Cost of living comparison

Brazil

compared to

Moldova

Chisinau vs. Sao Paulo Cost of Living Summary

Chisinau is 7.5% cheaper than Sao Paulo.

Restaurants: pay 8.2% more in Chisinau
Groceries: pay 26.3% less in Chisinau
Transportation: pay 20.4% less in Chisinau
Housing: pay 12.5% more in Chisinau
Childcare: pay 45.9% less in Chisinau
Entertainment and Sports: pay 7.8% less in Chisinau
Clothing: pay 7.9% more in Chisinau

The cost of housing, restaurants, and clothing in Chisinau are more expensive than in Sao Paulo. Expenses including childcare, groceries, transportation, and entertainment and sports are lower in Chisinau.

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Chisinau vs. Sao Paulo Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Chisinau instead of Sao Paulo, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 8.2% more for restaurants

	Sao Paulo	Chisinau
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$8.96 R$45.35	$11.22 MDL201.58	+25.2%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$8.96 R$45.35	$8.70 MDL156.22	-2.9%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.40 R$7.09	$1.21 MDL21.71	-13.8%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.87 R$4.39	$0.89 MDL16.00	+2.7%
Average			+8.2%

Sao Paulo vs. Chisinau - Cost of restaurants

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pay 26.3% less for groceries

	Sao Paulo	Chisinau
Bread 1 loaf	$1.85 R$9.39	$0.71 MDL12.77	-61.7%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$6.20 R$31.41	$4.89 MDL87.82	-21.2%
Milk (1 gallon)	$4.62 R$23.41	$4.73 MDL85.03	+2.3%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.80 R$14.18	$2.79 MDL50.06	-0.5%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.39 R$12.10	$2.36 MDL42.34	-1.4%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.26 R$6.36	$0.44 MDL7.87	-65.1%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.82 R$4.17	$0.87 MDL15.68	+6.0%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.72 R$3.63	$0.94 MDL16.87	+31.1%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.87 R$4.43	$1.01 MDL18.06	+14.9%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.65 R$3.27	$0.31 MDL5.61	-51.6%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.57 R$2.90	$0.25 MDL4.42	-57.1%
Average			-26.3%

Sao Paulo vs. Chisinau - Cost of groceries

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pay 20.4% less for transportation

	Sao Paulo	Chisinau
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$4.91 R$24.84	$6.44 MDL115.64	+31.2%
Monthly public transit pass	$48.37 R$244.87	$13.52 MDL242.90	-72.0%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$23,890.58 R$121K	$29,507.41 MDL530K	+23.5%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$9.76 R$49.39	$4.94 MDL88.69	-49.4%
Average			-20.4%

Sao Paulo vs. Chisinau - Cost of transportation

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pay 12.5% more for housing

	Sao Paulo	Chisinau
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$22.16 R$112.18	$10.59 MDL190.33	-52.2%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$656.54 R$3,323.73	$679.74 MDL12,212.58	+3.5%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$419.66 R$2,124.51	$435.34 MDL7,821.60	+3.7%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$80.32 R$406.60	$185.85 MDL3,339.13	+131.4%
Average			+12.5%

Sao Paulo vs. Chisinau - Cost of housing

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pay 45.9% less for childcare

	Sao Paulo	Chisinau
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$530.90 R$2,687.69	$434.06 MDL7,798.47	-18.2%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$16,300.72 R$82,522.42	$5,841.67 MDL105K	-64.2%
Average			-45.9%

Sao Paulo vs. Chisinau - Cost of childcare

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pay 7.8% less for entertainment and sports

	Sao Paulo	Chisinau
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$2.99 R$15.12	$2.24 MDL40.32	-24.9%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.56 R$12.94	$2.16 MDL38.87	-15.4%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$2.99 R$15.12	$3.42 MDL61.48	+14.6%
Monthly membership at local gym	$35.87 R$181.58	$41.67 MDL748.71	+16.2%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$9.95 R$50.39	$8.41 MDL151.18	-15.5%
Average			-7.8%

Sao Paulo vs. Chisinau - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 7.9% more for clothing

	Sao Paulo	Chisinau
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$65.57 R$331.96	$79.80 MDL1,433.71	+21.7%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$61.53 R$311.49	$47.07 MDL845.61	-23.5%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$99.31 R$502.77	$114.14 MDL2,050.64	+14.9%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$91.35 R$462.44	$115.56 MDL2,076.23	+26.5%
Average			+7.9%

Sao Paulo vs. Chisinau - 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

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