Cost of living comparison

Argentina

compared to

Brazil

Rio De Janeiro vs. Buenos Aires Cost of Living Summary

Rio De Janeiro is 13.2% cheaper than Buenos Aires.

Restaurants: pay 39.7% less in Rio De Janeiro
Groceries: pay 14.5% less in Rio De Janeiro
Transportation: pay 6.3% more in Rio De Janeiro
Housing: pay 0.1% less in Rio De Janeiro
Childcare: pay 37.2% more in Rio De Janeiro
Entertainment and Sports: pay 34.6% less in Rio De Janeiro
Clothing: pay 51.4% less in Rio De Janeiro

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

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Rio De Janeiro vs. Buenos Aires Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Rio De Janeiro instead of Buenos Aires, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 39.7% less for restaurants

	Buenos Aires	Rio De Janeiro
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$19.02 ARS28,866.32	$9.95 R$50.39	-47.7%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$12.96 ARS19,665.62	$8.46 R$42.84	-34.7%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$2.01 ARS3,045.90	$1.59 R$8.06	-20.6%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$1.59 ARS2,416.05	$1.04 R$5.26	-34.8%
Average			-39.7%

Buenos Aires vs. Rio De Janeiro - Cost of restaurants

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pay 14.5% less for groceries

	Buenos Aires	Rio De Janeiro
Bread 1 loaf	$2.48 ARS3,759.89	$2.08 R$10.53	-16.0%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$5.25 ARS7,963.26	$5.43 R$27.47	+3.4%
Milk (1 gallon)	$5.52 ARS8,376.92	$4.35 R$22.04	-21.1%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.81 ARS4,263.15	$2.32 R$11.72	-17.6%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$4.60 ARS6,980.53	$2.00 R$10.15	-56.4%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.28 ARS1,941.83	$1.29 R$6.53	+0.7%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.97 ARS1,476.48	$0.81 R$4.09	-16.9%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.65 ARS986.80	$0.73 R$3.70	+12.5%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.92 ARS1,393.13	$0.83 R$4.20	-9.7%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.56 ARS848.63	$0.56 R$2.83	+0.1%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.56 ARS844.64	$0.48 R$2.40	-14.6%
Average			-14.5%

Buenos Aires vs. Rio De Janeiro - Cost of groceries

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pay 6.3% more for transportation

	Buenos Aires	Rio De Janeiro
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$5.28 ARS8,007.28	$4.98 R$25.19	-5.7%
Monthly public transit pass	$27.50 ARS41,738.12	$50.77 R$257.01	+84.6%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$28,500.00 ARS43M	$23,669.59 R$120K	-16.9%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$9.60 ARS14,570.40	$8.21 R$41.57	-14.5%
Average			+6.3%

Buenos Aires vs. Rio De Janeiro - Cost of transportation

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pay 0.1% less for housing

	Buenos Aires	Rio De Janeiro
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$31.11 ARS47,219.03	$22.76 R$115.23	-26.8%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$770.79 ARS1M	$909.17 R$4,602.67	+18.0%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$509.75 ARS774K	$533.31 R$2,699.87	+4.6%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$162.43 ARS247K	$102.28 R$517.78	-37.0%
Average			-0.1%

Buenos Aires vs. Rio De Janeiro - Cost of housing

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pay 37.2% more for childcare

	Buenos Aires	Rio De Janeiro
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$464.87 ARS706K	$594.40 R$3,009.15	+27.9%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$8,896.36 ARS14M	$13,090.04 R$66,268.35	+47.1%
Average			+37.2%

Buenos Aires vs. Rio De Janeiro - Cost of childcare

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pay 34.6% less for entertainment and sports

	Buenos Aires	Rio De Janeiro
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$3.95 ARS6,000.47	$2.39 R$12.09	-39.6%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.86 ARS5,864.06	$2.33 R$11.78	-39.8%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$4.21 ARS6,386.17	$2.96 R$14.99	-29.6%
Monthly membership at local gym	$49.97 ARS75,848.75	$30.84 R$156.14	-38.3%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$10.38 ARS15,757.84	$7.96 R$40.32	-23.3%
Average			-34.6%

Buenos Aires vs. Rio De Janeiro - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 51.4% less for clothing

	Buenos Aires	Rio De Janeiro
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$120.49 ARS183K	$41.81 R$211.66	-65.3%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$95.69 ARS145K	$49.05 R$248.31	-48.7%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$115.94 ARS176K	$74.57 R$377.50	-35.7%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$138.37 ARS210K	$67.45 R$341.49	-51.3%
Average			-51.4%

Buenos Aires vs. Rio De Janeiro - 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

Compare further: Buenos Aires vs. Rio De Janeiro

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Buenos Aires is about 6 times smaller than Rio De Janeiro.

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