Cost of living comparison

compared to

Guatemala City vs. United States Cost of Living Summary

Guatemala City is 36.6% cheaper than United States overall.

Restaurants: pay 55.6% less in Guatemala City
Groceries: pay 17.9% less in Guatemala City
Transportation: pay 30.3% less in Guatemala City
Housing: pay 54.3% less in Guatemala City
Childcare: pay 79.0% less in Guatemala City
Entertainment and Sports: pay 38.4% less in Guatemala City
Clothing: pay 19.2% more in Guatemala City

Expenses including childcare, restaurants, housing, entertainment and sports, transportation, and groceries are lower in Guatemala City.

Guatemala City vs. United States Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Guatemala City instead of United States, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 55.6% less for restaurants

	United States	Guatemala City
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$19.45	$5.22 GTQ39.80	-73.2%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$11.12	$6.33 GTQ48.26	-43.1%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$2.56	$1.20 GTQ9.12	-53.2%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$2.00	$0.95 GTQ7.23	-52.7%
Average			-55.6%

United States vs. Guatemala City - Cost of restaurants

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pay 17.9% less for groceries

	United States	Guatemala City
Bread 1 loaf	$3.56	$3.11 GTQ23.72	-12.6%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$6.50	$3.93 GTQ29.96	-39.6%
Milk (1 gallon)	$3.97	$7.96 GTQ60.71	+100.4%
Eggs 1 dozen	$4.27	$2.55 GTQ19.47	-40.2%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$5.41	$3.82 GTQ29.14	-29.3%
Apples (1 lb)	$2.37	$1.76 GTQ13.46	-25.5%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.78	$0.76 GTQ5.79	-3.1%
Oranges (1 lb)	$2.04	$1.41 GTQ10.73	-30.9%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$2.21	$0.86 GTQ6.56	-61.1%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$1.34	$0.78 GTQ5.97	-41.8%
Onions (1 lb)	$1.38	$1.20 GTQ9.19	-13.0%
Average			-17.9%

United States vs. Guatemala City - Cost of groceries

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pay 30.3% less for transportation

	United States	Guatemala City
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$3.41	$4.07 GTQ31.04	+19.2%
Monthly public transit pass	$65.85	$13.61 GTQ103.82	-79.3%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$32,336.38	$19,565.40 GTQ149K	-39.5%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$17.61	$13.83 GTQ105.47	-21.5%
Average			-30.3%

United States vs. Guatemala City - Cost of transportation

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pay 54.3% less for housing

	United States	Guatemala City
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$68.97	$46.51 GTQ354.76	-32.6%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$1,664.59	$745.66 GTQ5,687.92	-55.2%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$1,416.15	$422.61 GTQ3,223.71	-70.2%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$150.19	$61.38 GTQ468.23	-59.1%
Average			-54.3%

United States vs. Guatemala City - Cost of housing

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pay 79.0% less for childcare

	United States	Guatemala City
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$1,387.27	$230.87 GTQ1,761.11	-83.4%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$23,196.46	$5,887.88 GTQ44,913.23	-74.6%
Average			-79.0%

United States vs. Guatemala City - Cost of childcare

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pay 38.4% less for entertainment and sports

	United States	Guatemala City
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$5.84	$3.26 GTQ24.87	-44.1%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$5.15	$3.31 GTQ25.27	-35.7%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$9.90	$4.04 GTQ30.84	-59.2%
Monthly membership at local gym	$51.45	$48.62 GTQ370.91	-5.5%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$13.64	$7.17 GTQ54.72	-47.4%
Average			-38.4%

United States vs. Guatemala City - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 19.2% more for clothing

	United States	Guatemala City
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$51.08	$51.42 GTQ392.27	+0.7%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$41.81	$53.26 GTQ406.28	+27.4%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$87.56	$122.72 GTQ936.11	+40.2%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$112.04	$121.74 GTQ928.64	+8.7%
Average			+19.2%

United States vs. Guatemala City - 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: April 2026

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