Recife vs Sao Paulo - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 02, 2025

	Recife	Sao Paulo
🚶 Cost of living one person	$671	$976
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$1826	$2532
🏠 One person rent	$285	$462
🏘️ Family rent	$541	$837
🍽️ Food expenses	$222	$279
🚐 Transport expenses	$79.8	$134
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$413	$581
😷 Air quality	Good	Moderate
✈️ Airport proximity	9 km	5 km
🎓 Higher education	54	95
😀 Quality of life	54	65
🏙️ Population	1.49M	11.5M

The cost of living in Recife is 31% less expensive than in Sao Paulo. Cities ranked 7055th and 5654th ($671 vs $976) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 43rd and 1st in Brazil.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 0.6 months in Recife compared to 0.6 months in Sao Paulo. Ranked 19th vs 1st best cities to live in Brazil, and 5998th vs 4281st 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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<img src="https://livingcost.org/assets/photo/cost/recife/sao-paulo.jpg" alt="Cost of living in Recife vs Sao Paulo infographic" style="max-width: 100%; height: auto;"><p>Source: <a href="https://livingcost.org/cost/recife/sao-paulo" target="_blank">Recife vs Sao Paulo - Cost of Living Comparison</a></p>

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	$4.01	$6.51
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$22.5	$36.4
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$6.33	$6.68
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.38	$2.12
☕ Cappuccino	$1.91	$2.27
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$0.86	$1.15
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$316	$557
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$198	$360
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$549	$1051
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$427	$677
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$47.4	$43.1
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$73.7	$65.8
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$16.3	$18.9
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	13.97%	11.38%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1247	$2420
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$723	$1633
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$0.72	$0.87
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$35.1	$44.7
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$6.49	$7.37
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.04	$1.02
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.16	$1
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$1.13	$1.43
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.02	$1.14
🥚 Eggs, x12	$2.16	$2.32
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$7.04	$9.78
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.86	$4.18
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$6.96	$7.95
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.13	$2.54
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.18	$1.75
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.06	$1.5
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.2	$1.7
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.25	$1.47
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.01	$1.29
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.45	$0.45
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.64	$1.84
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$6.95	$8.53
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.05	$1.22
🚬 Cigarette pack	$1.66	$2.1
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$3.89	$4.69
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$3.41	$3.85
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$1.1	$1.44
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$1.04	$1.32
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$17.5	$25.5
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$6.24	$7.36
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$52	$62.6
💇 Haircut, simple	$7.15	$11.3
👖 Brand Jeans	$45	$51.9
👟 Brand Sneakers	$71.5	$78.9
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$269	$527
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$14050	$14254

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

$349

$907

$6.64K

Cost of Living in the nearest cities

Cities near Recife

Distance	City	Cost of living
5.8 km or 3.6 mi	Olinda	$588
12 km or 7.2 mi	Camaragibe	$567
13 km or 7.8 mi	Paulista	$446
16 km or 10 mi	Jaboatao dos Guararapes	$677
31 km or 19 mi	Cabo de Santo Agostinho	$607
47 km or 29 mi	Carpina	$563
56 km or 35 mi	Goiana	$551
108 km or 67 mi	Joao Pessoa	$615
123 km or 77 mi	Caruaru	$503
143 km or 89 mi	Campina Grande	$538
191 km or 119 mi	Rio Largo	$610
200 km or 124 mi	Garanhuns	$572
202 km or 126 mi	Maceio	$667
243 km or 151 mi	Arcoverde	$547
244 km or 152 mi	Palmeira dos Indios	$571
254 km or 158 mi	Natal	$563
271 km or 168 mi	Arapiraca	$591
288 km or 179 mi	Patos	$569
302 km or 188 mi	Caico	$561
311 km or 193 mi	Penedo	$560
397 km or 247 mi	Paulo Afonso	$412
397 km or 247 mi	Aracaju	$527
419 km or 260 mi	Mossoro	$550
454 km or 282 mi	Estancia	$565
467 km or 290 mi	Salgueiro	$534
476 km or 296 mi	Ico	$563
487 km or 302 mi	Russas	$597
498 km or 309 mi	Juazeiro do Norte	$553
503 km or 312 mi	Aracati	$603
507 km or 315 mi	Crato	$545
523 km or 325 mi	Iguatu	$561
571 km or 355 mi	Quixada	$604
597 km or 371 mi	Alagoinhas	$554
605 km or 376 mi	Serrinha	$540
628 km or 390 mi	Fortaleza	$745
636 km or 395 mi	Petrolina	$531
636 km or 395 mi	Juazeiro	$428
636 km or 395 mi	Caucaia	$685
639 km or 397 mi	Caninde	$595
641 km or 398 mi	Senhor do Bonfim	$509

Cities near Sao Paulo

Distance	City	Cost of living
12 km or 7.3 mi	Sao Caetano do Sul	$687
13 km or 8.3 mi	Taboao da Serra	$645
14 km or 8.6 mi	Guarulhos	$662
15 km or 9.4 mi	Diadema	$647
16 km or 9.7 mi	Santo Andre	$618
16 km or 10 mi	Osasco	$661
17 km or 11 mi	Sao Bernardo do Campo	$618
21 km or 13 mi	Carapicuiba	$563
22 km or 14 mi	Maua	$636
23 km or 15 mi	Caieiras	$628
25 km or 15 mi	Embu das Artes	$624
25 km or 16 mi	Barueri	$703
26 km or 16 mi	Mairipora	$622
26 km or 16 mi	Franco da Rocha	$635
27 km or 17 mi	Ferraz de Vasconcelos	$612
28 km or 17 mi	Jandira	$621
29 km or 18 mi	Ribeirao Pires	$613
29 km or 18 mi	Itapecerica da Serra	$626
30 km or 18 mi	Poa	$605
30 km or 18 mi	Cotia	$612
30 km or 19 mi	Itaquaquecetuba	$627
31 km or 19 mi	Itapevi	$600
31 km or 19 mi	Santana de Parnaiba	$624
32 km or 20 mi	Francisco Morato	$641
33 km or 20 mi	Itanhaem	$614
33 km or 20 mi	Cajamar	$628
36 km or 22 mi	Embu-Guacu	$619
36 km or 22 mi	Aruja	$615
41 km or 26 mi	Campo Limpo Paulista	$644
43 km or 26 mi	Varzea Paulista	$656
44 km or 27 mi	Cubatao	$603
45 km or 28 mi	Mogi das Cruzes	$663
48 km or 30 mi	Jundiai	$722
49 km or 30 mi	Atibaia	$568
51 km or 32 mi	Sao Roque	$615
52 km or 32 mi	Sao Vicente	$569
55 km or 34 mi	Santos	$732
56 km or 35 mi	Praia Grande	$607
61 km or 38 mi	Bertioga	$609
61 km or 38 mi	Ibiuna	$611