Last update: Oct 2026

Cost of Living Comparison Between Buenos Aires and Qena

For one person, living is cheaper in Qena: $468 a month against $1,656 in Buenos Aires, rent and utilities included – about $14,300 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
22

Cost of Living Index in Qena
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Qena Living Index

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Buenos Aires

🇦🇷 Argentina

$1,656

/mo nomad

Qena

🇪🇬 Egypt

$468

/mo nomad

Monthly Cost of Living

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

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 Qena actually costs, broken down by who's living it.

Monthly costs for one person with rent: $1,656 in Buenos Aires versus $468 in Qena.

Buenos Aires $1,656
Qena $468

Estimated couple costs with rent: $2,697 in Buenos Aires versus $746 in Qena.

Buenos Aires $2,697
Qena $746

Monthly costs for a family of three with rent: $3,737 in Buenos Aires versus $1,023 in Qena.

Buenos Aires $3,737
Qena $1,023

Living in Buenos Aires is roughly 254% more expensive than in Qena, and outside of rent the biggest gap is in eating out.

The two cities straddle the global median: Buenos Aires is 23% above, Qena is 65% below.

Meal at Budget Restaurant

$19.09 ARS 28.9K

$3.84 E£205

397.14%

Three-Course Dinner for Two, Mid-Range

$65.8 ARS 99.6K

$14.99 E£801

338.96%

Fast Food Meal (McDonalds, etc)

$13.20 ARS 20.0K

$5.78 E£309

128.37%

Cappuccino

$3.85 ARS 5,823

$2.00 E£107

92.50%

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

$1.99 ARS 3,011

$0.50 E£26.78

298.00%

Water (0.33 liter bottle)

$1.60 ARS 2,423

$0.18 E£9.56

788.89%

Local Beer (0.5 liter draught)

$3.93 ARS 5,942

$1.92 E£103

104.69%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$4.61 ARS 6,982

$3.04 E£162

51.64%

Milk (1 liter)

$1.50 ARS 2,265

$0.97 E£51.7

54.64%

White Bread (500g)

$2.53 ARS 3,826

$0.76 E£40.69

232.89%

Rice (white) (1kg)

$1.61 ARS 2,438

$0.66 E£35.14

143.94%

Eggs

$2.84 ARS 4,303

$1.93 E£103

47.15%

Local Cheese (1kg)

$10.30 ARS 15.6K

$3.15 E£169

226.98%

Chicken Fillets (1kg)

$10.00 ARS 15.1K

$5.61 E£300

78.25%

Beef Round Steak (1kg)

$13.30 ARS 20.1K

$9.89 E£528

34.48%

Apples (1kg)

$2.88 ARS 4,353

$1.48 E£79.2

94.59%

Banana (1kg)

$2.20 ARS 3,324

$0.52 E£27.67

323.08%

Oranges (1kg)

$1.40 ARS 2,114

$0.41 E£21.67

241.46%

Tomato (1kg)

$1.98 ARS 2,995

$0.41 E£21.99

382.93%

Potato (1kg)

$1.21 ARS 1,830

$0.34 E£18.28

255.88%

Onion (1kg)

$1.26 ARS 1,905

$0.39 E£20.87

223.08%

Lettuce (1 head)

$1.71 ARS 2,584

$0.27 E£14.25

533.33%

Water (1.5 liter bottle)

$1.72 ARS 2,596

$0.18 E£9.69

855.56%

Cigarettes 20 Pack (Marlboro, Camel)

$4.29 ARS 6,486

$2.14 E£114

100.47%

Wine (Bottle)

$5.70 ARS 8,619

$7.22 E£386

-21.05%

Local Beer (0.5 liter bottle)

$2.17 ARS 3,278

$1.26 E£67.1

72.22%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$2.76 ARS 4,175

$1.71 E£91.6

61.40%

One-way Ticket (Public Transport)

$0.75 ARS 1,137

$0.17 E£9.02

341.18%

Public Transport Monthly Pass (Regular Price)

$27.27 ARS 41.3K

Taxi Start (Normal Tariff)

$1.57 ARS 2,368

$0.37 E£20.03

324.32%

Taxi (Normal Tariff) (1km)

$1.03 ARS 1,554

$0.21 E£11.18

390.48%

Taxi 1hour Waiting (Normal Tariff)

$7.90 ARS 11.9K

$1.26 E£67.1

526.98%

Gasoline (1 liter)

$1.42 ARS 2,154

$0.43 E£22.75

230.23%

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

$27.9K ARS 42.3M

$31.9K E£1.7M

-12.34%

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

$35.0K ARS 52.9M

$21.8K E£1.2M

60.76%

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

$195 ARS 295.3K

$25.42 E£1,359

667.90%

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

$25.16 ARS 38.1K

$7.95 E£425

216.48%

Internet (50+ Mbps, Unlimited Data)

$31.54 ARS 47.7K

$9.28 E£496

239.87%

Gym Membership (Monthly)

$50.9 ARS 77.0K

$15.61 E£834

226.20%

Tennis Court (1 Hour on Weekend)

