Last update: Oct 2026

Cost of Living Comparison Between Buenos Aires and Santarem

For one person, living is cheaper in Santarem: $1,300 a month against $1,656 in Buenos Aires, rent and utilities included – about $4,300 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
63

Cost of Living Index in Santarem
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Santarem Living Index

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Buenos Aires

🇦🇷 Argentina

$1,656

/mo nomad

Santarem

🇵🇹 Portugal

$1,300

/mo nomad

Monthly Cost of Living

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

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

Monthly costs for one person with rent: $1,656 in Buenos Aires versus $1,300 in Santarem.

Buenos Aires $1,656
Santarem $1,300

Estimated couple costs with rent: $2,697 in Buenos Aires versus $2,014 in Santarem.

Buenos Aires $2,697
Santarem $2,014

Monthly costs for a family of three with rent: $3,737 in Buenos Aires versus $2,729 in Santarem.

Buenos Aires $3,737
Santarem $2,729

Living in Buenos Aires is roughly 27% more expensive than in Santarem, and outside of rent the biggest gap is in eating out.

The two cities straddle the global median: Buenos Aires is 23% above, Santarem is 4% below.

Meal at Budget Restaurant

$19.09 ARS 29.0K

$12.30 €10.94

55.20%

Three-Course Dinner for Two, Mid-Range

$65.8 ARS 99.9K

$39.39 €35.04

67.05%

Fast Food Meal (McDonalds, etc)

$13.20 ARS 20.0K

$8.99 €8.00

46.83%

Cappuccino

$3.85 ARS 5,841

$1.71 €1.52

125.15%

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

$1.99 ARS 3,020

$1.78 €1.59

11.80%

Water (0.33 liter bottle)

$1.60 ARS 2,430

$1.15 €1.03

39.13%

Local Beer (0.5 liter draught)

$3.93 ARS 5,959

$2.17 €1.93

81.11%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$4.61 ARS 7,003

$3.39 €3.02

35.99%

Milk (1 liter)

$1.50 ARS 2,272

$1.14 €1.01

31.58%

White Bread (500g)

$2.53 ARS 3,837

$0.46 €0.41

450.00%

Rice (white) (1kg)

$1.61 ARS 2,445

$1.09 €0.97

47.71%

Eggs

$2.84 ARS 4,316

$3.27 €2.91

-13.15%

Local Cheese (1kg)

$10.30 ARS 15.6K

$11.05 €9.83

-6.79%

Chicken Fillets (1kg)

$10.00 ARS 15.2K

$7.14 €6.35

40.06%

Beef Round Steak (1kg)

$13.30 ARS 20.2K

$13.42 €11.93

-0.89%

Apples (1kg)

$2.88 ARS 4,366

$2.81 €2.50

2.49%

Banana (1kg)

$2.20 ARS 3,334

$1.36 €1.21

61.76%

Oranges (1kg)

$1.40 ARS 2,120

$2.50 €2.23

-44.00%

Tomato (1kg)

$1.98 ARS 3,004

$2.12 €1.88

-6.60%

Potato (1kg)

$1.21 ARS 1,835

$1.40 €1.25

-13.57%

Onion (1kg)

$1.26 ARS 1,910

$1.55 €1.38

-18.71%

Lettuce (1 head)

$1.71 ARS 2,592

$1.10 €0.97

55.45%

Water (1.5 liter bottle)

$1.72 ARS 2,603

$0.31 €0.28

454.84%

Cigarettes 20 Pack (Marlboro, Camel)

$4.29 ARS 6,505

$5.62 €5.00

-23.67%

Wine (Bottle)

$5.70 ARS 8,645

$5.78 €5.14

-1.38%

Local Beer (0.5 liter bottle)

$2.17 ARS 3,288

$1.22 €1.09

77.87%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$2.76 ARS 4,188

$3.57 €3.17

-22.69%

One-way Ticket (Public Transport)

$0.75 ARS 1,141

$2.25 €2.00

-66.67%

Public Transport Monthly Pass (Regular Price)

$27.27 ARS 41.4K

$56.4 €50.2

-51.66%

Taxi Start (Normal Tariff)

$1.57 ARS 2,375

$3.53 €3.14

-55.52%

Taxi (Normal Tariff) (1km)

$1.03 ARS 1,558

Taxi 1hour Waiting (Normal Tariff)

$7.90 ARS 12.0K

Gasoline (1 liter)

$1.42 ARS 2,160

$2.04 €1.82

-30.39%

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

$27.9K ARS 42.4M

$33.8K €30.1K

-17.30%

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

$35.0K ARS 53.1M

$38.4K €34.1K

-8.85%

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

$195 ARS 296.2K

$130 €116

50.10%

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

$25.16 ARS 38.2K

$20.74 €18.45

21.31%

Internet (50+ Mbps, Unlimited Data)

$31.54 ARS 47.9K

$56.0 €49.81

-43.68%

Gym Membership (Monthly)

