Last update: Oct 2026

Cost of Living Comparison Between Buenos Aires and Phoenix

For one person, living is cheaper in Phoenix: $823 a month against $1,656 in Buenos Aires, rent and utilities included – about $10,000 less a year. Rent and utilities account for about half of the difference.

80

Cost of Living Index in Buenos Aires
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Buenos Aires Living Index
49

Cost of Living Index in Phoenix
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Phoenix Living Index

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Buenos Aires

🇦🇷 Argentina

$1,656

/mo nomad

Phoenix

🇲🇺 Mauritius

$823

/mo nomad

Monthly Cost of Living

How much you'll spend in Buenos Aires and in Phoenix

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

Monthly costs for one person with rent: $1,656 in Buenos Aires versus $823 in Phoenix.

Buenos Aires $1,656
Phoenix $823

Estimated couple costs with rent: $2,697 in Buenos Aires versus $1,303 in Phoenix.

Buenos Aires $2,697
Phoenix $1,303

Monthly costs for a family of three with rent: $3,737 in Buenos Aires versus $1,783 in Phoenix.

Buenos Aires $3,737
Phoenix $1,783

Living in Buenos Aires is roughly 101% more expensive than in Phoenix, and outside of rent the biggest gap is in clothing.

The two cities straddle the global median: Buenos Aires is 23% above, Phoenix is 39% below.

Meal at Budget Restaurant

$19.09 ARS 29.0K

$2.12 MUR 99.7

800.47%

Three-Course Dinner for Two, Mid-Range

$65.8 ARS 99.9K

$31.62 MUR 1,489

108.10%

Fast Food Meal (McDonalds, etc)

$13.20 ARS 20.0K

$7.31 MUR 344

80.57%

Cappuccino

$3.85 ARS 5,841

$5.18 MUR 244

-25.68%

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

$1.99 ARS 3,020

$0.60 MUR 28.29

231.67%

Water (0.33 liter bottle)

$1.60 ARS 2,430

$0.55 MUR 25.79

190.91%

Local Beer (0.5 liter draught)

$3.93 ARS 5,959

$2.05 MUR 96.4

91.71%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$4.61 ARS 7,003

$5.29 MUR 249

-12.85%

Milk (1 liter)

$1.50 ARS 2,272

$1.44 MUR 68.0

4.17%

White Bread (500g)

$2.53 ARS 3,837

$0.40 MUR 19.01

532.50%

Rice (white) (1kg)

$1.61 ARS 2,445

$2.16 MUR 101

-25.46%

Eggs

$2.84 ARS 4,316

$4.91 MUR 231

-42.16%

Local Cheese (1kg)

$10.30 ARS 15.6K

Chicken Fillets (1kg)

$10.00 ARS 15.2K

$8.21 MUR 387

21.80%

Beef Round Steak (1kg)

$13.30 ARS 20.2K

$6.45 MUR 304

106.20%

Apples (1kg)

$2.88 ARS 4,366

$7.50 MUR 353

-61.60%

Banana (1kg)

$2.20 ARS 3,334

$3.88 MUR 183

-43.30%

Oranges (1kg)

$1.40 ARS 2,120

$4.58 MUR 215

-69.43%

Tomato (1kg)

$1.98 ARS 3,004

$1.49 MUR 70.0

32.89%

Potato (1kg)

$1.21 ARS 1,835

$0.85 MUR 40.12

42.35%

Onion (1kg)

$1.26 ARS 1,910

$0.86 MUR 40.69

46.51%

Lettuce (1 head)

$1.71 ARS 2,592

$0.72 MUR 34.03

137.50%

Water (1.5 liter bottle)

$1.72 ARS 2,603

$0.76 MUR 35.76

126.32%

Cigarettes 20 Pack (Marlboro, Camel)

$4.29 ARS 6,505

Wine (Bottle)

$5.70 ARS 8,645

$10.39 MUR 489

-45.14%

Local Beer (0.5 liter bottle)

$2.17 ARS 3,288

$2.04 MUR 95.9

6.37%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$2.76 ARS 4,188

One-way Ticket (Public Transport)

$0.75 ARS 1,141

$1.08 MUR 50.7

-30.56%

Public Transport Monthly Pass (Regular Price)

$27.27 ARS 41.4K

$10.33 MUR 486

163.99%

Taxi Start (Normal Tariff)

$1.57 ARS 2,375

Taxi (Normal Tariff) (1km)

$1.03 ARS 1,558

$1.46 MUR 68.7

-29.45%

Taxi 1hour Waiting (Normal Tariff)

$7.90 ARS 12.0K

Gasoline (1 liter)

$1.42 ARS 2,160

$1.33 MUR 62.5

6.77%

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

$27.9K ARS 42.4M

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

$35.0K ARS 53.1M

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

$195 ARS 296.2K

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

$25.16 ARS 38.2K

$14.01 MUR 659

79.59%

Internet (50+ Mbps, Unlimited Data)

$31.54 ARS 47.9K

$24.77 MUR 1,166

27.33%

Gym Membership (Monthly)

$50.9 ARS 77.3K

$25.58 MUR 1,204

99.06%

Tennis Court (1 Hour on Weekend)

