Cost of living comparison
compared to
Des Moines vs. Buenos Aires Cost of Living Summary
Des Moines is 29.7% more expensive than Buenos Aires.
Des Moines vs. Buenos Aires Cost Breakdown
If you lived in Des Moines instead of Buenos Aires, you would:
pay 8.4% more for restaurants
|
Buenos Aires
|
Des Moines
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant |
$19.02
ARS29,203.91
|
$20.00
|
|
|
Fast food combo meal
McDonalds, or similar
|
$12.96
ARS19,895.61
|
$12.00
|
|
| Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz) |
$2.01
ARS3,081.52
|
$3.00
|
|
| Bottle of water (11 fl. oz) |
$1.59
ARS2,444.31
|
$2.49
|
|
Buenos Aires vs. Des Moines - Cost of restaurants
pay 34.5% more for groceries
|
Buenos Aires
|
Des Moines
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Bread
1 loaf
|
$2.48
ARS3,803.86
|
$2.95
|
|
| Local cheese (8 oz) |
$5.25
ARS8,056.39
|
$4.77
|
|
| Milk (1 gallon) |
$5.52
ARS8,474.89
|
$3.38
|
|
|
Eggs
1 dozen
|
$2.81
ARS4,313.01
|
$3.93
|
|
| Boneless chicken breast (1 lb) |
$4.60
ARS7,062.17
|
$4.39
|
|
| Apples (1 lb) |
$1.28
ARS1,964.54
|
$2.01
|
|
| Bananas (1 lb) |
$0.97
ARS1,493.75
|
$0.70
|
|
| Oranges (1 lb) |
$0.65
ARS998.34
|
$2.01
|
|
| Tomatoes (1 lb) |
$0.92
ARS1,409.42
|
$1.70
|
|
| Potatoes (1 lb) |
$0.56
ARS858.55
|
$1.43
|
|
| Onions (1 lb) |
$0.56
ARS854.52
|
$1.00
|
|
Buenos Aires vs. Des Moines - Cost of groceries
pay 15.8% more for transportation
|
Buenos Aires
|
Des Moines
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Gasoline (1 gallon) |
$5.28
ARS8,100.92
|
$3.71
|
|
| Monthly public transit pass |
$27.50
ARS42,226.25
|
$58.00
|
|
| New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition) |
$28,500.00
ARS44M
|
$35,052.00
|
|
| Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles) |
$9.60
ARS14,740.80
|
$11.94
|
|
Buenos Aires vs. Des Moines - Cost of transportation
pay 48.9% more for housing
|
Buenos Aires
|
Des Moines
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Internet connection
50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl
|
$31.11
ARS47,771.25
|
$71.15
|
|
| 1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area |
$770.79
ARS1M
|
$1,161.80
|
|
| 1-Bedroom apartment outside city center |
$509.75
ARS783K
|
$864.75
|
|
|
Utilities for two
(700 sq ft apartment)
including electric, gas, water, heating
|
$162.43
ARS249K
|
$143.28
|
|
Buenos Aires vs. Des Moines - Cost of housing
pay 83.9% more for childcare
|
Buenos Aires
|
Des Moines
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Private preschool for 1 child, monthly |
$464.87
ARS714K
|
$1,183.50
|
|
| Middle school for 1 child, two semesters |
$8,896.36
ARS14M
|
$11,812.00
|
|
Buenos Aires vs. Des Moines - Cost of childcare
pay 42.3% more for entertainment and sports
|
Buenos Aires
|
Des Moines
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Domestic/local beer (1 pint) |
$3.95
ARS6,070.65
|
$5.00
|
|
| Cappuccino in mid-range area |
$3.86
ARS5,932.64
|
$6.00
|
|
|
Pack of cigarettes
Marlboro or similar
|
$4.21
ARS6,460.85
|
$8.03
|
|
| Monthly membership at local gym |
$49.97
ARS76,735.79
|
$63.75
|
|
| Movie ticket to theater/cinema |
$10.38
ARS15,942.12
|
$15.00
|
|
Buenos Aires vs. Des Moines - Cost of entertainment and sports
pay 32.0% less for clothing
|
Buenos Aires
|
Des Moines
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Regular jeans
Levi's brand
|
$120.49
ARS185K
|
$60.68
|
|
|
Regular dress
from H&M or similar store
|
$95.69
ARS147K
|
$43.33
|
|
|
Running shoes
Nike or Adidas
|
$115.94
ARS178K
|
$103.00
|
|
| Men's business shoes (leather) |
$138.37
ARS212K
|
$145.78
|
|
Buenos Aires vs. Des Moines - Cost of clothing
We average the price of thousands of data points entered by users across the world. Sources: MyLifeElsewhere's cost-of-living dataset (prices updated November 2026). How we calculate this
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