Fortaleza vs Sao Paulo - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: October 14, 2025

	Fortaleza	Sao Paulo
🚶 Cost of living one person	$758	$1052
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$1752	$2682
🏠 One person rent	$328	$496
🏘️ Family rent	$471	$872
🍽️ Food expenses	$244	$302
🚐 Transport expenses	$92.5	$143
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$340	$701
😷 Air quality	Good	Moderate
✈️ Airport proximity	5 km	5 km
🎓 Higher education	42	95
😀 Quality of life	61	69
🏙️ Population	2.43M	11.5M

The cost of living in Fortaleza is 28% less expensive than in Sao Paulo. Cities ranked 6833rd and 5192nd ($758 vs $1052) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 25th and 1st in Brazil.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 0.4 months in Fortaleza compared to 0.7 months in Sao Paulo. Ranked 16th vs 1st best cities to live in Brazil, and 5841st vs 4142nd 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 Sao Paulo infographic

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Prices in Fortaleza vs Sao Paulo

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

	Fortaleza	Sao Paulo
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$5.16	$7.6
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$28.5	$34
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$6.49	$7.12
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.96	$2.3
☕ Cappuccino	$2.19	$2.55
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$1.04	$1.19
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$344	$622
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$224	$380
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$430	$1124
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$337	$691
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$64.5	$48.7
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$99.2	$75
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$16	$18.7
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	11.9%	12.27%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1344	$2855
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$743	$1938
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$0.8	$0.96
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$31.3	$48.5
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$7.26	$7.53
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.1	$1.11
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.05	$1.04
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$1.52	$1.56
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.06	$1.19
🥚 Eggs, x12	$1.87	$2.66
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$7.16	$11.5
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.61	$4.68
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$8.15	$9.54
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.33	$2.7
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.15	$1.84
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.72	$1.61
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.43	$1.82
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.18	$1.39
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.01	$1.26
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.54	$0.48
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.85	$1.98
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$7.16	$8.72
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.24	$1.3
🚬 Cigarette pack	$2.08	$2.55
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$4.89	$6.16
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$2.54	$4.2
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$1.4	$1.52
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$0.93	$1.39
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$21.1	$27.9
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$6.06	$7.81
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$45.6	$65.2
💇 Haircut, simple	$11.2	$12.8
👖 Brand Jeans	$53.9	$55.2
👟 Brand Sneakers	$89.3	$92.9
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$230	$475
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$2167	$15428

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

Cost of Living in the nearest cities

Cities near Fortaleza

Distance	City	Cost of living
14 km or 8.9 mi	Caucaia	$713
112 km or 69 mi	Caninde	$637
120 km or 74 mi	Itapipoca	$510
125 km or 78 mi	Aracati	$639
148 km or 92 mi	Russas	$630
148 km or 92 mi	Quixada	$644
190 km or 118 mi	Sobral	$656
200 km or 124 mi	Acarau	$772
209 km or 130 mi	Mossoro	$538
273 km or 169 mi	Camocim	$690
288 km or 179 mi	Crateus	$613
300 km or 186 mi	Ico	$590
305 km or 189 mi	Iguatu	$591
342 km or 213 mi	Caico	$623
366 km or 227 mi	Piripiri	$617
372 km or 231 mi	Parnaiba	$662
392 km or 243 mi	Patos	$563
397 km or 247 mi	Juazeiro do Norte	$576
402 km or 250 mi	Crato	$571
434 km or 269 mi	Natal	$583
487 km or 303 mi	Salgueiro	$562
487 km or 303 mi	Campina Grande	$566
495 km or 307 mi	Picos	$572
498 km or 309 mi	Teresina	$572
501 km or 312 mi	Timon	$554
536 km or 333 mi	Chapadinha	$618
546 km or 340 mi	Arcoverde	$580
550 km or 342 mi	Caxias	$568
554 km or 344 mi	Joao Pessoa	$726
578 km or 359 mi	Goiana	$575
580 km or 360 mi	Caruaru	$545
584 km or 363 mi	Carpina	$579
600 km or 373 mi	Codo	$596
602 km or 374 mi	Floriano	$566
617 km or 383 mi	Garanhuns	$631
618 km or 384 mi	Camaragibe	$559
619 km or 384 mi	Paulista	$416
622 km or 387 mi	Coroata	$624
623 km or 387 mi	Jaboatao dos Guararapes	$699
626 km or 389 mi	Olinda	$561

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