$50.9 ARS 77.3K

$37.97 €33.78

34.11%

Tennis Court (1 Hour on Weekend)

$16.73 ARS 25.4K

Cinema Ticket

$10.34 ARS 15.7K

$6.65 €5.91

55.49%

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

$463 ARS 703.2K

$416 €370

11.42%

International Primary School, 1 Child (Yearly)

$8,793 ARS 13.3M

$18.4K €16.4K

-52.30%

Jeans (Levis 501 Or Similar)

$120 ARS 181.8K

$78.0 €69.3

53.73%

Summer Dress (H&M, Zara, etc)

$95.5 ARS 144.9K

$37.74 €33.57

152.99%

Sport Shoes (Adidas, Nike)

$114 ARS 173.1K

$107 €95.6

6.15%

Men's Leather Business Shoes

$139 ARS 211.4K

$132 €117

5.57%

1-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$756 ARS 1.1M

$656 €584

15.27%

1-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$520 ARS 788.8K

$412 €366

26.20%

3-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$1,590 ARS 2.4M

$1,042 €927

52.54%

3-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$1,198 ARS 1.8M

$810 €720

47.97%

Buy Apartment in City Center (m2)

$2,713 ARS 4.1M

$2,167 €1,927

25.22%

Buy Apartment Outside City Center (m2)

$1,901 ARS 2.9M

$1,103 €981

72.33%

Average Monthly Net Salary (After Tax)

$938 ARS 1.4M

$1,068 €950

-12.17%

20-Year Fixed Mortgage Interest Rate (Annual %)

57.25

4.76

1102.73%

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

Last update for Buenos Aires: October 11, 2026

Last update for Santarem: October 12, 2026

Monthly budget structure

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

Accommodation & Living

Buenos Aires

$520 31.4%

Santarem

$412 31.7% 20.8% $108

Groceries & Markets

Buenos Aires

$283 17.1%

Santarem

$226 17.4% 20.4% $58

Eating Out

Buenos Aires

$282 17%

Santarem

$175 13.5% 37.8% $106

Monthly Utilities & Internet

Buenos Aires

$252 15.2%

Santarem

$207 15.9% 17.9% $45

Clothing & Footwear

Buenos Aires

$211 12.7%

Santarem

$160 12.3% 24.2% $51

Sport & Entertainment

Buenos Aires

$72 4.3%

Santarem

$51 4% 28.4% $20

Getting Around

Buenos Aires

$37 2.2%

Santarem

$69 * 5.3% 86.4% $32

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 $656 in Santarem. Housing cost is often the main lever when comparing two cities.

Santarem pays 14% 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 $39.00 in Santarem for a mid-range dinner for two. Groceries echo the gap at $283 vs $226 per month, with Santarem cheaper across the board.

Good to know

🇦🇷 Buenos Aires

🇵🇹 Santarem

🕒 Local time

00:17 12:17 AM

04:17 4:17 AM

4 h ahead of Buenos Aires

🌤 Weather

👥 Population

2,891,082 Capital

58,671

💱 Currency

Argentine Peso ARS $

Euro EUR €

📈 Exchange rate

10,000 ARS = 6.59 USD

10,000 ARS = 5.86 EUR

1 EUR = 1.12 USD

Exchange rates and currency converter

EUR, USD to ARS – Argentine Peso Converter

🇺🇸 United States Dollar ($)

🇦🇷 Argentine Peso ($)

Argentine Peso exchange rates as of October 19, 2026: 1 USD = 1,517 ARS (10,000 ARS = 6.59 USD). 1 EUR = 1,706 ARS (10,000 ARS = 5.86 EUR).

Euro exchange rates as of October 19, 2026: 1 USD = 0.889 EUR (1 EUR = 1.12 USD).

USD to ARS in detail →

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Between locations

Buenos Aires Santarem 9,670 km ≈ 13 h nonstop flight

From you

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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 Santarem: Cost of Living - Frequently Asked Questions

Buenos Aires and Santarem differ by about 27% in total monthly costs ($1,656 vs $1,300 including rent). Santarem is meaningfully more affordable – a gap that matters a lot on a fixed or modest income.

On paper, salaries run 14% lower in Santarem. 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 $656 in Santarem. Housing is usually the single largest factor when comparing overall living costs between the two.

Childcare runs $463 in Buenos Aires versus $416 in Santarem. Over years of preschool, even a modest monthly gap compounds into a major financial factor for families.

Supermarket bills run roughly 26% higher in Buenos Aires. For households that cook at home regularly, that difference adds up over a month.

At $1,300 in Santarem versus $1,656 in Buenos Aires, a $1,000 budget is realistic in Santarem but tight or insufficient in Buenos Aires. The gap between the two cities makes Santarem 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 Santarem 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 Santarem gentler on the wallet – expenses run 27% less than in Buenos Aires. Beyond cost, consider language, visa policies, and how big the international community is in each city.