Rio de Janeiro vs Sao Paulo - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: October 10, 2024

	Rio de Janeiro	Sao Paulo
🚶 Cost of living one person	$955	$1012
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$2402	$2565
🏠 One person rent	$447	$481
🏘️ Family rent	$765	$852
🍽️ Food expenses	$255	$285
🚐 Transport expenses	$157	$145
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$365	$477
😷 Air quality	Good	Moderate
✈️ Airport proximity	3 km	5 km
🎓 Higher education	94	95
😀 Quality of life	62	63
🏙️ Population	6.21M	11.5M

The cost of living in Rio de Janeiro is 6% less expensive than in Sao Paulo. Cities ranked 5959th and 5616th ($955 vs $1012) 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 0.5 months in Sao Paulo. Ranked 3rd vs 2nd best cities to live in Brazil, and 4932nd vs 4573rd 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	$6.12	$6.82
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$32.9	$38.4
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$6.61	$7.22
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.86	$1.95
☕ Cappuccino	$2.28	$2.19
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$1.16	$1.13
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$506	$574
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$318	$371
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$850	$1002
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$581	$694
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$71.6	$50.2
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$110	$77.2
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$19.8	$19.3
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	10.19%	10.91%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$2041	$2416
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1135	$1687
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$1.13	$0.93
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$53.5	$47.9
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$8.71	$8.27
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.06	$1.04
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.05	$1
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$1.37	$1.4
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.12	$1.13
🥚 Eggs, x12	$2.03	$2.48
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$7.85	$10
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.45	$4.11
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$8.19	$7.71
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.23	$2.41
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.57	$1.86
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.23	$1.36
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.71	$1.74
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.25	$1.57
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.21	$1.45
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.37	$0.49
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.84	$1.83
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$8.3	$8.17
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.21	$1.24
🚬 Cigarette pack	$1.85	$2.23
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$4.04	$4.84
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$3.23	$3.35
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$1.03	$1.52
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$0.95	$0.98
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$24.8	$24.9
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$6.94	$7.65
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$61.4	$57.8
💇 Haircut, simple	$7.95	$10.4
👖 Brand Jeans	$50.2	$51.5
👟 Brand Sneakers	$75.3	$84.4
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$535	$482
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$10815	$13135

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	$773
18 km or 11 mi	Duque de Caxias	$636
21 km or 13 mi	Sao Joao de Meriti	$652
26 km or 16 mi	Belford Roxo	$808
31 km or 19 mi	Nova Iguacu	$591
45 km or 28 mi	Petropolis	$600
60 km or 37 mi	Teresopolis	$578
70 km or 44 mi	Saquarema	$675
98 km or 61 mi	Nova Friburgo	$500
102 km or 64 mi	Volta Redonda	$549
108 km or 67 mi	Barra Mansa	$563
112 km or 70 mi	Sao Pedro da Aldeia	$647
115 km or 72 mi	Angra dos Reis	$649
121 km or 75 mi	Cabo Frio	$656
130 km or 81 mi	Juiz de Fora	$461
135 km or 84 mi	Rio das Ostras	$513
137 km or 85 mi	Resende	$596
157 km or 97 mi	Macae	$635
184 km or 115 mi	Cruzeiro	$620
196 km or 122 mi	Barbacena	$520
199 km or 123 mi	Lorena	$664
200 km or 124 mi	Ubatuba	$623
201 km or 125 mi	Uba	$585
208 km or 129 mi	Guaratingueta	$629
215 km or 134 mi	Muriae	$618
226 km or 140 mi	Sao Joao del-Rei	$532
231 km or 144 mi	Campos dos Goytacazes	$537
232 km or 144 mi	Pindamonhangaba	$609
238 km or 148 mi	Itajuba	$543
240 km or 149 mi	Caraguatatuba	$618
241 km or 150 mi	Taubate	$617
242 km or 150 mi	Vicosa	$593
245 km or 152 mi	Sao Sebastiao	$622
251 km or 156 mi	Tres Coracoes	$542
257 km or 160 mi	Conselheiro Lafaiete	$631
258 km or 160 mi	Cacapava	$618
264 km or 164 mi	Lavras	$515
275 km or 171 mi	Varginha	$463
277 km or 172 mi	Sao Jose dos Campos	$666
279 km or 173 mi	Ponte Nova	$585

Cities near Sao Paulo

Distance	City	Cost of living
12 km or 7.3 mi	Sao Caetano do Sul	$716
13 km or 8.3 mi	Taboao da Serra	$665
14 km or 8.6 mi	Guarulhos	$691
15 km or 9.4 mi	Diadema	$674
16 km or 9.7 mi	Santo Andre	$644
16 km or 10 mi	Osasco	$686
17 km or 11 mi	Sao Bernardo do Campo	$657
21 km or 13 mi	Carapicuiba	$573
22 km or 14 mi	Maua	$663
23 km or 15 mi	Caieiras	$640
25 km or 15 mi	Embu das Artes	$627
25 km or 16 mi	Barueri	$738
26 km or 16 mi	Mairipora	$640
26 km or 16 mi	Franco da Rocha	$639
27 km or 17 mi	Ferraz de Vasconcelos	$643
28 km or 17 mi	Jandira	$640
29 km or 18 mi	Ribeirao Pires	$639
29 km or 18 mi	Itapecerica da Serra	$631
30 km or 18 mi	Poa	$633
30 km or 18 mi	Cotia	$621
30 km or 19 mi	Itaquaquecetuba	$656
31 km or 19 mi	Itapevi	$606
31 km or 19 mi	Santana de Parnaiba	$647
32 km or 20 mi	Francisco Morato	$645
33 km or 20 mi	Itanhaem	$641
33 km or 20 mi	Cajamar	$679
36 km or 22 mi	Embu-Guacu	$636
36 km or 22 mi	Aruja	$639
41 km or 26 mi	Campo Limpo Paulista	$661
43 km or 26 mi	Varzea Paulista	$674
44 km or 27 mi	Cubatao	$640
45 km or 28 mi	Mogi das Cruzes	$698
48 km or 30 mi	Jundiai	$742
49 km or 30 mi	Atibaia	$595
51 km or 32 mi	Sao Roque	$630
52 km or 32 mi	Sao Vicente	$653
55 km or 34 mi	Santos	$746
56 km or 35 mi	Praia Grande	$650
61 km or 38 mi	Bertioga	$638
61 km or 38 mi	Ibiuna	$629