Last update: Oct 2026

Cost of Living Comparison Between Buenos Aires and Utena

For one person, living is cheaper in Utena: $1,317 a month against $1,646 in Buenos Aires, rent and utilities included – about $3,900 less a year. Rent and utilities account for about half of the difference.

79

Cost of Living Index in Buenos Aires
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Buenos Aires Living Index
64

Cost of Living Index in Utena
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Utena Living Index

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Buenos Aires

🇦🇷 Argentina

$1,646

/mo nomad

Utena

🇱🇹 Lithuania

$1,317

/mo nomad

Monthly Cost of Living

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

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

Monthly costs for one person with rent: $1,646 in Buenos Aires versus $1,317 in Utena.

Buenos Aires $1,646
Utena $1,317

Estimated couple costs with rent: $2,680 in Buenos Aires versus $2,028 in Utena.

Buenos Aires $2,680
Utena $2,028

Monthly costs for a family of three with rent: $3,714 in Buenos Aires versus $2,739 in Utena.

Buenos Aires $3,714
Utena $2,739

Living in Buenos Aires is roughly 25% more expensive than in Utena, and outside of rent the biggest gap is in groceries.

The two cities straddle the global median: Buenos Aires is 21% above, Utena is 3% below.

Meal at Budget Restaurant

$17.81 ARS 27.0K

$12.22 €10.87

45.74%

Three-Course Dinner for Two, Mid-Range

$65.2 ARS 98.9K

$50.7 €45.13

28.42%

Fast Food Meal (McDonalds, etc)

$13.12 ARS 19.9K

$6.77 €6.02

93.80%

Cappuccino

$3.86 ARS 5,863

$3.15 €2.80

22.54%

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

$2.06 ARS 3,133

$2.65 €2.36

-22.26%

Water (0.33 liter bottle)

$1.68 ARS 2,542

$1.85 €1.64

-9.19%

Local Beer (0.5 liter draught)

$4.10 ARS 6,218

$5.50 €4.89

-25.45%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$4.73 ARS 7,181

$5.04 €4.48

-6.15%

Milk (1 liter)

$1.51 ARS 2,285

$1.22 €1.08

23.77%

White Bread (500g)

$2.60 ARS 3,950

$1.51 €1.34

72.19%

Rice (white) (1kg)

$1.57 ARS 2,380

$1.74 €1.55

-9.77%

Eggs

$2.73 ARS 4,144

$2.82 €2.51

-3.19%

Local Cheese (1kg)

$10.86 ARS 16.5K

$10.08 €8.96

7.74%

Chicken Fillets (1kg)

$10.07 ARS 15.3K

$5.60 €4.98

79.82%

Beef Round Steak (1kg)

$13.22 ARS 20.1K

$9.72 €8.65

36.01%

Apples (1kg)

$2.80 ARS 4,255

$1.61 €1.43

73.91%

Banana (1kg)

$2.09 ARS 3,170

$1.39 €1.24

50.36%

Oranges (1kg)

$1.45 ARS 2,194

$1.70 €1.51

-14.71%

Tomato (1kg)

$2.00 ARS 3,040

$2.95 €2.63

-32.20%

Potato (1kg)

$1.20 ARS 1,826

$0.74 €0.66

62.16%

Onion (1kg)

$1.20 ARS 1,821

$0.98 €0.87

22.45%

Lettuce (1 head)

$1.69 ARS 2,569

$1.47 €1.31

14.97%

Water (1.5 liter bottle)

$1.79 ARS 2,711

$0.78 €0.70

129.49%

Cigarettes 20 Pack (Marlboro, Camel)

$4.00 ARS 6,074

$5.74 €5.11

-30.31%

Wine (Bottle)

$5.53 ARS 8,388

$8.22 €7.32

-32.73%

Local Beer (0.5 liter bottle)

$2.12 ARS 3,219

$1.59 €1.42

33.33%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$2.78 ARS 4,212

$1.74 €1.55

59.77%

One-way Ticket (Public Transport)

$0.69 ARS 1,049

$1.13 €1.01

-38.94%

Public Transport Monthly Pass (Regular Price)

$27.90 ARS 42.3K

$32.66 €29.05

-14.57%

Taxi Start (Normal Tariff)

$1.63 ARS 2,471

$3.14 €2.79

-48.09%

Taxi (Normal Tariff) (1km)

$0.97 ARS 1,478

$0.81 €0.72

19.75%

Taxi 1hour Waiting (Normal Tariff)

$7.89 ARS 12.0K

$13.14 €11.69

-39.95%

Gasoline (1 liter)

$1.42 ARS 2,156

$1.81 €1.61

-21.55%

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

$23.3K ARS 35.4M

$27.2K €24.2K

-14.14%

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

$31.9K ARS 48.5M

$28.0K €24.9K

14.16%

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

$199 ARS 302.7K

$208 €185

-3.96%

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

$23.36 ARS 35.4K

$13.18 €11.73

77.24%

Internet (50+ Mbps, Unlimited Data)

