Fortaleza vs Rio de Janeiro - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 02, 2025

	Fortaleza	Rio de Janeiro
🚶 Cost of living one person	$745	$916
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$1679	$2281
🏠 One person rent	$328	$445
🏘️ Family rent	$448	$751
🍽️ Food expenses	$236	$239
🚐 Transport expenses	$104	$141
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$247	$372
😷 Air quality	Excellent	Good
✈️ Airport proximity	5 km	3 km
🎓 Higher education	42	95
😀 Quality of life	56	62
🏙️ Population	2.43M	6.21M

The cost of living in Fortaleza is 19% less expensive than in Rio de Janeiro. Cities ranked 6696th and 5954th ($745 vs $916) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 14th and 2nd in Brazil.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 0.3 months in Fortaleza compared to 0.4 months in Rio de Janeiro. Ranked 9th vs 3rd best cities to live in Brazil, and 5747th vs 4857th among the best cities to live in the world.

Salary adjustment calculator
the estimated difference in money purchasing power

Cost of living in Fortaleza vs Rio de Janeiro infographic

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<img src="https://livingcost.org/assets/photo/cost/fortaleza/rio-de-janeiro.jpg" alt="Cost of living in Fortaleza vs Rio de Janeiro infographic" style="max-width: 100%; height: auto;"><p>Source: <a href="https://livingcost.org/cost/fortaleza/rio-de-janeiro" target="_blank">Fortaleza vs Rio de Janeiro - Cost of Living Comparison</a></p>

Prices in Fortaleza vs Rio de Janeiro

Prices for goods and services in Fortaleza and Rio de Janeiro are partly crowdsourced by our visitors, just like yourself. Please consider telling us about your city.

	Fortaleza	Rio de Janeiro
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$4.44	$5.99
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$27.6	$29.8
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$6.09	$5.98
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.75	$1.85
☕ Cappuccino	$2.29	$2.17
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$1.02	$1.22
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$316	$454
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$225	$306
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$381	$821
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$313	$535
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$68.4	$92.5
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$106	$141
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$16.4	$17.4
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	11.75%	11.1%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1280	$1746
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$708	$1118
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$0.78	$1.2
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$38.4	$46.2
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$8.2	$7.66
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.04	$1.04
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.01	$1.03
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$1.41	$1.37
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.96	$1.13
🥚 Eggs, x12	$1.87	$1.98
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$6.83	$7.07
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.46	$3.32
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$7.41	$7.46
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.26	$2.17
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.15	$1.47
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.65	$1.33
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.45	$1.5
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.22	$1.23
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.16	$1.06
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.38	$0.37
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.8	$1.75
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$6.65	$7.32
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.18	$1.12
🚬 Cigarette pack	$1.98	$1.9
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$6.53	$3.14
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$2.81	$3.01
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$1.21	$1.03
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$1.01	$0.8
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$19.1	$24.3
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$5.85	$6.26
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$32.3	$61.1
💇 Haircut, simple	$9.66	$7.25
👖 Brand Jeans	$39.7	$46.8
👟 Brand Sneakers	$81.5	$71.7
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$195	$506
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$2060	$10819

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

$349

$907

$6.64K

Cost of Living in the nearest cities

Cities near Fortaleza

Distance	City	Cost of living
14 km or 8.9 mi	Caucaia	$685
112 km or 69 mi	Caninde	$595
120 km or 74 mi	Itapipoca	$488
125 km or 78 mi	Aracati	$603
148 km or 92 mi	Russas	$597
148 km or 92 mi	Quixada	$604
190 km or 118 mi	Sobral	$557
200 km or 124 mi	Acarau	$558
209 km or 130 mi	Mossoro	$550
273 km or 169 mi	Camocim	$564
288 km or 179 mi	Crateus	$568
300 km or 186 mi	Ico	$563
305 km or 189 mi	Iguatu	$561
342 km or 213 mi	Caico	$561
366 km or 227 mi	Piripiri	$570
372 km or 231 mi	Parnaiba	$589
392 km or 243 mi	Patos	$569
397 km or 247 mi	Juazeiro do Norte	$553
402 km or 250 mi	Crato	$545
434 km or 269 mi	Natal	$563
487 km or 303 mi	Salgueiro	$534
487 km or 303 mi	Campina Grande	$538
495 km or 307 mi	Picos	$538
498 km or 309 mi	Teresina	$557
501 km or 312 mi	Timon	$537
536 km or 333 mi	Chapadinha	$591
546 km or 340 mi	Arcoverde	$547
550 km or 342 mi	Caxias	$546
554 km or 344 mi	Joao Pessoa	$615
578 km or 359 mi	Goiana	$551
580 km or 360 mi	Caruaru	$503
584 km or 363 mi	Carpina	$563
600 km or 373 mi	Codo	$572
602 km or 374 mi	Floriano	$543
617 km or 383 mi	Garanhuns	$572
618 km or 384 mi	Camaragibe	$567
619 km or 384 mi	Paulista	$446
622 km or 387 mi	Coroata	$600
623 km or 387 mi	Jaboatao dos Guararapes	$677
626 km or 389 mi	Olinda	$588

Cities near Rio de Janeiro

Distance	City	Cost of living
9.9 km or 6.2 mi	Niteroi	$718
18 km or 11 mi	Duque de Caxias	$614
21 km or 13 mi	Sao Joao de Meriti	$622
26 km or 16 mi	Belford Roxo	$769
31 km or 19 mi	Nova Iguacu	$562
45 km or 28 mi	Petropolis	$587
60 km or 37 mi	Teresopolis	$546
70 km or 44 mi	Saquarema	$632
98 km or 61 mi	Nova Friburgo	$474
102 km or 64 mi	Volta Redonda	$522
108 km or 67 mi	Barra Mansa	$537
112 km or 70 mi	Sao Pedro da Aldeia	$589
115 km or 72 mi	Angra dos Reis	$636
121 km or 75 mi	Cabo Frio	$584
130 km or 81 mi	Juiz de Fora	$462
135 km or 84 mi	Rio das Ostras	$482
137 km or 85 mi	Resende	$572
157 km or 97 mi	Macae	$642
184 km or 115 mi	Cruzeiro	$595
196 km or 122 mi	Barbacena	$487
199 km or 123 mi	Lorena	$631
200 km or 124 mi	Ubatuba	$599
201 km or 125 mi	Uba	$563
208 km or 129 mi	Guaratingueta	$603
215 km or 134 mi	Muriae	$584
226 km or 140 mi	Sao Joao del-Rei	$505
231 km or 144 mi	Campos dos Goytacazes	$536
232 km or 144 mi	Pindamonhangaba	$588
238 km or 148 mi	Itajuba	$518
240 km or 149 mi	Caraguatatuba	$593
241 km or 150 mi	Taubate	$581
242 km or 150 mi	Vicosa	$584
245 km or 152 mi	Sao Sebastiao	$599
251 km or 156 mi	Tres Coracoes	$523
257 km or 160 mi	Conselheiro Lafaiete	$602
258 km or 160 mi	Cacapava	$605
264 km or 164 mi	Lavras	$503
275 km or 171 mi	Varginha	$449
277 km or 172 mi	Sao Jose dos Campos	$705
279 km or 173 mi	Ponte Nova	$562