Last update: Oct 2026

Cost of Living Comparison Between Barcelona and Huancayo

For one person, living is cheaper in Huancayo: $488 a month against $2,381 in Barcelona, rent and utilities included – about $22,700 less a year. Rent and utilities account for most of the difference.

115

Cost of Living Index in Barcelona
Learn more

Barcelona Living Index
24

Cost of Living Index in Huancayo
Learn more

Huancayo Living Index

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Barcelona

🇪🇸 Spain

$2,381

/mo nomad

Huancayo

🇵🇪 Peru

$488

/mo nomad

Monthly Cost of Living

How much you'll spend in Barcelona and in Huancayo

Real prices from locals and on-the-ground checks – rent, groceries, transit and the daily extras. Here's what a month in Barcelona and in Huancayo actually costs, broken down by who's living it.

Monthly costs for one person with rent: $2,381 in Barcelona versus $488 in Huancayo.

Barcelona $2,381
Huancayo $488

Estimated couple costs with rent: $3,406 in Barcelona versus $825 in Huancayo.

Barcelona $3,406
Huancayo $825

Monthly costs for a family of three with rent: $4,431 in Barcelona versus $1,162 in Huancayo.

Barcelona $4,431
Huancayo $1,162

Living in Barcelona is roughly 388% more expensive than in Huancayo, and outside of rent the biggest gap is in groceries.

The two cities straddle the global median: Barcelona is 76% above, Huancayo is 64% below.

Meal at Budget Restaurant

$17.89 €15.92

$2.27 PEN 7.80

688.11%

Three-Course Dinner for Two, Mid-Range

$66.2 €58.9

$34.56 PEN 119

91.44%

Fast Food Meal (McDonalds, etc)

$13.69 €12.18

$6.86 PEN 23.54

99.56%

Cappuccino

$3.06 €2.72

$3.29 PEN 11.31

-6.99%

Coke/Pepsi/Fanta/Sprite (0.33 liter bottle)

$3.07 €2.73

$1.12 PEN 3.83

174.11%

Water (0.33 liter bottle)

$1.94 €1.73

$0.64 PEN 2.20

203.12%

Local Beer (0.5 liter draught)

$3.87 €3.44

$2.59 PEN 8.91

49.42%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$4.61 €4.10

$4.29 PEN 14.73

7.46%

Milk (1 liter)

$1.30 €1.16

$1.15 PEN 3.93

13.04%

White Bread (500g)

$2.10 €1.87

$1.05 PEN 3.60

100.00%

Rice (white) (1kg)

$1.83 €1.62

$1.29 PEN 4.43

41.86%

Eggs

$4.62 €4.11

$2.41 PEN 8.26

91.70%

Local Cheese (1kg)

$17.36 €15.44

$5.14 PEN 17.64

237.74%

Chicken Fillets (1kg)

$9.28 €8.25

$5.97 PEN 20.49

55.44%

Beef Round Steak (1kg)

$19.83 €17.64

$5.20 PEN 17.87

281.35%

Apples (1kg)

$3.01 €2.68

$1.41 PEN 4.86

113.48%

Banana (1kg)

$2.03 €1.81

$1.03 PEN 3.53

97.09%

Oranges (1kg)

$2.65 €2.36

$0.55 PEN 1.90

381.82%

Tomato (1kg)

$2.87 €2.55

$1.19 PEN 4.10

141.18%

Potato (1kg)

$2.16 €1.92

$0.85 PEN 2.93

154.12%

Onion (1kg)

$2.15 €1.91

$0.89 PEN 3.05

141.57%

Lettuce (1 head)

$1.47 €1.31

$0.57 PEN 1.96

157.89%

Water (1.5 liter bottle)

$0.88 €0.79

$0.89 PEN 3.07

-1.12%

Cigarettes 20 Pack (Marlboro, Camel)

$6.93 €6.16

$5.70 PEN 19.57

21.58%

Wine (Bottle)

$7.83 €6.96

$5.09 PEN 17.47

53.83%

Local Beer (0.5 liter bottle)

$1.39 €1.24

$1.87 PEN 6.41

-25.67%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$2.63 €2.34

$3.18 PEN 10.91

-17.30%

One-way Ticket (Public Transport)

$2.91 €2.59

$0.59 PEN 2.03

393.22%

Public Transport Monthly Pass (Regular Price)

$25.46 €22.64

$17.38 PEN 59.7

46.49%

Taxi Start (Normal Tariff)

$3.00 €2.66

$1.84 PEN 6.32

63.04%

Taxi (Normal Tariff) (1km)

$1.44 €1.28

$2.00 PEN 6.88

-28.00%

Taxi 1hour Waiting (Normal Tariff)

$33.20 €29.53

$7.22 PEN 24.79

359.83%

Gasoline (1 liter)

$1.86 €1.65

$1.43 PEN 4.91

30.07%

Midsize Hatchback 1.4l (Volkswagen Golf, Toyota Prius, Honda Civic, etc)

$32.3K €28.8K

$21.7K PEN 74.6K

48.80%

Compact Sedan 1.6l (Toyota Corolla, Mazda3, Kia K4, Hyundai Elantra, etc)

$31.7K €28.2K

$25.7K PEN 88.3K

23.32%

Utilities for 2 People in 2-bedroom Apartment (Heating, Electricity, Gas, Water, Garbage) (85m2)

$183 €163

$34.52 PEN 119

429.43%

SIM Card Monthly Plan (Calls and 10GB+ Data)

