Cost of living comparison
compared to
Nicaragua vs. El Salvador Cost of Living Summary
Nicaragua is 34.1% cheaper than El Salvador overall.
Nicaragua vs. El Salvador Cost Breakdown
If you lived in Nicaragua instead of El Salvador, you would:
pay 3.9% less for restaurants
|
El Salvador
|
Nicaragua
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant |
$6.75
SVC59.06
|
$7.07
NIO260.53
|
|
|
Fast food combo meal
McDonalds, or similar
|
$7.00
SVC61.25
|
$6.94
NIO255.89
|
|
| Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz) |
$1.14
SVC10.01
|
$0.86
NIO31.77
|
|
| Bottle of water (11 fl. oz) |
$0.83
SVC7.29
|
$0.62
NIO22.88
|
|
El Salvador vs. Nicaragua - Cost of restaurants
pay 22.4% less for groceries
|
El Salvador
|
Nicaragua
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Bread
1 loaf
|
$2.53
SVC22.11
|
$1.71
NIO62.93
|
|
| Local cheese (8 oz) |
$3.85
SVC33.72
|
$3.70
NIO136.25
|
|
| Milk (1 gallon) |
$6.71
SVC58.72
|
$4.65
NIO171.26
|
|
|
Eggs
1 dozen
|
$2.67
SVC23.35
|
$2.34
NIO86.37
|
|
| Boneless chicken breast (1 lb) |
$2.83
SVC24.77
|
$2.55
NIO93.99
|
|
| Apples (1 lb) |
$1.88
SVC16.49
|
$1.82
NIO67.08
|
|
| Bananas (1 lb) |
$0.63
SVC5.54
|
$0.27
NIO10.03
|
|
| Oranges (1 lb) |
$1.18
SVC10.35
|
$0.82
NIO30.09
|
|
| Tomatoes (1 lb) |
$1.56
SVC13.68
|
$1.11
NIO40.73
|
|
| Potatoes (1 lb) |
$1.33
SVC11.65
|
$1.68
NIO61.77
|
|
| Onions (1 lb) |
$1.49
SVC13.05
|
$1.01
NIO37.13
|
|
El Salvador vs. Nicaragua - Cost of groceries
pay 41.8% less for transportation
|
El Salvador
|
Nicaragua
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Gasoline (1 gallon) |
$4.75
SVC41.60
|
$5.05
NIO186.17
|
|
| Monthly public transit pass |
$37.50
SVC328.13
|
$6.01
NIO221.41
|
|
| New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition) |
$25,000.00
SVC219K
|
$22,973.64
NIO847K
|
|
| Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles) |
$30.00
SVC262.50
|
$13.49
NIO497.29
|
|
El Salvador vs. Nicaragua - Cost of transportation
pay 58.2% less for housing
|
El Salvador
|
Nicaragua
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Internet connection
50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl
|
$42.50
SVC371.88
|
$32.47
NIO1,196.57
|
|
| 1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area |
$824.50
SVC7,214.43
|
$293.80
NIO10,827.86
|
|
| 1-Bedroom apartment outside city center |
$660.00
SVC5,775.07
|
$247.83
NIO9,133.78
|
|
|
Utilities for two
(700 sq ft apartment)
including electric, gas, water, heating
|
$99.35
SVC869.35
|
$69.20
NIO2,550.23
|
|
El Salvador vs. Nicaragua - Cost of housing
pay 36.4% more for childcare
|
El Salvador
|
Nicaragua
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Private preschool for 1 child, monthly |
$162.67
SVC1,423.35
|
$235.82
NIO8,690.94
|
|
| Middle school for 1 child, two semesters |
$4,720.00
SVC41,300.50
|
$6,060.00
NIO223K
|
|
El Salvador vs. Nicaragua - Cost of childcare
pay 1.0% more for entertainment and sports
|
El Salvador
|
Nicaragua
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Domestic/local beer (1 pint) |
$2.00
SVC17.50
|
$1.40
NIO51.60
|
|
| Cappuccino in mid-range area |
$3.55
SVC31.02
|
$2.60
NIO95.82
|
|
|
Pack of cigarettes
Marlboro or similar
|
$4.00
SVC35.00
|
$2.73
NIO100.51
|
|
| Monthly membership at local gym |
$28.30
SVC247.63
|
$32.54
NIO1,199.31
|
|
| Movie ticket to theater/cinema |
$5.00
SVC43.75
|
$9.00
NIO331.69
|
|
El Salvador vs. Nicaragua - Cost of entertainment and sports
pay 12.2% more for clothing
|
El Salvador
|
Nicaragua
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Regular jeans
Levi's brand
|
$67.15
SVC587.57
|
$59.88
NIO2,206.90
|
|
|
Regular dress
from H&M or similar store
|
$47.00
SVC411.25
|
$65.00
NIO2,395.54
|
|
|
Running shoes
Nike or Adidas
|
$118.33
SVC1,035.43
|
$122.64
NIO4,519.99
|
|
| Men's business shoes (leather) |
$117.00
SVC1,023.76
|
$144.83
NIO5,337.49
|
|
El Salvador vs. Nicaragua - 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 October 2026). How we calculate this
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Compare further: El Salvador vs. Nicaragua
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Quality of Life Comparison · 19 statistics
Be 52.7% more likely to be unemployed in Nicaragua
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Size Comparison · See true size
El Salvador is about 6 times smaller than Nicaragua.
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Moving from El Salvador to Nicaragua · UN DESA 2020
2,557 people born in El Salvador live in Nicaragua.
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