Cost of living comparison

Nicaragua

compared to

El Salvador

El Salvador vs. Nicaragua Cost of Living Summary

El Salvador is 51.7% more expensive than Nicaragua overall.

Restaurants: pay 4.1% more in El Salvador
Groceries: pay 28.9% more in El Salvador
Transportation: pay 71.9% more in El Salvador
Housing: pay 2.4 times more in El Salvador
Childcare: pay 26.7% less in El Salvador
Entertainment and Sports: pay 1.0% less in El Salvador
Clothing: pay 10.8% less in El Salvador

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

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El Salvador vs. Nicaragua Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 4.1% more for restaurants

	Nicaragua	El Salvador
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$7.07 NIO260.53	$6.75 SVC59.06	-4.5%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$6.94 NIO255.89	$7.00 SVC61.25	+0.8%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.86 NIO31.77	$1.14 SVC10.01	+32.8%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.62 NIO22.88	$0.83 SVC7.29	+34.2%
Average			+4.1%

Nicaragua vs. El Salvador - Cost of restaurants

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pay 28.9% more for groceries

	Nicaragua	El Salvador
Bread 1 loaf	$1.71 NIO62.93	$2.53 SVC22.11	+48.0%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$3.70 NIO136.25	$3.85 SVC33.72	+4.2%
Milk (1 gallon)	$4.65 NIO171.26	$6.71 SVC58.72	+44.4%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.34 NIO86.37	$2.67 SVC23.35	+13.8%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.55 NIO93.99	$2.83 SVC24.77	+11.0%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.82 NIO67.08	$1.88 SVC16.49	+3.5%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.27 NIO10.03	$0.63 SVC5.54	+132.6%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.82 NIO30.09	$1.18 SVC10.35	+44.9%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.11 NIO40.73	$1.56 SVC13.68	+41.5%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$1.68 NIO61.77	$1.33 SVC11.65	-20.5%
Onions (1 lb)	$1.01 NIO37.13	$1.49 SVC13.05	+48.0%
Average			+28.9%

Nicaragua vs. El Salvador - Cost of groceries

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pay 71.9% more for transportation

	Nicaragua	El Salvador
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$5.05 NIO186.17	$4.75 SVC41.60	-5.9%
Monthly public transit pass	$6.01 NIO221.41	$37.50 SVC328.13	+524.2%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$22,973.64 NIO847K	$25,000.00 SVC219K	+8.8%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$13.49 NIO497.29	$30.00 SVC262.50	+122.3%
Average			+71.9%

Nicaragua vs. El Salvador - Cost of transportation

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pay 2.4 times more for housing

	Nicaragua	El Salvador
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$32.47 NIO1,196.57	$42.50 SVC371.88	+30.9%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$293.80 NIO10,827.86	$824.50 SVC7,214.43	+180.6%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$247.83 NIO9,133.78	$660.00 SVC5,775.07	+166.3%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$69.20 NIO2,550.23	$99.35 SVC869.35	+43.6%
Average			+139.2%

Nicaragua vs. El Salvador - Cost of housing

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pay 26.7% less for childcare

	Nicaragua	El Salvador
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$235.82 NIO8,690.94	$162.67 SVC1,423.35	-31.0%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$6,060.00 NIO223K	$4,720.00 SVC41,300.50	-22.1%
Average			-26.7%

Nicaragua vs. El Salvador - Cost of childcare

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pay 1.0% less for entertainment and sports

	Nicaragua	El Salvador
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$1.40 NIO51.60	$2.00 SVC17.50	+42.9%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.60 NIO95.82	$3.55 SVC31.02	+36.3%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$2.73 NIO100.51	$4.00 SVC35.00	+46.7%
Monthly membership at local gym	$32.54 NIO1,199.31	$28.30 SVC247.63	-13.0%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$9.00 NIO331.69	$5.00 SVC43.75	-44.4%
Average			-1.0%

Nicaragua vs. El Salvador - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 10.8% less for clothing

	Nicaragua	El Salvador
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$59.88 NIO2,206.90	$67.15 SVC587.57	+12.1%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$65.00 NIO2,395.54	$47.00 SVC411.25	-27.7%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$122.64 NIO4,519.99	$118.33 SVC1,035.43	-3.5%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$144.83 NIO5,337.49	$117.00 SVC1,023.76	-19.2%
Average			-10.8%

Nicaragua vs. El Salvador - 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: Nicaragua vs. El Salvador

Salary Calculator · Free tool

What salary would you need in El Salvador?

Quality of Life Comparison · 19 statistics

Make 81.7% more money in El Salvador

Size Comparison · See true size

Nicaragua is about 6 times bigger than El Salvador.

Moving from Nicaragua to El Salvador · UN DESA 2020

7,956 people born in Nicaragua live in El Salvador.

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