Last update: Oct 2026

Cost of Living Comparison Between Buenos Aires and San Juan

For one person, living is cheaper in San Juan: $771 a month against $1,656 in Buenos Aires, rent and utilities included – about $10,600 less a year. Rent and utilities account for most of the difference.

80

Cost of Living Index in Buenos Aires
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Buenos Aires Living Index
37

Cost of Living Index in San Juan
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San Juan Living Index

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Buenos Aires

🇦🇷 Argentina

$1,656

/mo nomad

San Juan

🇹🇹 Trinidad And Tobago

$771

/mo nomad

Monthly Cost of Living

How much you'll spend in Buenos Aires and in San Juan

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

Monthly costs for one person with rent: $1,656 in Buenos Aires versus $771 in San Juan.

Buenos Aires $1,656
San Juan $771

Estimated couple costs with rent: $2,697 in Buenos Aires versus $1,321 in San Juan.

Buenos Aires $2,697
San Juan $1,321

Monthly costs for a family of three with rent: $3,737 in Buenos Aires versus $1,870 in San Juan.

Buenos Aires $3,737
San Juan $1,870

Living in Buenos Aires is roughly 115% more expensive than in San Juan, and outside of rent the biggest gap is in eating out.

The two cities straddle the global median: Buenos Aires is 23% above, San Juan is 43% below.

Meal at Budget Restaurant

$19.09 ARS 29.0K

$10.47 TTD 70.4

82.33%

Three-Course Dinner for Two, Mid-Range

$65.8 ARS 99.9K

$59.2 TTD 398

11.11%

Fast Food Meal (McDonalds, etc)

$13.20 ARS 20.0K

$7.95 TTD 53.5

66.04%

Cappuccino

$3.85 ARS 5,841

$3.63 TTD 24.39

6.06%

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

$1.99 ARS 3,020

$1.21 TTD 8.15

64.46%

Water (0.33 liter bottle)

$1.60 ARS 2,430

$0.75 TTD 5.07

113.33%

Local Beer (0.5 liter draught)

$3.93 ARS 5,959

$2.23 TTD 14.98

76.23%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$4.61 ARS 7,003

$3.01 TTD 20.23

53.16%

Milk (1 liter)

$1.50 ARS 2,272

$1.98 TTD 13.33

-24.24%

White Bread (500g)

$2.53 ARS 3,837

$2.36 TTD 15.86

7.20%

Rice (white) (1kg)

$1.61 ARS 2,445

$2.91 TTD 19.56

-44.67%

Eggs

$2.84 ARS 4,316

$3.74 TTD 25.14

-24.06%

Local Cheese (1kg)

$10.30 ARS 15.6K

$6.80 TTD 45.75

51.47%

Chicken Fillets (1kg)

$10.00 ARS 15.2K

$10.15 TTD 68.3

-1.48%

Beef Round Steak (1kg)

$13.30 ARS 20.2K

$8.89 TTD 59.8

49.61%

Apples (1kg)

$2.88 ARS 4,366

$5.51 TTD 37.04

-47.73%

Banana (1kg)

$2.20 ARS 3,334

$2.53 TTD 17.00

-13.04%

Oranges (1kg)

$1.40 ARS 2,120

$3.60 TTD 24.22

-61.11%

Tomato (1kg)

$1.98 ARS 3,004

$4.25 TTD 28.57

-53.41%

Potato (1kg)

$1.21 ARS 1,835

$0.77 TTD 5.17

57.14%

Onion (1kg)

$1.26 ARS 1,910

$0.71 TTD 4.81

77.46%

Lettuce (1 head)

$1.71 ARS 2,592

$1.45 TTD 9.76

17.93%

Water (1.5 liter bottle)

$1.72 ARS 2,603

$1.21 TTD 8.13

42.15%

Cigarettes 20 Pack (Marlboro, Camel)

$4.29 ARS 6,505

$5.77 TTD 38.81

-25.65%

Wine (Bottle)

$5.70 ARS 8,645

$18.00 TTD 121

-68.33%

Local Beer (0.5 liter bottle)

$2.17 ARS 3,288

$1.56 TTD 10.49

39.10%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$2.76 ARS 4,188

$3.01 TTD 20.23

-8.31%

One-way Ticket (Public Transport)

$0.75 ARS 1,141

Public Transport Monthly Pass (Regular Price)

$27.27 ARS 41.4K

Taxi Start (Normal Tariff)

$1.57 ARS 2,375

$0.87 TTD 5.82

80.46%

Taxi (Normal Tariff) (1km)

$1.03 ARS 1,558

$0.85 TTD 5.71

21.18%

Taxi 1hour Waiting (Normal Tariff)

$7.90 ARS 12.0K

$14.64 TTD 98.5

-46.04%

Gasoline (1 liter)

