Panama City vs San Juan - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 02, 2025

	Panama City	San Juan
🚶 Cost of living one person	$1479	$2034
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$3609	$4562
🏠 One person rent	$846	$1205
🏘️ Family rent	$1592	$2071
🍽️ Food expenses	$440	$594
🚐 Transport expenses	$83	$107
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$967	$2198
😷 Air quality	Good	Excellent
✈️ Airport proximity	7 km	3 km
🎓 Higher education	42	54
😀 Quality of life	67	83
🏙️ Population	881K	342K

The cost of living in Panama City is 27% less expensive than in San Juan. Cities ranked 3517th and 1742nd ($1479 vs $2034) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 1st and 1529th in Panama and the United States, respectively. Check Panama vs the United States comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 0.7 months in Panama City compared to 1.1 months in San Juan. Panama City ranked 1st best city to live in Panama vs San Juan ranked 112th in the United States, while ranked 3734th and 422nd among best cities to live in the world.

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Cost of living in Panama City vs San Juan infographic

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Prices in Panama City vs San Juan

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

	Panama City	San Juan
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$10.4	$17.7
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$48.5	$78
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$8.06	$10.1
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.97	$3.33
☕ Cappuccino	$3.99	$4.36
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$1.66	$1.82
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$891	$1542
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$681	$811
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1749	$2391
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1344	$1556
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$78	$185
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$121	$285
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$45.4	$63.1
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	6.28%	5.66%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$2551	$3917
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1632	$2444
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$0.42	$1.5
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$23.2	$42.5
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$14.3	$28.6
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$0.96	$0.93
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.8	$2.34
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$2.19	$3.28
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.33	$2.41
🥚 Eggs, x12	$2.77	$5.92
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$12.4	$10.8
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$7.09	$8.85
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$9.99	$12.8
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.44	$4.79
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.58	$2.55
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.89	$3.82
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.94	$4.79
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.23	$3.7
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.8	$2.45
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.07	$1.3
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$2.31	$1.49
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$10	$18.9
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.29	$2.58
🚬 Cigarette pack	$5.98	$11.7
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$11.7	$10.4
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$7.94	$7.93
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$3.37	$3.64
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$3.71	$2.97
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$45.3	$43
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$7.22	$11.6
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$54.5	$56.8
💇 Haircut, simple	$12.9	$19.9
👖 Brand Jeans	$56.8	$50.7
👟 Brand Sneakers	$93.2	$110
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$477	$472
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$13616	$10321

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

Cost of Living in the nearest cities

Cities near Panama City

Distance	City	Cost of living
8.1 km or 5 mi	Balboa	$1328
16 km or 9.9 mi	Tocumen	$1310
26 km or 16 mi	Pacora	$1304
34 km or 21 mi	La Chorrera	$957
59 km or 37 mi	Colon	$1172
108 km or 67 mi	Penonome	$1116
154 km or 96 mi	Chitre	$1117
190 km or 118 mi	Santiago de Veraguas	$1089
321 km or 199 mi	Turbo	$664
329 km or 204 mi	David	$890
398 km or 247 mi	Monteria	$645
403 km or 250 mi	Limon	$1225
406 km or 252 mi	Santa Cruz de Lorica	$669
452 km or 281 mi	Sincelejo	$524
463 km or 288 mi	Cartagena	$760
483 km or 300 mi	Quibdo	$705
494 km or 307 mi	Cartago	$1024
513 km or 319 mi	San Jose	$1324
518 km or 322 mi	Heredia	$1296
521 km or 324 mi	Magangue	$604
526 km or 327 mi	Bello	$839
529 km or 329 mi	Alajuela	$1269
530 km or 329 mi	Medellin	$906
534 km or 332 mi	Envigado	$897
558 km or 347 mi	Soledad	$741
559 km or 348 mi	Barranquilla	$773
595 km or 370 mi	Puntarenas	$801
617 km or 383 mi	Cartago	$649
617 km or 383 mi	Cienaga	$742
623 km or 387 mi	Manizales	$653
627 km or 390 mi	Santa Teresa	$1213
627 km or 390 mi	Pereira	$680
631 km or 392 mi	Santa Marta	$837
632 km or 393 mi	Buenaventura	$742
636 km or 395 mi	Minca	$759
651 km or 404 mi	Salento	$605
652 km or 405 mi	Armenia	$598
657 km or 408 mi	Tulua	$513
658 km or 409 mi	Barrancabermeja	$1031
675 km or 419 mi	Liberia	$932

Cities near San Juan

Distance	City	Cost of living
5.5 km or 3.4 mi	Catano	$1815
9.9 km or 6.2 mi	Guaynabo	$1598
11 km or 6.8 mi	Trujillo Alto	$1500
11 km or 7.1 mi	Bayamon	$1378
13 km or 7.8 mi	Carolina	$1561
19 km or 12 mi	Canovanas	$1684
20 km or 13 mi	Toa Alta	$1670
21 km or 13 mi	Dorado	$1799
24 km or 15 mi	Gurabo	$1166
24 km or 15 mi	Caguas	$1373
25 km or 16 mi	Naranjito	$1557
26 km or 16 mi	Rio Grande	$1670
28 km or 18 mi	Vega Alta	$1514
29 km or 18 mi	Corozal	$1748
32 km or 20 mi	Cidra	$1744
34 km or 21 mi	Vega Baja	$1790
36 km or 23 mi	Las Piedras	$1483
39 km or 24 mi	Cayey	$1798
42 km or 26 mi	Humacao	$1364
42 km or 26 mi	Orocovis	$1707
43 km or 27 mi	Naguabo	$1704
44 km or 27 mi	Manati	$1682
46 km or 28 mi	Fajardo	$1566
49 km or 30 mi	Yabucoa	$1631
51 km or 32 mi	Guayama	$1532
51 km or 32 mi	Coamo	$1669
65 km or 40 mi	Santa Isabel	$1231
69 km or 43 mi	Arecibo	$1189
70 km or 43 mi	Utuado	$1610
77 km or 48 mi	Ponce	$1354
80 km or 50 mi	Hatillo	$793
92 km or 57 mi	Quebradillas	$1457
95 km or 59 mi	Yauco	$1612
98 km or 61 mi	San Sebastian	$1538
103 km or 64 mi	Sabana Grande	$1572
106 km or 66 mi	Isabela	$1429
111 km or 69 mi	San German	$1546
115 km or 71 mi	Aguadilla	$1221
117 km or 72 mi	Mayaguez	$1264
118 km or 74 mi	Charlotte Amalie	$2177