Montevideo vs Santiago - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 11, 2026

	Montevideo	Santiago
🚶 Cost of living one person	$1572	$1191
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$3766	$2945
🏠 One person rent	$680	$532
🏘️ Family rent	$1076	$934
🍽️ Food expenses	$557	$397
🚐 Transport expenses	$183	$155
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$1140	$881
😷 Air quality	Good	Moderate
✈️ Airport proximity	12 km	13 km
🎓 Higher education	54	92
😀 Quality of life	77	80
🏙️ Population	1.3M	6.26M

The cost of living in Montevideo is 32% more expensive than in Santiago. Cities ranked 3808th and 4795th ($1572 vs $1191) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 2nd and 1st in Uruguay and Chile, respectively. Check Uruguay vs Chile comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 0.7 months in Montevideo compared to 0.7 months in Santiago. Montevideo ranked 1st best city to live in Uruguay vs Santiago ranked 1st in Chile, while ranked 1165th and 688th among best cities to live in the world.

Salary adjustment calculator
the estimated difference in money purchasing power

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

Prices in Montevideo vs Santiago

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

	Montevideo	Santiago
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$18.2	$11.8
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$53.5	$50.1
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$13.3	$8.82
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$4.65	$4
☕ Cappuccino	$4.94	$3.78
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$2.48	$1.77
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$632	$573
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$499	$393
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1137	$1028
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$789	$724
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$111	$81.4
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$173	$127
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$44	$22.1
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	5.69%	5.38%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$3552	$2897
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$2602	$3070
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$1.55	$0.95
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$67.9	$47.1
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$20.9	$8.67
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$2.02	$1.47
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.32	$1.33
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$2.72	$1.44
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.95	$1.82
🥚 Eggs, x12	$5.39	$4.55
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$15	$12.2
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$11.8	$7.47
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$11.4	$11.6
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.27	$2.18
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.77	$1.71
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.67	$2.17
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.57	$2.03
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.27	$1.54
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.36	$1.81
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.25	$0.86
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$4.3	$2.39
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$10.5	$7.03
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.48	$1.75
🚬 Cigarette pack	$5.74	$6.15
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$8.11	$4.17
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$9.96	$4.62
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$3.53	$2.73
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$3.68	$2.49
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$54.1	$40.2
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$11.7	$7.33
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$78	$46.5
💇 Haircut, simple	$11.1	$17.6
👖 Brand Jeans	$96.5	$56.9
👟 Brand Sneakers	$129	$86.8
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$554	$493
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$10526	$10578

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

Cost of Living in the nearest cities

Cities near Montevideo

Distance	City	Cost of living
19 km or 12 mi	Barros Blancos	$1380
21 km or 13 mi	Ciudad de la Costa	$1378
85 km or 53 mi	Florida	$1237
102 km or 63 mi	Minas	$1407
110 km or 69 mi	Maldonado	$1121
113 km or 70 mi	Punta del Este	$1671
155 km or 96 mi	Berisso	$817
163 km or 101 mi	La Plata	$805
168 km or 104 mi	Durazno	$1238
187 km or 116 mi	Berazategui	$758
189 km or 118 mi	Ezpeleta	$706
192 km or 120 mi	Quilmes	$587
194 km or 121 mi	Bernal	$653
197 km or 122 mi	San Francisco Solano	$810
197 km or 123 mi	Wilde	$747
199 km or 124 mi	Villa Dominico	$815
200 km or 124 mi	Monte Chingolo	$863
201 km or 125 mi	Burzaco	$906
201 km or 125 mi	Rafael Calzada	$905
202 km or 126 mi	Glew	$900
202 km or 126 mi	Florencio Varela	$908
203 km or 126 mi	Longchamps	$904
203 km or 126 mi	Temperley	$903
204 km or 127 mi	Lomas de Zamora	$920
205 km or 127 mi	Buenos Aires	$1207
205 km or 127 mi	Remedios de Escalada	$918
205 km or 127 mi	Lanus	$938
210 km or 130 mi	Monte Grande	$927
214 km or 133 mi	Ciudad Madero	$1021
214 km or 133 mi	Ezeiza	$947
216 km or 134 mi	Ciudad Evita	$1014
217 km or 135 mi	Florida Este	$901
217 km or 135 mi	Lomas del Mirador	$1055
217 km or 135 mi	La Tablada	$1062
218 km or 135 mi	Caseros	$1017
219 km or 136 mi	San Justo	$1111
219 km or 136 mi	San Isidro	$866
221 km or 137 mi	Ramos Mejia	$1050
221 km or 137 mi	Gregorio de Laferrere	$1018
221 km or 138 mi	Isidro Casanova	$1050

Cities near Santiago

Distance	City	Cost of living
17 km or 11 mi	San Bernardo	$848
20 km or 12 mi	Puente Alto	$966
69 km or 43 mi	Los Andes	$840
78 km or 48 mi	San Felipe	$790
80 km or 50 mi	Rancagua	$879
80 km or 50 mi	Villa Alemana	$930
83 km or 52 mi	Quillota	$941
85 km or 53 mi	Quilpue	$943
89 km or 55 mi	San Antonio	$1180
95 km or 59 mi	Vina del Mar	$974
99 km or 62 mi	Valparaiso	$987
130 km or 80 mi	San Fernando	$1008
179 km or 111 mi	Curico	$826
181 km or 112 mi	Godoy Cruz	$895
182 km or 113 mi	Mendoza	$907
185 km or 115 mi	Las Heras	$893
208 km or 129 mi	San Martin	$860
238 km or 148 mi	Talca	$921
251 km or 156 mi	San Rafael	$642
264 km or 164 mi	Constitucion	$900
280 km or 174 mi	Linares	$935
292 km or 181 mi	San Juan	$589
321 km or 199 mi	Ovalle	$804
375 km or 233 mi	Chillan	$740
394 km or 245 mi	Coquimbo	$915
398 km or 247 mi	La Serena	$929
401 km or 249 mi	San Luis	$764
409 km or 254 mi	Tome	$830
426 km or 265 mi	Talcahuano	$747
434 km or 269 mi	Concepcion	$973
455 km or 283 mi	Coronel	$897
456 km or 284 mi	Lujan	$759
464 km or 288 mi	Lota	$887
472 km or 294 mi	Los Angeles	$938
482 km or 300 mi	Villa Mercedes	$768
508 km or 316 mi	Curanilahue	$893
518 km or 322 mi	Angol	$916
542 km or 337 mi	Vallenar	$891
576 km or 358 mi	La Rioja	$577
588 km or 366 mi	Rio Cuarto	$849