Recife vs Sao Paulo - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: October 14, 2025

	Recife	Sao Paulo
🚶 Cost of living one person	$746	$1052
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$1937	$2682
🏠 One person rent	$330	$496
🏘️ Family rent	$550	$872
🍽️ Food expenses	$239	$302
🚐 Transport expenses	$85	$143
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$427	$701
😷 Air quality	Excellent	Moderate
✈️ Airport proximity	9 km	5 km
🎓 Higher education	54	95
😀 Quality of life	60	69
🏙️ Population	1.49M	11.5M

The cost of living in Recife is 29% less expensive than in Sao Paulo. Cities ranked 6884th and 5192nd ($746 vs $1052) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 29th and 1st in Brazil.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 0.6 months in Recife compared to 0.7 months in Sao Paulo. Ranked 20th vs 1st best cities to live in Brazil, and 5911th 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 Recife vs Sao Paulo infographic

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Prices in Recife vs Sao Paulo

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

	Recife	Sao Paulo
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$4.91	$7.6
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$24.7	$34
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$6.45	$7.12
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.63	$2.3
☕ Cappuccino	$2.08	$2.55
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$0.94	$1.19
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$384	$622
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$227	$380
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$606	$1124
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$411	$691
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$53.9	$48.7
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$82.3	$75
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$17.6	$18.7
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	12%	12.27%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1420	$2855
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$822	$1938
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$0.75	$0.96
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$37.1	$48.5
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$7.07	$7.53
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.09	$1.11
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.19	$1.04
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$1.21	$1.56
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.19	$1.19
🥚 Eggs, x12	$2.21	$2.66
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$7.42	$11.5
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.12	$4.68
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$7	$9.54
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.18	$2.7
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.44	$1.84
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1	$1.61
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.25	$1.82
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.29	$1.39
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.02	$1.26
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.54	$0.48
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.87	$1.98
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$7.08	$8.72
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.09	$1.3
🚬 Cigarette pack	$1.76	$2.55
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$4.03	$6.16
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$2.97	$4.2
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$1.57	$1.52
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$1	$1.39
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$18.4	$27.9
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$6.88	$7.81
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$54.3	$65.2
💇 Haircut, simple	$11.3	$12.8
👖 Brand Jeans	$41.2	$55.2
👟 Brand Sneakers	$78.5	$92.9
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$259	$475
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$16281	$15428

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

Cost of Living in the nearest cities

Cities near Recife

Distance	City	Cost of living
5.8 km or 3.6 mi	Olinda	$561
12 km or 7.2 mi	Camaragibe	$559
13 km or 7.8 mi	Paulista	$416
16 km or 10 mi	Jaboatao dos Guararapes	$699
31 km or 19 mi	Cabo de Santo Agostinho	$618
47 km or 29 mi	Carpina	$579
56 km or 35 mi	Goiana	$575
108 km or 67 mi	Joao Pessoa	$726
123 km or 77 mi	Caruaru	$545
143 km or 89 mi	Campina Grande	$566
191 km or 119 mi	Rio Largo	$634
200 km or 124 mi	Garanhuns	$631
202 km or 126 mi	Maceio	$691
243 km or 151 mi	Arcoverde	$580
244 km or 152 mi	Palmeira dos Indios	$604
254 km or 158 mi	Natal	$583
271 km or 168 mi	Arapiraca	$615
288 km or 179 mi	Patos	$563
302 km or 188 mi	Caico	$623
311 km or 193 mi	Penedo	$588
397 km or 247 mi	Paulo Afonso	$434
397 km or 247 mi	Aracaju	$555
419 km or 260 mi	Mossoro	$538
454 km or 282 mi	Estancia	$611
467 km or 290 mi	Salgueiro	$562
476 km or 296 mi	Ico	$590
487 km or 302 mi	Russas	$630
498 km or 309 mi	Juazeiro do Norte	$576
503 km or 312 mi	Aracati	$639
507 km or 315 mi	Crato	$571
523 km or 325 mi	Iguatu	$591
571 km or 355 mi	Quixada	$644
597 km or 371 mi	Alagoinhas	$621
605 km or 376 mi	Serrinha	$600
628 km or 390 mi	Fortaleza	$758
636 km or 395 mi	Petrolina	$569
636 km or 395 mi	Juazeiro	$456
636 km or 395 mi	Caucaia	$713
639 km or 397 mi	Caninde	$637
641 km or 398 mi	Senhor do Bonfim	$544

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