Cost of living comparison

Argentina

compared to

Chile

Santiago vs. Buenos Aires Cost of Living Summary

Santiago is 22.3% cheaper than Buenos Aires.

Restaurants: pay 36.8% less in Santiago
Groceries: pay 8.8% less in Santiago
Transportation: pay 3.7% less in Santiago
Housing: pay 28.2% less in Santiago
Childcare: pay 7.1% more in Santiago
Entertainment and Sports: pay 16.8% less in Santiago
Clothing: pay 54.8% less in Santiago

Expenses including clothing, restaurants, housing, entertainment and sports, groceries, and transportation are lower in Santiago.

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Santiago vs. Buenos Aires Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 36.8% less for restaurants

	Buenos Aires	Santiago
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$19.02 ARS28,867.92	$10.23 CLF0.2500	-46.2%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$12.96 ARS19,666.72	$8.70 CLF0.2200	-32.9%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$2.01 ARS3,046.07	$1.71 CLF0.0400	-15.0%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$1.59 ARS2,416.19	$1.25 CLF0.0300	-21.6%
Average			-36.8%

Buenos Aires vs. Santiago - Cost of restaurants

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pay 8.8% less for groceries

	Buenos Aires	Santiago
Bread 1 loaf	$2.48 ARS3,760.09	$1.81 CLF0.0400	-26.8%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$5.25 ARS7,963.70	$5.64 CLF0.1400	+7.5%
Milk (1 gallon)	$5.52 ARS8,377.38	$4.81 CLF0.1200	-12.8%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.81 ARS4,263.39	$4.18 CLF0.1000	+48.8%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$4.60 ARS6,980.92	$3.11 CLF0.0800	-32.3%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.28 ARS1,941.94	$0.90 CLF0.0200	-29.4%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.97 ARS1,476.56	$0.70 CLF0.0200	-28.2%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.65 ARS986.85	$0.74 CLF0.0200	+13.5%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.92 ARS1,393.21	$0.78 CLF0.0200	-14.7%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.56 ARS848.67	$0.49 CLF0.0100	-11.9%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.56 ARS844.69	$0.68 CLF0.0200	+21.6%
Average			-8.8%

Buenos Aires vs. Santiago - Cost of groceries

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pay 3.7% less for transportation

	Buenos Aires	Santiago
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$5.28 ARS8,007.72	$5.77 CLF0.1400	+9.3%
Monthly public transit pass	$27.50 ARS41,740.44	$40.93 CLF1.0100	+48.8%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$28,500.00 ARS43M	$17,743.12 CLF439.1400	-37.7%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$9.60 ARS14,571.21	$7.37 CLF0.1800	-23.3%
Average			-3.7%

Buenos Aires vs. Santiago - Cost of transportation

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pay 28.2% less for housing

	Buenos Aires	Santiago
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$31.11 ARS47,221.65	$19.07 CLF0.4700	-38.7%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$770.79 ARS1M	$552.81 CLF13.6800	-28.3%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$509.75 ARS774K	$376.90 CLF9.3300	-26.1%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$162.43 ARS247K	$113.86 CLF2.8200	-29.9%
Average			-28.2%

Buenos Aires vs. Santiago - Cost of housing

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pay 7.1% more for childcare

	Buenos Aires	Santiago
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$464.87 ARS706K	$432.52 CLF10.7000	-7.0%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$8,896.36 ARS14M	$10,959.69 CLF271.2500	+23.2%
Average			+7.1%

Buenos Aires vs. Santiago - Cost of childcare

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pay 16.8% less for entertainment and sports

	Buenos Aires	Santiago
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$3.95 ARS6,000.81	$4.09 CLF0.1000	+3.5%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.86 ARS5,864.38	$3.25 CLF0.0800	-15.9%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$4.21 ARS6,386.52	$5.22 CLF0.1300	+24.0%
Monthly membership at local gym	$49.97 ARS75,852.96	$33.92 CLF0.8400	-32.1%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$10.38 ARS15,758.71	$7.52 CLF0.1900	-27.6%
Average			-16.8%

Buenos Aires vs. Santiago - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 54.8% less for clothing

	Buenos Aires	Santiago
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$120.49 ARS183K	$50.25 CLF1.2400	-58.3%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$95.69 ARS145K	$28.71 CLF0.7100	-70.0%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$115.94 ARS176K	$66.29 CLF1.6400	-42.8%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$138.37 ARS210K	$80.84 CLF2.0000	-41.6%
Average			-54.8%

Buenos Aires vs. Santiago - Cost of clothing

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The statistics used to build this comparison are calculated using data from users just like you. We average the price of thousands of data points entered by users across the world. Learn more about our data sources. Page last updated: October 2026

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