Cost of living comparison

Argentina

compared to

Uruguay

Montevideo vs. Buenos Aires Cost of Living Summary

Montevideo is 13.1% more expensive than Buenos Aires.

Restaurants: pay 1.3% less in Montevideo
Groceries: pay 31.1% more in Montevideo
Transportation: pay 39.1% more in Montevideo
Housing: pay 2.0% more in Montevideo
Childcare: pay 29.0% more in Montevideo
Entertainment and Sports: pay 18.1% more in Montevideo
Clothing: pay 15.5% less in Montevideo

The cost of transportation, groceries, childcare, entertainment and sports, and housing in Montevideo are more expensive than in Buenos Aires. Expenses including clothing and restaurants are lower in Montevideo.

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Montevideo vs. Buenos Aires Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Montevideo instead of Buenos Aires, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 1.3% less for restaurants

	Buenos Aires	Montevideo
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$19.02 ARS28,866.32	$15.00 UYU604.72	-21.1%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$12.96 ARS19,665.62	$14.46 UYU583.02	+11.6%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$2.01 ARS3,045.90	$2.70 UYU108.81	+34.5%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$1.59 ARS2,416.05	$2.05 UYU82.66	+28.8%
Average			-1.3%

Buenos Aires vs. Montevideo - Cost of restaurants

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pay 31.1% more for groceries

	Buenos Aires	Montevideo
Bread 1 loaf	$2.48 ARS3,759.89	$2.84 UYU114.69	+14.8%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$5.25 ARS7,963.26	$7.03 UYU283.55	+34.1%
Milk (1 gallon)	$5.52 ARS8,376.92	$5.10 UYU205.48	-7.7%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.81 ARS4,263.15	$4.57 UYU184.15	+62.6%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$4.60 ARS6,980.53	$5.46 UYU220.10	+18.7%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.28 ARS1,941.83	$1.28 UYU51.67	+0.2%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.97 ARS1,476.48	$1.27 UYU51.03	+30.1%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.65 ARS986.80	$0.80 UYU32.15	+22.7%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.92 ARS1,393.13	$1.44 UYU58.00	+56.7%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.56 ARS848.63	$0.92 UYU37.22	+65.1%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.56 ARS844.64	$0.96 UYU38.73	+72.6%
Average			+31.1%

Buenos Aires vs. Montevideo - Cost of groceries

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pay 39.1% more for transportation

	Buenos Aires	Montevideo
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$5.28 ARS8,007.28	$8.25 UYU332.50	+56.3%
Monthly public transit pass	$27.50 ARS41,738.12	$74.80 UYU3,015.63	+172.0%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$28,500.00 ARS43M	$26,990.00 UYU1M	-5.3%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$9.60 ARS14,570.40	$5.27 UYU212.50	-45.1%
Average			+39.1%

Buenos Aires vs. Montevideo - Cost of transportation

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pay 2.0% more for housing

	Buenos Aires	Montevideo
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$31.11 ARS47,219.03	$44.58 UYU1,797.10	+43.3%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$770.79 ARS1M	$706.61 UYU28,486.90	-8.3%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$509.75 ARS774K	$583.28 UYU23,514.79	+14.4%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$162.43 ARS247K	$144.76 UYU5,836.03	-10.9%
Average			+2.0%

Buenos Aires vs. Montevideo - Cost of housing

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pay 29.0% more for childcare

	Buenos Aires	Montevideo
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$464.87 ARS706K	$626.83 UYU25,270.58	+34.8%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$8,896.36 ARS14M	$10,986.11 UYU443K	+23.5%
Average			+29.0%

Buenos Aires vs. Montevideo - Cost of childcare

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pay 18.1% more for entertainment and sports

	Buenos Aires	Montevideo
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$3.95 ARS6,000.47	$4.92 UYU198.53	+24.6%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.86 ARS5,864.06	$4.59 UYU184.84	+18.7%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$4.21 ARS6,386.17	$5.49 UYU221.15	+30.4%
Monthly membership at local gym	$49.97 ARS75,848.75	$54.39 UYU2,192.54	+8.8%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$10.38 ARS15,757.84	$12.22 UYU492.55	+17.7%
Average			+18.1%

Buenos Aires vs. Montevideo - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 15.5% less for clothing

	Buenos Aires	Montevideo
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$120.49 ARS183K	$102.85 UYU4,146.32	-14.6%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$95.69 ARS145K	$56.61 UYU2,282.30	-40.8%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$115.94 ARS176K	$124.46 UYU5,017.67	+7.3%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$138.37 ARS210K	$130.21 UYU5,249.43	-5.9%
Average			-15.5%

Buenos Aires vs. Montevideo - Cost of clothing

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We average the price of thousands of data points entered by users across the world. Sources: MyLifeElsewhere's cost-of-living dataset (prices updated October 2026). How we calculate this

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