Rio de Janeiro vs Sao Paulo - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 02, 2025

	Rio de Janeiro	Sao Paulo
🚶 Cost of living one person	$916	$976
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$2281	$2532
🏠 One person rent	$445	$462
🏘️ Family rent	$751	$837
🍽️ Food expenses	$239	$279
🚐 Transport expenses	$141	$134
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$372	$581
😷 Air quality	Good	Moderate
✈️ Airport proximity	3 km	5 km
🎓 Higher education	95	95
😀 Quality of life	62	65
🏙️ Population	6.21M	11.5M

The cost of living in Rio de Janeiro is 6% less expensive than in Sao Paulo. Cities ranked 5954th and 5654th ($916 vs $976) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 2nd and 1st in Brazil.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 0.4 months in Rio de Janeiro compared to 0.6 months in Sao Paulo. Ranked 3rd vs 1st best cities to live in Brazil, and 4857th 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 Rio de Janeiro vs Sao Paulo infographic

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<img src="https://livingcost.org/assets/photo/cost/rio-de-janeiro/sao-paulo.jpg" alt="Cost of living in Rio de Janeiro vs Sao Paulo infographic" style="max-width: 100%; height: auto;"><p>Source: <a href="https://livingcost.org/cost/rio-de-janeiro/sao-paulo" target="_blank">Rio de Janeiro vs Sao Paulo - Cost of Living Comparison</a></p>

Prices in Rio de Janeiro vs Sao Paulo

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

	Rio de Janeiro	Sao Paulo
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$5.99	$6.51
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$29.8	$36.4
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$5.98	$6.68
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.85	$2.12
☕ Cappuccino	$2.17	$2.27
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$1.22	$1.15
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$454	$557
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$306	$360
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$821	$1051
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$535	$677
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$92.5	$43.1
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$141	$65.8
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$17.4	$18.9
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	11.1%	11.38%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1746	$2420
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1118	$1633
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$1.2	$0.87
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$46.2	$44.7
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$7.66	$7.37
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.04	$1.02
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.03	$1
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$1.37	$1.43
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.13	$1.14
🥚 Eggs, x12	$1.98	$2.32
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$7.07	$9.78
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.32	$4.18
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$7.46	$7.95
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.17	$2.54
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.47	$1.75
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.33	$1.5
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.5	$1.7
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.23	$1.47
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.06	$1.29
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.37	$0.45
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.75	$1.84
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$7.32	$8.53
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.12	$1.22
🚬 Cigarette pack	$1.9	$2.1
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$3.14	$4.69
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$3.01	$3.85
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$1.03	$1.44
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$0.8	$1.32
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$24.3	$25.5
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$6.26	$7.36
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$61.1	$62.6
💇 Haircut, simple	$7.25	$11.3
👖 Brand Jeans	$46.8	$51.9
👟 Brand Sneakers	$71.7	$78.9
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$506	$527
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$10819	$14254

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

$349

$907

$6.64K

Cost of Living in the nearest cities

Cities near Rio de Janeiro

Distance	City	Cost of living
9.9 km or 6.2 mi	Niteroi	$718
18 km or 11 mi	Duque de Caxias	$614
21 km or 13 mi	Sao Joao de Meriti	$622
26 km or 16 mi	Belford Roxo	$769
31 km or 19 mi	Nova Iguacu	$562
45 km or 28 mi	Petropolis	$587
60 km or 37 mi	Teresopolis	$546
70 km or 44 mi	Saquarema	$632
98 km or 61 mi	Nova Friburgo	$474
102 km or 64 mi	Volta Redonda	$522
108 km or 67 mi	Barra Mansa	$537
112 km or 70 mi	Sao Pedro da Aldeia	$589
115 km or 72 mi	Angra dos Reis	$636
121 km or 75 mi	Cabo Frio	$584
130 km or 81 mi	Juiz de Fora	$462
135 km or 84 mi	Rio das Ostras	$482
137 km or 85 mi	Resende	$572
157 km or 97 mi	Macae	$642
184 km or 115 mi	Cruzeiro	$595
196 km or 122 mi	Barbacena	$487
199 km or 123 mi	Lorena	$631
200 km or 124 mi	Ubatuba	$599
201 km or 125 mi	Uba	$563
208 km or 129 mi	Guaratingueta	$603
215 km or 134 mi	Muriae	$584
226 km or 140 mi	Sao Joao del-Rei	$505
231 km or 144 mi	Campos dos Goytacazes	$536
232 km or 144 mi	Pindamonhangaba	$588
238 km or 148 mi	Itajuba	$518
240 km or 149 mi	Caraguatatuba	$593
241 km or 150 mi	Taubate	$581
242 km or 150 mi	Vicosa	$584
245 km or 152 mi	Sao Sebastiao	$599
251 km or 156 mi	Tres Coracoes	$523
257 km or 160 mi	Conselheiro Lafaiete	$602
258 km or 160 mi	Cacapava	$605
264 km or 164 mi	Lavras	$503
275 km or 171 mi	Varginha	$449
277 km or 172 mi	Sao Jose dos Campos	$705
279 km or 173 mi	Ponte Nova	$562

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