Cost of living comparison

compared to

El Salvador vs. Guatemala Cost of Living Summary

El Salvador is 0.5% more expensive than Guatemala overall.

Restaurants: pay 8.9% less in El Salvador
Groceries: pay 1.5% less in El Salvador
Transportation: pay 37.1% more in El Salvador
Housing: pay 1.7% more in El Salvador
Childcare: pay 10.3% less in El Salvador
Entertainment and Sports: pay 23.7% less in El Salvador
Clothing: pay 9.2% more in El Salvador

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

El Salvador vs. Guatemala Cost Breakdown

If you lived in El Salvador instead of Guatemala, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 8.9% less for restaurants

	Guatemala	El Salvador
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$5.22 GTQ39.94	$5.50 SVC48.07	+5.4%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$6.33 GTQ48.43	$6.33 SVC55.32
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.20 GTQ9.15	$0.99 SVC8.65	-17.2%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.95 GTQ7.26	$0.81 SVC7.06	-14.8%
Average			-8.9%

Guatemala vs. El Salvador - Cost of restaurants

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pay 1.5% less for groceries

	Guatemala	El Salvador
Bread 1 loaf	$3.11 GTQ23.81	$1.95 SVC17.04	-37.3%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$3.85 GTQ29.50	$3.77 SVC32.91	-2.3%
Milk (1 gallon)	$7.68 GTQ58.82	$6.72 SVC58.71	-12.6%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.53 GTQ19.38	$2.78 SVC24.30	+9.8%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$3.82 GTQ29.24	$2.82 SVC24.68	-26.1%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.76 GTQ13.51	$1.67 SVC14.62	-5.2%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.76 GTQ5.81	$0.76 SVC6.61	-0.3%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.41 GTQ10.77	$1.17 SVC10.18	-17.2%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.80 GTQ6.09	$1.22 SVC10.62	+52.8%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.78 GTQ5.99	$0.97 SVC8.46	+23.6%
Onions (1 lb)	$1.00 GTQ7.63	$0.98 SVC8.52	-2.2%
Average			-1.5%

Guatemala vs. El Salvador - Cost of groceries

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pay 37.1% more for transportation

	Guatemala	El Salvador
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$4.07 GTQ31.15	$3.75 SVC32.75	-7.9%
Monthly public transit pass	$13.61 GTQ104.18	$15.00 SVC131.10	+10.2%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$19,570.53 GTQ149,792.38	$24,666.67 SVC215,585.75	+26.0%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$13.54 GTQ103.60	$29.78 SVC260.32	+120.1%
Average			+37.1%

Guatemala vs. El Salvador - Cost of transportation

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pay 1.7% more for housing

	Guatemala	El Salvador
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$46.52 GTQ356.06	$41.89 SVC366.11	-10.0%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$811.38 GTQ6,210.27	$666.67 SVC5,826.64	-17.8%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$485.36 GTQ3,714.97	$502.78 SVC4,394.26	+3.6%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$49.53 GTQ379.09	$64.97 SVC567.81	+31.2%
Average			+1.7%

Guatemala vs. El Salvador - Cost of housing

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pay 10.3% less for childcare

	Guatemala	El Salvador
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$230.93 GTQ1,767.55	$162.67 SVC1,421.70	-29.6%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$5,889.42 GTQ45,077.52	$6,420.00 SVC56,110.56	+9.0%
Average			-10.3%

Guatemala vs. El Salvador - Cost of childcare

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pay 23.7% less for entertainment and sports

	Guatemala	El Salvador
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$3.56 GTQ27.21	$2.00 SVC17.48	-43.7%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.31 GTQ25.36	$2.83 SVC24.73	-14.6%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$3.98 GTQ30.46	$4.00 SVC34.96	+0.5%
Monthly membership at local gym	$44.81 GTQ342.97	$30.27 SVC264.53	-32.5%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$7.18 GTQ54.92	$5.17 SVC45.16	-28.0%
Average			-23.7%

Guatemala vs. El Salvador - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 9.2% more for clothing

	Guatemala	El Salvador
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$49.09 GTQ375.72	$62.60 SVC547.12	+27.5%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$53.27 GTQ407.72	$45.83 SVC400.58	-14.0%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$111.74 GTQ855.25	$131.80 SVC1,151.93	+18.0%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$103.64 GTQ793.24	$109.17 SVC954.11	+5.3%
Average			+9.2%

Guatemala vs. El Salvador - 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: November 2025

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