$16.73 ARS 25.3K

Cinema Ticket

$10.34 ARS 15.6K

$3.39 E£181

205.01%

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

$463 ARS 701.1K

$101 E£5,375

360.72%

International Primary School, 1 Child (Yearly)

$8,793 ARS 13.3M

$598 E£32.0K

1370.51%

Jeans (Levis 501 Or Similar)

$120 ARS 181.3K

$19.95 E£1,066

500.65%

Summer Dress (H&M, Zara, etc)

$95.5 ARS 144.5K

$33.52 E£1,791

184.84%

Sport Shoes (Adidas, Nike)

$114 ARS 172.6K

$123 E£6,579

-7.32%

Men's Leather Business Shoes

$139 ARS 210.8K

$28.92 E£1,545

381.67%

1-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$756 ARS 1.1M

$133 E£7,086

470.35%

1-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$520 ARS 786.5K

$79.8 E£4,265

551.42%

3-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$1,590 ARS 2.4M

$280 E£14.9K

468.57%

3-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$1,198 ARS 1.8M

$145 E£7,723

729.20%

Buy Apartment in City Center (m2)

$2,713 ARS 4.1M

$709 E£37.9K

282.91%

Buy Apartment Outside City Center (m2)

$1,901 ARS 2.9M

$300 E£16.0K

533.27%

Average Monthly Net Salary (After Tax)

$938 ARS 1.4M

20-Year Fixed Mortgage Interest Rate (Annual %)

57.25

16.21

253.18%

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

Last update for Buenos Aires: October 11, 2026

Last update for Qena: October 12, 2026

Monthly budget structure

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

Accommodation & Living

Buenos Aires

$520 31.4%

Qena

$80 17.1% 84.6% $440

Groceries & Markets

Buenos Aires

$283 17.1%

Qena

$138 29.5% 51.2% $145

Eating Out

Buenos Aires

$282 17%

Qena

$90 19.3% 67.9% $191

Monthly Utilities & Internet

Buenos Aires

$252 15.2%

Qena

$43 9.1% 83.1% $209

Clothing & Footwear

Buenos Aires

$211 12.7%

Qena

$92 19.8% 56.2% $118

Sport & Entertainment

Buenos Aires

$72 4.3%

Qena

$22 4.8% 68.7% $49

Getting Around

Buenos Aires

$37 2.2%

Qena

$2.1 * 0.5% 94.3% $35

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 $133 in Qena. Housing cost is often the main lever when comparing two cities.

Dining out: $66.0 in Buenos Aires vs $15.00 in Qena for a mid-range dinner for two. Groceries echo the gap at $283 vs $138 per month, with Qena cheaper across the board.

Good to know

🇦🇷 Buenos Aires

🇪🇬 Qena

🕒 Local time

16:57 4:57 PM

22:57 10:57 PM

6 h ahead of Buenos Aires

🌤 Weather

👥 Population

2,891,082 Capital

235,362

💱 Currency

Argentine Peso ARS $

Egyptian Pound EGP £

📈 Exchange rate

10,000 ARS = 6.61 USD

10,000 ARS = 5.9 EUR

100 EGP = 1.87 USD

100 EGP = 1.67 EUR

Exchange rates and currency converter

EGP, USD, EUR to ARS – Argentine Peso Converter

🇺🇸 United States Dollar ($)

🇦🇷 Argentine Peso ($)

Argentine Peso exchange rates as of October 15, 2026: 1 USD = 1,513 ARS (10,000 ARS = 6.61 USD). 1 EUR = 1,694 ARS (10,000 ARS = 5.9 EUR).

Egyptian Pound exchange rates as of October 15, 2026: 1 USD = 53.44 EGP (100 EGP = 1.87 USD). 1 EUR = 59.84 EGP (100 EGP = 1.67 EUR).

USD to ARS in detail →

On the map

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Between locations

Buenos Aires Qena 11,720 km ≈ 15 h nonstop flight

From you

Buenos Aires
Qena

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 Qena: Cost of Living - Frequently Asked Questions

Buenos Aires and Qena differ by about 254% in total monthly costs ($1,656 vs $468 including rent). Qena is meaningfully more affordable – a gap that matters a lot on a fixed or modest income.

You'd need roughly $2,484 in Buenos Aires and $702 in Qena 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: $756 in Buenos Aires versus $133 in Qena. Housing is usually the single largest factor when comparing overall living costs between the two.

Childcare runs $463 in Buenos Aires versus $101 in Qena. Over years of preschool, even a modest monthly gap compounds into a major financial factor for families.

Dining out is cheaper in Qena – a meal for two runs $15.00 versus $66.0 in Buenos Aires. If you eat out regularly, this makes a real dent in your monthly spending.

At $468 in Qena versus $1,656 in Buenos Aires, a $1,500 budget is realistic in Qena but tight or insufficient in Buenos Aires. The gap between the two cities makes Qena 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 Qena 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 Qena gentler on the wallet – expenses run 254% less than in Buenos Aires. Beyond cost, consider language, visa policies, and how big the international community is in each city.