Rio de Janeiro vs Sao Paulo - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: October 14, 2025

	Rio de Janeiro	Sao Paulo
🚶 Cost of living one person	$940	$1052
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$2347	$2682
🏠 One person rent	$458	$496
🏘️ Family rent	$770	$872
🍽️ Food expenses	$258	$302
🚐 Transport expenses	$137	$143
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$442	$701
😷 Air quality	Moderate	Moderate
✈️ Airport proximity	3 km	5 km
🎓 Higher education	95	95
😀 Quality of life	67	69
🏙️ Population	6.21M	11.5M

The cost of living in Rio de Janeiro is 11% less expensive than in Sao Paulo. Cities ranked 6006th and 5192nd ($940 vs $1052) 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 2nd vs 1st best cities to live in Brazil, and 4818th 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 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	$6.45	$7.6
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$31.1	$34
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$6.48	$7.12
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.85	$2.3
☕ Cappuccino	$2.36	$2.55
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$1.31	$1.19
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$501	$622
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$324	$380
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$881	$1124
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$563	$691
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$79.9	$48.7
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$125	$75
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$18.1	$18.7
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	11.58%	12.27%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1966	$2855
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1150	$1938
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$1.25	$0.96
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$41.5	$48.5
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$7.88	$7.53
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.09	$1.11
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.06	$1.04
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$1.48	$1.56
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.24	$1.19
🥚 Eggs, x12	$2.09	$2.66
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$8.65	$11.5
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.96	$4.68
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$8.22	$9.54
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.38	$2.7
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.56	$1.84
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.56	$1.61
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.47	$1.82
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.22	$1.39
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.13	$1.26
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.39	$0.48
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.69	$1.98
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$7.11	$8.72
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.17	$1.3
🚬 Cigarette pack	$1.99	$2.55
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$3.4	$6.16
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$3.18	$4.2
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$1.06	$1.52
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$0.98	$1.39
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$25.7	$27.9
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$6.37	$7.81
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$51.8	$65.2
💇 Haircut, simple	$8.04	$12.8
👖 Brand Jeans	$45.1	$55.2
👟 Brand Sneakers	$74.6	$92.9
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$531	$475
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$12076	$15428

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	$739
18 km or 11 mi	Duque de Caxias	$653
21 km or 13 mi	Sao Joao de Meriti	$648
26 km or 16 mi	Belford Roxo	$810
31 km or 19 mi	Nova Iguacu	$590
45 km or 28 mi	Petropolis	$706
60 km or 37 mi	Teresopolis	$498
70 km or 44 mi	Saquarema	$564
98 km or 61 mi	Nova Friburgo	$445
102 km or 64 mi	Volta Redonda	$539
108 km or 67 mi	Barra Mansa	$557
112 km or 70 mi	Sao Pedro da Aldeia	$530
115 km or 72 mi	Angra dos Reis	$683
121 km or 75 mi	Cabo Frio	$525
130 km or 81 mi	Juiz de Fora	$550
135 km or 84 mi	Rio das Ostras	$506
137 km or 85 mi	Resende	$603
157 km or 97 mi	Macae	$625
184 km or 115 mi	Cruzeiro	$631
196 km or 122 mi	Barbacena	$540
199 km or 123 mi	Lorena	$673
200 km or 124 mi	Ubatuba	$632
201 km or 125 mi	Uba	$597
208 km or 129 mi	Guaratingueta	$643
215 km or 134 mi	Muriae	$613
226 km or 140 mi	Sao Joao del-Rei	$541
231 km or 144 mi	Campos dos Goytacazes	$518
232 km or 144 mi	Pindamonhangaba	$620
238 km or 148 mi	Itajuba	$536
240 km or 149 mi	Caraguatatuba	$625
241 km or 150 mi	Taubate	$611
242 km or 150 mi	Vicosa	$618
245 km or 152 mi	Sao Sebastiao	$633
251 km or 156 mi	Tres Coracoes	$559
257 km or 160 mi	Conselheiro Lafaiete	$644
258 km or 160 mi	Cacapava	$657
264 km or 164 mi	Lavras	$530
275 km or 171 mi	Varginha	$492
277 km or 172 mi	Sao Jose dos Campos	$819
279 km or 173 mi	Ponte Nova	$586

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