$16.73 ARS 25.4K

Cinema Ticket

$10.34 ARS 15.7K

$5.21 MUR 245

98.46%

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

$463 ARS 703.2K

International Primary School, 1 Child (Yearly)

$8,793 ARS 13.3M

Jeans (Levis 501 Or Similar)

$120 ARS 181.8K

$53.3 MUR 2,511

124.70%

Summer Dress (H&M, Zara, etc)

$95.5 ARS 144.9K

$52.7 MUR 2,481

81.18%

Sport Shoes (Adidas, Nike)

$114 ARS 173.1K

Men's Leather Business Shoes

$139 ARS 211.4K

1-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$756 ARS 1.1M

$526 MUR 24.8K

43.75%

1-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$520 ARS 788.8K

$311 MUR 14.6K

67.10%

3-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$1,590 ARS 2.4M

$831 MUR 39.1K

91.44%

3-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$1,198 ARS 1.8M

$535 MUR 25.2K

123.82%

Buy Apartment in City Center (m2)

$2,713 ARS 4.1M

Buy Apartment Outside City Center (m2)

$1,901 ARS 2.9M

Average Monthly Net Salary (After Tax)

$938 ARS 1.4M

$959 MUR 45.1K

-2.20%

20-Year Fixed Mortgage Interest Rate (Annual %)

57.25

1045.00%

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

Last update for Buenos Aires: October 11, 2026

Last update for Phoenix: October 10, 2026

Monthly budget structure

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

Accommodation & Living

Buenos Aires

$520 31.4%

Phoenix

$311 37.8% 40.2% $209

Groceries & Markets

Buenos Aires

$283 17.1%

Phoenix

$241 * 29.3% 15% $42

Eating Out

Buenos Aires

$282 17%

Phoenix

$126 15.4% 55.1% $155

Monthly Utilities & Internet

Buenos Aires

$252 15.2%

Phoenix

$39 * 4.7% 84.6% $213

Clothing & Footwear

Buenos Aires

$211 12.7%

Phoenix

$48 * 5.8% 77.4% $163

Sport & Entertainment

Buenos Aires

$72 4.3%

Phoenix

$36 4.4% 49.7% $36

Getting Around

Buenos Aires

$37 2.2%

Phoenix

$22 * 2.7% 40.7% $15

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 $756 in Buenos Aires and $526 in Phoenix. Housing cost is often the main lever when comparing two cities.

Phoenix pays 2% more on average while also being the cheaper of the two. The combined effect is a noticeably stronger local purchasing power.

Dining out: $66.0 in Buenos Aires vs $32.00 in Phoenix for a mid-range dinner for two. Groceries echo the gap at $283 vs $241 per month, with Phoenix cheaper across the board.

Good to know

🇦🇷 Buenos Aires

🇲🇺 Phoenix

🕒 Local time

12:54 12:54 PM

19:54 7:54 PM

7 h ahead of Buenos Aires

🌤 Weather

👥 Population

2,891,082 Capital

115,289

💱 Currency

Argentine Peso ARS $

Mauritian Rupee MUR ₨

📈 Exchange rate

10,000 ARS = 6.59 USD

10,000 ARS = 5.86 EUR

100 MUR = 2.12 USD

100 MUR = 1.89 EUR

Exchange rates and currency converter

MUR, USD, EUR to ARS – Argentine Peso Converter

🇺🇸 United States Dollar ($)

🇦🇷 Argentine Peso ($)

Argentine Peso exchange rates as of October 18, 2026: 1 USD = 1,517 ARS (10,000 ARS = 6.59 USD). 1 EUR = 1,706 ARS (10,000 ARS = 5.86 EUR).

Mauritian Rupee exchange rates as of October 18, 2026: 1 USD = 47.08 MUR (100 MUR = 2.12 USD). 1 EUR = 52.93 MUR (100 MUR = 1.89 EUR).

USD to ARS in detail →

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Between locations

Buenos Aires Phoenix 10,910 km ≈ 14 h nonstop flight

From you

Buenos Aires
Phoenix

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

Buenos Aires vs Phoenix: Cost of Living - Frequently Asked Questions

Buenos Aires and Phoenix differ by about 101% in total monthly costs ($1,656 vs $823 including rent). Phoenix is meaningfully more affordable – a gap that matters a lot on a fixed or modest income.

On paper, salaries run 2% lower in Phoenix. That's worth factoring in alongside costs, though remote workers earning in a stronger currency may not notice the difference at all.

Rent for a central apartment: $756 in Buenos Aires versus $526 in Phoenix. Housing is usually the single largest factor when comparing overall living costs between the two.

Dining out is cheaper in Phoenix – a meal for two runs $32.00 versus $66.0 in Buenos Aires. If you eat out regularly, this makes a real dent in your monthly spending.

A monthly transit pass in Phoenix runs roughly 164% less than in Buenos Aires. Both cities have functional networks, but the price difference matters if you're watching your budget.

At $823 in Phoenix versus $1,656 in Buenos Aires, a $2,000 budget is realistic in Phoenix but tight or insufficient in Buenos Aires. The gap between the two cities makes Phoenix 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, Buenos Aires and Phoenix 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 Phoenix gentler on the wallet – expenses run 101% less than in Buenos Aires. Beyond cost, consider language, visa policies, and how big the international community is in each city.