Cost of living comparison

compared to

San Juan vs. Santiago Cost of Living Summary

San Juan is 83.3% more expensive than Santiago.

Restaurants
pay 38.7% more in San Juan
Groceries
pay 2.1 times more in San Juan
Transportation
pay 16.7% more in San Juan
Housing
pay 2.6 times more in San Juan
Childcare
pay 47.3% more in San Juan
Entertainment and Sports
pay 18.8% more in San Juan
Clothing
pay 53.2% more in San Juan

The cost of housing, groceries, clothing, childcare, restaurants, and entertainment and sports in San Juan are more expensive than in Santiago. Notably, housing and groceries are significantly more expensive in San Juan.

San Juan vs. Santiago Cost Breakdown

If you lived in San Juan instead of Santiago, you would:

pay 38.7% more for restaurants

 
Santiago
San Juan
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant $10.23
CLF0.2600
$19.13
 
Fast food combo meal
McDonalds, or similar
$8.70
CLF0.2200
$9.19
 
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz) $1.71
CLF0.0400
$1.87
 

Improve prices ·

pay 2.1 times more for groceries

 
Santiago
San Juan
Bread
1 loaf
$1.81
CLF0.0500
$3.63
 
Local cheese (8 oz) $5.64
CLF0.1400
$6.27
 
Milk (1 gallon) $4.81
CLF0.1200
$8.20
 

Improve prices ·

pay 16.7% more for transportation

 
Santiago
San Juan
Gasoline (1 gallon) $5.77
CLF0.1400
$4.60
 
Monthly public transit pass $40.93
CLF1.0200
$30.00
 
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition) $17,743.12
CLF443.5100
$40,000.00
 

Improve prices ·

pay 2.6 times more for housing

 
Santiago
San Juan
Internet connection
50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl
$19.07
CLF0.4800
$69.79
 
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area $552.81
CLF13.8200
$1,813.12
 
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center $376.90
CLF9.4200
$834.00
 

Improve prices ·

pay 47.3% more for childcare

 
Santiago
San Juan
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly $432.52
CLF10.8100
$821.00
 
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters $10,959.69
CLF273.9500
$12,527.31
 

Improve prices ·

pay 18.8% more for entertainment and sports

 
Santiago
San Juan
Domestic/local beer (1 pint) $4.09
CLF0.1000
$3.00
 
Cappuccino in mid-range area $3.25
CLF0.0800
$3.60
 
Pack of cigarettes
Marlboro or similar
$5.22
CLF0.1300
$12.00
 

Improve prices ·

pay 53.2% more for clothing

 
Santiago
San Juan
Regular jeans
Levi's brand
$50.25
CLF1.2600
$56.25
 
Regular dress
from H&M or similar store
$28.71
CLF0.7200
$61.25
 
Running shoes
Nike or Adidas
$66.29
CLF1.6600
$108.75
 

Improve prices ·

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

Share this

Compare countries by overall cost of living

See the cost of living in Chile vs. Puerto Rico. This provides a comparison of the average cost of living from cities within Chile and Puerto Rico.

Help us improve these prices

MyLifeElsewhere is a collaborative project. Please enter price information for your location to help assist us in making these comparisons more accurate. Learn more

Ask the Elsewhere Community

Join the Elsewhere community and ask a question about San Juan or Santiago. It's a free, question-and-answer based forum to discuss what life is like in countries and cities around the world.