$31.44 ARS 47.7K

$11.32 €10.07

177.74%

Gym Membership (Monthly)

$49.81 ARS 75.6K

$39.99 €35.57

24.56%

Tennis Court (1 Hour on Weekend)

$16.63 ARS 25.2K

$22.23 €19.78

-25.19%

Cinema Ticket

$10.80 ARS 16.4K

$8.89 €7.91

21.48%

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

$462 ARS 701.7K

$471 €419

-1.82%

International Primary School, 1 Child (Yearly)

$8,790 ARS 13.3M

$9,278 €8,253

-5.25%

Jeans (Levis 501 Or Similar)

$120 ARS 181.6K

$136 €121

-12.16%

Summer Dress (H&M, Zara, etc)

$94.6 ARS 143.6K

$63.9 €56.9

47.97%

Sport Shoes (Adidas, Nike)

$116 ARS 176.4K

$79.3 €70.5

46.54%

Men's Leather Business Shoes

$137 ARS 208.6K

$179 €160

-23.35%

1-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$750 ARS 1.1M

$532 €474

40.82%

1-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$514 ARS 780.5K

$347 €308

48.33%

3-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$1,567 ARS 2.4M

$813 €723

92.85%

3-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$1,196 ARS 1.8M

$630 €560

89.78%

Buy Apartment in City Center (m2)

$2,632 ARS 4.0M

$3,058 €2,720

-13.93%

Buy Apartment Outside City Center (m2)

$1,874 ARS 2.8M

$1,829 €1,627

2.49%

Average Monthly Net Salary (After Tax)

$924 ARS 1.4M

$1,222 €1,087

-24.33%

20-Year Fixed Mortgage Interest Rate (Annual %)

57.25

3.97

1342.07%

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

Last update for Buenos Aires: October 19, 2026

Last update for Utena: October 20, 2026

Monthly budget structure

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

Accommodation & Living

Buenos Aires

$514 31.3%

Utena

$347 26.3% 32.6% $168

Groceries & Markets

Buenos Aires

$285 17.3%

Utena

$218 16.6% 23.3% $66

Eating Out

Buenos Aires

$273 16.6%

Utena

$211 16.1% 22.6% $62

Monthly Utilities & Internet

Buenos Aires

$254 15.5%

Utena

$232 17.6% 8.7% $22

Clothing & Footwear

Buenos Aires

$211 12.8%

Utena

$207 15.7% 1.9% $4.1

Sport & Entertainment

Buenos Aires

$71 4.3%

Utena

$58 4.4% 19.1% $14

Getting Around

Buenos Aires

$37 2.3%

Utena

$44 3.4% 19.4% $7.2

Cost Breakdown

A one-bedroom apartment in the center runs $750 in Buenos Aires and $532 in Utena. Housing cost is often the main lever when comparing two cities.

Utena pays 32% more on average while also being the cheaper of the two. The combined effect is a noticeably stronger local purchasing power.

Dining out: $65.0 in Buenos Aires vs $51.0 in Utena for a mid-range dinner for two. Groceries echo the gap at $285 vs $218 per month, with Utena cheaper across the board.

Good to know

🇦🇷 Buenos Aires

🇱🇹 Utena

🕒 Local time

16:55 4:55 PM

22:55 10:55 PM

6 h ahead of Buenos Aires

🌤 Weather

👥 Population

2,891,082 Capital

28,997

💱 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 20, 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 20, 2026: 1 USD = 0.889 EUR (1 EUR = 1.12 USD).

USD to ARS in detail →

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Buenos Aires Utena 12,770 km ≈ 16 h nonstop flight

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City Median Internet Speeds Comparison (Updated April 2026)

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Digital Nomad Cost of Living Index

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

Buenos Aires and Utena differ by about 25% in total monthly costs ($1,646 vs $1,317 including rent). Utena is meaningfully more affordable – a gap that matters a lot on a fixed or modest income.

On paper, salaries run 32% lower in Utena. 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: $750 in Buenos Aires versus $532 in Utena. Housing is usually the single largest factor when comparing overall living costs between the two.

Childcare runs $462 in Buenos Aires versus $471 in Utena. Over years of preschool, even a modest monthly gap compounds into a major financial factor for families.

Supermarket bills run roughly 30% higher in Buenos Aires. For households that cook at home regularly, that difference adds up over a month.

At $1,317 in Utena versus $1,646 in Buenos Aires, a $1,500 budget is realistic in Utena but tight or insufficient in Buenos Aires. The gap between the two cities makes Utena 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 Utena 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 Utena gentler on the wallet – expenses run 25% less than in Buenos Aires. Beyond cost, consider language, visa policies, and how big the international community is in each city.