Rio de Janeiro vs Sao Paulo - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 11, 2026

	Rio de Janeiro	Sao Paulo
🚶 Cost of living one person	$1013	$1115
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$2476	$2824
🏠 One person rent	$502	$537
🏘️ Family rent	$806	$943
🍽️ Food expenses	$272	$318
🚐 Transport expenses	$151	$147
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$491	$794
😷 Air quality	Moderate	Moderate
✈️ Airport proximity	3 km	5 km
🎓 Higher education	95	96
😀 Quality of life	67	74
🏙️ Population	6.21M	11.5M

The cost of living in Rio de Janeiro is 9% less expensive than in Sao Paulo. Cities ranked 5559th and 5003rd ($1013 vs $1115) 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 0.5 months in Rio de Janeiro compared to 0.7 months in Sao Paulo. Ranked 4th vs 1st best cities to live in Brazil, and 4845th vs 2408th among the 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/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	$6.99	$7.85
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$31.1	$38.2
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$6.8	$7.52
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.13	$2.45
☕ Cappuccino	$2.56	$2.66
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$1.48	$1.26
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$574	$631
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$353	$419
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$959	$1111
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$578	$769
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$85.8	$56.1
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$133	$85.4
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$19.1	$19.9
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	11.13%	11.97%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$2256	$2842
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1317	$2178
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$1.07	$1
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$48	$49.2
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$8.6	$7.86
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.17	$1.15
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.14	$1.13
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$1.62	$1.63
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.29	$1.28
🥚 Eggs, x12	$2.16	$2.81
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$9.04	$12.2
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.28	$5.07
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$8.72	$10.3
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.43	$2.7
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.65	$1.82
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.65	$1.63
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.53	$1.86
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.18	$1.34
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.16	$1.18
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.4	$0.54
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.73	$2.25
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$7.51	$9.77
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.24	$1.45
🚬 Cigarette pack	$2.27	$2.76
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$3.86	$5.92
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$3.33	$3.82
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$1.2	$1.68
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$1.06	$1.29
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$27.1	$31.9
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$7.13	$8.87
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$48.8	$55.2
💇 Haircut, simple	$7.96	$11.3
👖 Brand Jeans	$44.6	$61.4
👟 Brand Sneakers	$76.6	$105
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$550	$494
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$13739	$16798

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

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	$792
18 km or 11 mi	Duque de Caxias	$648
21 km or 13 mi	Sao Joao de Meriti	$681
26 km or 16 mi	Belford Roxo	$851
31 km or 19 mi	Nova Iguacu	$632
45 km or 28 mi	Petropolis	$782
60 km or 37 mi	Teresopolis	$537
70 km or 44 mi	Saquarema	$614
98 km or 61 mi	Nova Friburgo	$482
102 km or 64 mi	Volta Redonda	$576
108 km or 67 mi	Barra Mansa	$600
112 km or 70 mi	Sao Pedro da Aldeia	$579
115 km or 72 mi	Angra dos Reis	$733
121 km or 75 mi	Cabo Frio	$533
130 km or 81 mi	Juiz de Fora	$600
135 km or 84 mi	Rio das Ostras	$548
137 km or 85 mi	Resende	$652
157 km or 97 mi	Macae	$679
184 km or 115 mi	Cruzeiro	$672
196 km or 122 mi	Barbacena	$565
199 km or 123 mi	Lorena	$709
200 km or 124 mi	Ubatuba	$678
201 km or 125 mi	Uba	$625
208 km or 129 mi	Guaratingueta	$684
215 km or 134 mi	Muriae	$585
226 km or 140 mi	Sao Joao del-Rei	$568
231 km or 144 mi	Campos dos Goytacazes	$564
232 km or 144 mi	Pindamonhangaba	$656
238 km or 148 mi	Itajuba	$565
240 km or 149 mi	Caraguatatuba	$667
241 km or 150 mi	Taubate	$645
242 km or 150 mi	Vicosa	$643
245 km or 152 mi	Sao Sebastiao	$679
251 km or 156 mi	Tres Coracoes	$594
257 km or 160 mi	Conselheiro Lafaiete	$679
258 km or 160 mi	Cacapava	$702
264 km or 164 mi	Lavras	$562
275 km or 171 mi	Varginha	$505
277 km or 172 mi	Sao Jose dos Campos	$877
279 km or 173 mi	Ponte Nova	$631

Cities near Sao Paulo

Distance	City	Cost of living
12 km or 7.3 mi	Sao Caetano do Sul	$795
13 km or 8.3 mi	Taboao da Serra	$754
14 km or 8.6 mi	Guarulhos	$753
15 km or 9.4 mi	Diadema	$753
16 km or 9.7 mi	Santo Andre	$742
16 km or 10 mi	Osasco	$782
17 km or 11 mi	Sao Bernardo do Campo	$699
21 km or 13 mi	Carapicuiba	$645
22 km or 14 mi	Maua	$746
23 km or 15 mi	Caieiras	$741
25 km or 15 mi	Embu das Artes	$753
25 km or 16 mi	Barueri	$883
26 km or 16 mi	Mairipora	$724
26 km or 16 mi	Franco da Rocha	$752
27 km or 17 mi	Ferraz de Vasconcelos	$687
28 km or 17 mi	Jandira	$750
29 km or 18 mi	Ribeirao Pires	$716
29 km or 18 mi	Itapecerica da Serra	$754
30 km or 18 mi	Poa	$684
30 km or 18 mi	Cotia	$841
30 km or 19 mi	Itaquaquecetuba	$723
31 km or 19 mi	Itapevi	$700
31 km or 19 mi	Santana de Parnaiba	$741
32 km or 20 mi	Francisco Morato	$753
33 km or 20 mi	Itanhaem	$715
33 km or 20 mi	Cajamar	$741
36 km or 22 mi	Embu-Guacu	$727
36 km or 22 mi	Aruja	$713
41 km or 26 mi	Campo Limpo Paulista	$739
43 km or 26 mi	Varzea Paulista	$737
44 km or 27 mi	Cubatao	$695
45 km or 28 mi	Mogi das Cruzes	$789
48 km or 30 mi	Jundiai	$783
49 km or 30 mi	Atibaia	$651
51 km or 32 mi	Sao Roque	$725
52 km or 32 mi	Sao Vicente	$655
55 km or 34 mi	Santos	$882
56 km or 35 mi	Praia Grande	$691
61 km or 38 mi	Bertioga	$703
61 km or 38 mi	Ibiuna	$719