$1.42 ARS 2,160

$1.16 TTD 7.78

22.41%

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

$27.9K ARS 42.4M

$37.6K TTD 253.1K

-25.71%

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

$35.0K ARS 53.1M

$41.0K TTD 275.6K

-14.65%

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

$195 ARS 296.2K

$43.82 TTD 295

345.46%

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

$25.16 ARS 38.2K

$42.30 TTD 285

-40.52%

Internet (50+ Mbps, Unlimited Data)

$31.54 ARS 47.9K

$44.86 TTD 302

-29.69%

Gym Membership (Monthly)

$50.9 ARS 77.3K

Tennis Court (1 Hour on Weekend)

$16.73 ARS 25.4K

Cinema Ticket

$10.34 ARS 15.7K

$8.95 TTD 60.2

15.53%

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

$463 ARS 703.2K

$398 TTD 2,678

16.41%

International Primary School, 1 Child (Yearly)

$8,793 ARS 13.3M

$10.8K TTD 72.6K

-18.56%

Jeans (Levis 501 Or Similar)

$120 ARS 181.8K

$53.8 TTD 362

122.69%

Summer Dress (H&M, Zara, etc)

$95.5 ARS 144.9K

$37.61 TTD 253

153.87%

Sport Shoes (Adidas, Nike)

$114 ARS 173.1K

$87.8 TTD 591

29.95%

Men's Leather Business Shoes

$139 ARS 211.4K

$89.9 TTD 605

54.98%

1-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$756 ARS 1.1M

1-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$520 ARS 788.8K

3-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$1,590 ARS 2.4M

3-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$1,198 ARS 1.8M

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

20-Year Fixed Mortgage Interest Rate (Annual %)

57.25

5.75

895.65%

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

Last update for Buenos Aires: October 11, 2026

Last update for San Juan: October 11, 2026

Monthly budget structure

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

Accommodation & Living

Buenos Aires

$520 31.4%

San Juan

- * 0% 100%

Groceries & Markets

Buenos Aires

$283 17.1%

San Juan

$320 41.5% 13% $37

Eating Out

Buenos Aires

$282 17%

San Juan

$176 22.8% 37.5% $106

Monthly Utilities & Internet

Buenos Aires

$252 15.2%

San Juan

$131 17% 48% $121

Clothing & Footwear

Buenos Aires

$211 12.7%

San Juan

$121 15.7% 42.6% $90

Sport & Entertainment

Buenos Aires

$72 4.3%

San Juan

$18 * 2.3% 75% $54

Getting Around

Buenos Aires

$37 2.2%

San Juan

$5.1 * 0.7% 86.2% $32

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

Cost Breakdown

Dining out: $66.0 in Buenos Aires vs $59.0 in San Juan. Groceries flip the comparison at $283 vs $320, with Buenos Aires cheaper for home cooking.

Good to know

🇦🇷 Buenos Aires

🇹🇹 San Juan

🕒 Local time

08:55 8:55 AM

07:55 7:55 AM

1 h behind Buenos Aires

🌤 Weather

👥 Population

2,891,082 Capital

💱 Currency

Argentine Peso ARS $

Trinidad and Tobago Dollar TTD $

📈 Exchange rate

10,000 ARS = 6.59 USD

10,000 ARS = 5.86 EUR

1 TTD = 0.149 USD

1 TTD = 0.132 EUR

Exchange rates and currency converter

TTD, 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).

Trinidad and Tobago Dollar exchange rates as of October 18, 2026: 1 USD = 6.73 TTD (1 TTD = 0.149 USD). 1 EUR = 7.56 TTD (1 TTD = 0.132 EUR).

USD to ARS in detail →

On the map

Lowest

Highest

Between locations

Buenos Aires San Juan 5,040 km ≈ 7 h nonstop flight

From you

Buenos Aires
San Juan

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 San Juan: Cost of Living - Frequently Asked Questions

Buenos Aires and San Juan differ by about 115% in total monthly costs ($1,656 vs $771 including rent). San Juan 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 $1,157 in San Juan 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.

Childcare runs $463 in Buenos Aires versus $398 in San Juan. Over years of preschool, even a modest monthly gap compounds into a major financial factor for families.

Dining out is cheaper in San Juan – a meal for two runs $59.0 versus $66.0 in Buenos Aires. If you eat out regularly, this makes a real dent in your monthly spending.

At $771 in San Juan versus $1,656 in Buenos Aires, a $1,000 budget is realistic in San Juan but tight or insufficient in Buenos Aires. The gap between the two cities makes San Juan 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 San Juan 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 San Juan gentler on the wallet – expenses run 115% less than in Buenos Aires. Beyond cost, consider language, visa policies, and how big the international community is in each city.