Sao Paulo vs Tijuana - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 11, 2026

	Sao Paulo	Tijuana
🚶 Cost of living one person	$1115	$1295
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$2824	$3053
🏠 One person rent	$537	$616
🏘️ Family rent	$943	$1076
🍽️ Food expenses	$318	$416
🚐 Transport expenses	$147	$156
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$794	$1025
😷 Air quality	Moderate	Moderate
✈️ Airport proximity	5 km	5 km
🎓 Higher education	96	22
😀 Quality of life	74	62
🏙️ Population	11.5M	1.96M

The cost of living in Sao Paulo is 14% less expensive than in Tijuana. Cities ranked 5003rd and 4578th ($1115 vs $1295) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 1st and 9th in Brazil and Mexico, respectively. Check Brazil vs Mexico comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 0.7 months in Sao Paulo compared to 0.8 months in Tijuana. Sao Paulo ranked 1st best city to live in Brazil vs Tijuana ranked 6th in Mexico, while ranked 2408th and 5712th among best cities to live in the world.

Salary adjustment calculator
the estimated difference in money purchasing power

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Prices in Sao Paulo vs Tijuana

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

	Sao Paulo	Tijuana
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$7.85	$12
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$38.2	$34.7
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$7.52	$9.96
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.45	$2.9
☕ Cappuccino	$2.66	$4.63
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$1.26	$1.33
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$631	$768
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$419	$500
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1111	$1368
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$769	$905
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$56.1	$30.8
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$85.4	$46.9
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$19.9	$31.5
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	11.97%	12.01%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$2842	$3269
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$2178	$2686
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$1	$1.1
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$49.2	$37.9
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$7.86	$19.3
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.15	$1.46
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.13	$2.1
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$1.63	$2.84
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.28	$1.86
🥚 Eggs, x12	$2.81	$3.29
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$12.2	$7.47
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$5.07	$9.46
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$10.3	$12.2
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.7	$2.78
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.82	$1.74
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.63	$1.97
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.86	$1.83
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.34	$1.62
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.18	$1.86
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.54	$0.7
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$2.25	$2.29
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$9.77	$8.74
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.45	$2.37
🚬 Cigarette pack	$2.76	$4.65
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$5.92	$8.04
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$3.82	$4.27
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$1.68	$2.07
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$1.29	$2.84
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$31.9	$42.6
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$8.87	$6.86
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$55.2	$48.2
💇 Haircut, simple	$11.3	$12.9
👖 Brand Jeans	$61.4	$56.8
👟 Brand Sneakers	$105	$104
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$494	$220
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$16798	$4857

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

Cost of Living in the nearest cities

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

Cities near Tijuana

Distance	City	Cost of living
11 km or 6.5 mi	Imperial Beach	$2933
11 km or 6.9 mi	Chula Vista	$2995
15 km or 9.5 mi	Las Delicias	$1141
18 km or 11 mi	National	$3053
21 km or 13 mi	Rosarito Beach	$1138
22 km or 14 mi	Coronado	$3220
23 km or 15 mi	Lemon Grove	$2995
24 km or 15 mi	San Diego	$3507
27 km or 17 mi	La Mesa	$2963
30 km or 19 mi	El Cajon	$3040
38 km or 24 mi	Santee	$2948
42 km or 26 mi	La Jolla	$3033
48 km or 30 mi	Poway	$2995
62 km or 38 mi	Encinitas	$3243
66 km or 41 mi	Escondido	$3261
69 km or 43 mi	San Marcos	$2995
76 km or 47 mi	Carlsbad	$3245
77 km or 48 mi	Vista	$2976
81 km or 50 mi	Oceanside	$3251
84 km or 52 mi	Ensenada	$968
96 km or 59 mi	Fallbrook	$2927
109 km or 67 mi	Temecula	$2676
115 km or 72 mi	San Clemente	$2963
117 km or 73 mi	Murrieta	$3070
119 km or 74 mi	French Valley	$2758
121 km or 75 mi	Wildomar	$2815
122 km or 76 mi	Dana Point	$3030
123 km or 77 mi	San Juan Capistrano	$3085
128 km or 80 mi	Laguna Niguel	$3513
128 km or 80 mi	Menifee	$2621
131 km or 82 mi	Laguna Beach	$3122
131 km or 82 mi	Lake Elsinore	$2669
134 km or 83 mi	Mission Viejo	$3544
135 km or 84 mi	Rancho Santa Margarita	$2980
135 km or 84 mi	Laguna Hills	$3027
135 km or 84 mi	Hemet	$2767
138 km or 86 mi	Aliso Viejo	$3449
138 km or 86 mi	Lake Forest	$2554
139 km or 87 mi	El Centro	$2752
140 km or 87 mi	San Jacinto	$2667