Cost of living comparison

compared to

Santiago vs. Guatemala City Cost of Living Summary

Santiago is 17.8% more expensive than Guatemala City.

Restaurants: pay 46.8% more in Santiago
Groceries: pay 14.3% less in Santiago
Transportation: pay 57.0% more in Santiago
Housing: pay 2.6% less in Santiago
Childcare: pay 69.2% more in Santiago
Entertainment and Sports: pay 3.7% less in Santiago
Clothing: pay 27.8% less in Santiago

The cost of childcare, transportation, and restaurants in Santiago are more expensive than in Guatemala City. Expenses including clothing, groceries, entertainment and sports, and housing are lower in Santiago.

Santiago vs. Guatemala City Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Santiago instead of Guatemala City, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 46.8% more for restaurants

	Guatemala City	Santiago
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$5.22 GTQ39.96	$10.50 CLF0.2500	+101.2%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$6.33 GTQ48.46	$8.10 CLF0.1900	+28.1%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.20 GTQ9.16	$1.61 CLF0.0400	+35.1%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.95 GTQ7.26	$1.16 CLF0.0300	+22.8%
Average			+46.8%

Guatemala City vs. Santiago - Cost of restaurants

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pay 14.3% less for groceries

	Guatemala City	Santiago
Bread 1 loaf	$3.11 GTQ23.82	$1.55 CLF0.0400	-50.1%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$3.93 GTQ30.09	$5.13 CLF0.1200	+30.6%
Milk (1 gallon)	$7.96 GTQ60.96	$4.52 CLF0.1100	-43.2%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.55 GTQ19.55	$4.01 CLF0.0900	+57.3%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$3.82 GTQ29.26	$3.00 CLF0.0700	-21.6%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.76 GTQ13.52	$0.91 CLF0.0200	-48.6%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.76 GTQ5.81	$0.70 CLF0.0200	-7.7%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.41 GTQ10.77	$0.92 CLF0.0200	-34.6%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.86 GTQ6.59	$0.84 CLF0.0200	-2.1%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.78 GTQ5.99	$0.79 CLF0.0200	+1.0%
Onions (1 lb)	$1.20 GTQ9.23	$0.74 CLF0.0200	-38.3%
Average			-14.3%

Guatemala City vs. Santiago - Cost of groceries

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pay 57.0% more for transportation

	Guatemala City	Santiago
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$4.07 GTQ31.16	$5.23 CLF0.1200	+28.4%
Monthly public transit pass	$13.61 GTQ104.26	$41.99 CLF0.9900	+208.5%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$19,565.40 GTQ149,867.31	$19,201.90 CLF450.9900	-1.9%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$13.83 GTQ105.91	$12.86 CLF0.3000	-7.0%
Average			+57.0%

Guatemala City vs. Santiago - Cost of transportation

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pay 2.6% less for housing

	Guatemala City	Santiago
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$46.51 GTQ356.24	$21.76 CLF0.5100	-53.2%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$745.66 GTQ5,711.58	$502.56 CLF11.8000	-32.6%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$422.61 GTQ3,237.13	$424.00 CLF9.9600	+0.3%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$61.38 GTQ470.18	$107.40 CLF2.5200	+75.0%
Average			-2.6%

Guatemala City vs. Santiago - Cost of housing

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pay 69.2% more for childcare

	Guatemala City	Santiago
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$230.87 GTQ1,768.43	$431.25 CLF10.1300	+86.8%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$5,887.88 GTQ45,100.07	$8,923.79 CLF209.5900	+51.6%
Average			+69.2%

Guatemala City vs. Santiago - Cost of childcare

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pay 3.7% less for entertainment and sports

	Guatemala City	Santiago
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$3.26 GTQ24.98	$3.15 CLF0.0700	-3.4%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.31 GTQ25.38	$3.09 CLF0.0700	-6.6%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$4.04 GTQ30.97	$5.56 CLF0.1300	+37.6%
Monthly membership at local gym	$48.62 GTQ372.45	$32.24 CLF0.7600	-33.7%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$7.17 GTQ54.95	$6.30 CLF0.1500	-12.2%
Average			-3.7%

Guatemala City vs. Santiago - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 27.8% less for clothing

	Guatemala City	Santiago
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$51.42 GTQ393.90	$53.82 CLF1.2600	+4.6%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$53.26 GTQ407.97	$30.77 CLF0.7200	-42.2%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$122.72 GTQ940.00	$73.54 CLF1.7300	-40.1%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$121.74 GTQ932.51	$81.13 CLF1.9100	-33.4%
Average			-27.8%

Guatemala City 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: December 2025

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