 km or 36 mi	Ann Arbor	$2276
71 km or 44 mi	Chatham-Kent	$1832
86 km or 54 mi	Toledo	$1642
88 km or 54 mi	Burton	$1611
88 km or 54 mi	Port Huron	$1949
89 km or 55 mi	Sarnia	$1608

Cities near Sao Paulo

Distance	City	Cost of living
12 km or 7.3 mi	Sao Caetano do Sul	$737
13 km or 8.3 mi	Taboao da Serra	$701
14 km or 8.6 mi	Guarulhos	$697
15 km or 9.4 mi	Diadema	$698
16 km or 9.7 mi	Santo Andre	$690
16 km or 10 mi	Osasco	$712
17 km or 11 mi	Sao Bernardo do Campo	$656
21 km or 13 mi	Carapicuiba	$605
22 km or 14 mi	Maua	$691
23 km or 15 mi	Caieiras	$687
25 km or 15 mi	Embu das Artes	$704
25 km or 16 mi	Barueri	$830
26 km or 16 mi	Mairipora	$671
26 km or 16 mi	Franco da Rocha	$699
27 km or 17 mi	Ferraz de Vasconcelos	$643
28 km or 17 mi	Jandira	$699
29 km or 18 mi	Ribeirao Pires	$665
29 km or 18 mi	Itapecerica da Serra	$706
30 km or 18 mi	Poa	$639
30 km or 18 mi	Cotia	$780
30 km or 19 mi	Itaquaquecetuba	$671
31 km or 19 mi	Itapevi	$654
31 km or 19 mi	Santana de Parnaiba	$689
32 km or 20 mi	Francisco Morato	$702
33 km or 20 mi	Itanhaem	$666
33 km or 20 mi	Cajamar	$693
36 km or 22 mi	Embu-Guacu	$678
36 km or 22 mi	Aruja	$664
41 km or 26 mi	Campo Limpo Paulista	$685
43 km or 26 mi	Varzea Paulista	$687
44 km or 27 mi	Cubatao	$657
45 km or 28 mi	Mogi das Cruzes	$741
48 km or 30 mi	Jundiai	$737
49 km or 30 mi	Atibaia	$618
51 km or 32 mi	Sao Roque	$673
52 km or 32 mi	Sao Vicente	$648
55 km or 34 mi	Santos	$816
56 km or 35 mi	Praia Grande	$638
61 km or 38 mi	Bertioga	$659
61 km or 38 mi	Ibiuna	$666