$13.61 €12.11

$11.76 PEN 40.39

15.73%

Internet (50+ Mbps, Unlimited Data)

$32.93 €29.29

$11.82 PEN 40.59

178.60%

Gym Membership (Monthly)

$54.7 €48.65

Tennis Court (1 Hour on Weekend)

$16.52 €14.70

Cinema Ticket

$11.23 €9.99

$7.30 PEN 25.07

53.84%

Preschool or Kindergarten, Full Day, Private, 1 Child (Monthly)

$954 €849

$182 PEN 624

424.92%

International Primary School, 1 Child (Yearly)

$16.6K €14.8K

$12.9K PEN 44.3K

28.72%

Jeans (Levis 501 Or Similar)

$86.0 €76.5

$53.8 PEN 185

59.91%

Summer Dress (H&M, Zara, etc)

$39.11 €34.78

$35.51 PEN 122

10.14%

Sport Shoes (Adidas, Nike)

$104 €92.2

$85.3 PEN 293

21.55%

Men's Leather Business Shoes

$119 €106

$80.1 PEN 275

48.03%

1-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$1,695 €1,508

$324 PEN 1,112

423.51%

1-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$1,276 €1,135

3-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$2,576 €2,291

3-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$1,922 €1,710

Buy Apartment in City Center (m2)

$7,281 €6,477

Buy Apartment Outside City Center (m2)

$5,010 €4,456

Average Monthly Net Salary (After Tax)

$2,227 €1,981

20-Year Fixed Mortgage Interest Rate (Annual %)

3.28

8.94

-63.31%

CityCost data is based on AI and user input – minor inaccuracies may occur.

Last update for Barcelona: October 20, 2026

Last update for Huancayo: October 17, 2026

Monthly budget structure

Share of the monthly basket for one person, rent included.

Accommodation & Living

Barcelona

$1.3K 53.6%

Huancayo

- * 0% 100%

Groceries & Markets

Barcelona

$325 13.7%

Huancayo

$162 33.2% 50.1% $163

Eating Out

Barcelona

$270 11.3%

Huancayo

$107 21.9% 60.4% $163

Monthly Utilities & Internet

Barcelona

$229 9.6%

Huancayo

$58 11.9% 74.7% $171

Clothing & Footwear

Barcelona

$156 6.6%

Huancayo

$115 23.5% 26.7% $42

Sport & Entertainment

Barcelona

$77 3.2%

Huancayo

$15 * 3% 81.1% $63

Getting Around

Barcelona

$47 2%

Huancayo

$32 6.5% 33.2% $16

Categories marked with * are only partly priced – their share counts the items that do have prices.

Cost Breakdown

A one-bedroom apartment in the center runs $1,695 in Barcelona and $324 in Huancayo. Housing cost is often the main lever when comparing two cities.

Dining out: $66.0 in Barcelona vs $35.00 in Huancayo for a mid-range dinner for two. Groceries echo the gap at $325 vs $162 per month, with Huancayo cheaper across the board.

Good to know

🇪🇸 Barcelona

🇵🇪 Huancayo

🕒 Local time

16:54 4:54 PM

09:54 9:54 AM

7 h behind Barcelona

🌤 Weather

👥 Population

1,660,122

27,552

💱 Currency

Euro EUR €

Peruvian Sol PEN S/

📈 Exchange rate

1 EUR = 1.12 USD

1 PEN = 0.291 USD

1 PEN = 0.259 EUR

Exchange rates and currency converter

On the map

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Between locations

Barcelona Huancayo 9,870 km ≈ 13 h nonstop flight

From you

Barcelona
Huancayo

Distances are measured in a straight line. Your location is detected approximately.

City Median Internet Speeds Comparison (Updated April 2026)

The chart highlights the Precision Threshold for mobile and fixed broadband internet speeds, updated quarterly.

Digital Nomad Cost of Living Index

Barcelona vs Huancayo: Cost of Living - Frequently Asked Questions

Barcelona and Huancayo differ by about 388% in total monthly costs ($2,381 vs $488 including rent). Huancayo is meaningfully more affordable – a gap that matters a lot on a fixed or modest income.

You'd need roughly $3,571 in Barcelona and $732 in Huancayo to live well. The gap comes down to housing and overall price levels. Both cities are liveable on less, but these numbers represent actual comfort.

Rent for a central apartment: $1,695 in Barcelona versus $324 in Huancayo. Housing is usually the single largest factor when comparing overall living costs between the two.

Childcare runs $954 in Barcelona versus $182 in Huancayo. Over years of preschool, even a modest monthly gap compounds into a major financial factor for families.

Supermarket bills run roughly 100% higher in Barcelona. For households that cook at home regularly, that difference adds up over a month.

At $488 in Huancayo versus $2,381 in Barcelona, a $1,000 budget is realistic in Huancayo but tight or insufficient in Barcelona. The gap between the two cities makes Huancayo the clear choice for anyone on this budget.

Both cities offer a good standard of living with different trade-offs. Neither is objectively better – the right pick depends on what matters most: affordability, career, cultural scene, or climate.

Safety-wise, Barcelona and Huancayo are on par. Petty crime is typical for cities this size, and most residents feel comfortable going about their daily routines in either place.

Expats usually find Huancayo gentler on the wallet – expenses run 388% less than in Barcelona. Beyond cost, consider language, visa policies, and how big the international community is in each city.