Last update: Oct 2026

Cost of Living Comparison Between La Merced and Barcelona

For one person, living is cheaper in La Merced: $558 a month against $2,443 in Barcelona, rent and utilities included – about $22,600 less a year. Rent and utilities account for most of the difference.

27

Cost of Living Index in La Merced
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La Merced Living Index
117

Cost of Living Index in Barcelona
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Barcelona Living Index

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La Merced

🇵🇪 Peru

$558

/mo nomad

Barcelona

🇪🇸 Spain

$2,443

/mo nomad

Monthly Cost of Living

How much you'll spend in La Merced and in Barcelona

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

Monthly costs for one person with rent: $558 in La Merced versus $2,443 in Barcelona.

La Merced $558
Barcelona $2,443

Estimated couple costs with rent: $910 in La Merced versus $3,519 in Barcelona.

La Merced $910
Barcelona $3,519

Monthly costs for a family of three with rent: $1,263 in La Merced versus $4,595 in Barcelona.

La Merced $1,263
Barcelona $4,595

Living in La Merced costs roughly 77% less than in Barcelona, and outside of rent the biggest gap is in eating out.

The two cities straddle the global median: La Merced is 59% below, Barcelona is 81% above.

Meal at Budget Restaurant

$4.38 PEN 15.10

$17.66 €15.69

-75.20%

Three-Course Dinner for Two, Mid-Range

$34.86 PEN 120

$67.5 €59.9

-48.33%

Fast Food Meal (McDonalds, etc)

$7.01 PEN 24.19

$13.61 €12.09

-48.49%

Cappuccino

$3.18 PEN 10.97

$3.10 €2.75

2.58%

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

$1.08 PEN 3.72

$3.00 €2.67

-64.00%

Water (0.33 liter bottle)

$0.65 PEN 2.24

$1.93 €1.71

-66.32%

Local Beer (0.5 liter draught)

$2.57 PEN 8.86

$3.84 €3.41

-33.07%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$4.29 PEN 14.81

$4.36 €3.87

-1.61%

Milk (1 liter)

$1.58 PEN 5.44

$1.25 €1.11

26.40%

White Bread (500g)

$2.07 PEN 7.15

$2.12 €1.89

-2.36%

Rice (white) (1kg)

$1.28 PEN 4.43

$1.97 €1.75

-35.03%

Eggs

$2.35 PEN 8.11

$4.76 €4.23

-50.63%

Local Cheese (1kg)

$7.33 PEN 25.29

$17.07 €15.16

-57.06%

Chicken Fillets (1kg)

$5.78 PEN 19.94

$8.96 €7.96

-35.49%

Beef Round Steak (1kg)

$8.68 PEN 29.94

$20.65 €18.34

-57.97%

Apples (1kg)

$0.92 PEN 3.17

$3.16 €2.81

-70.89%

Banana (1kg)

$0.45 PEN 1.56

$1.97 €1.75

-77.16%

Oranges (1kg)

$0.30 PEN 1.04

$2.65 €2.36

-88.68%

Tomato (1kg)

$0.71 PEN 2.46

$2.88 €2.56

-75.35%

Potato (1kg)

$0.28 PEN 0.96

$2.06 €1.83

-86.41%

Onion (1kg)

$0.45 PEN 1.55

$2.18 €1.94

-79.36%

Lettuce (1 head)

$0.60 PEN 2.07

$1.53 €1.36

-60.78%

Water (1.5 liter bottle)

$0.87 PEN 3.01

$0.97 €0.86

-10.31%

Cigarettes 20 Pack (Marlboro, Camel)

$5.63 PEN 19.42

$6.97 €6.19

-19.23%

Wine (Bottle)

$7.33 PEN 25.30

$7.89 €7.01

-7.10%

Local Beer (0.5 liter bottle)

$1.90 PEN 6.56

$1.42 €1.26

33.80%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$3.08 PEN 10.61

$2.69 €2.39

14.50%

One-way Ticket (Public Transport)

$3.31 €2.94

Public Transport Monthly Pass (Regular Price)

$25.61 €22.75

Taxi Start (Normal Tariff)

$3.43 PEN 11.84

$3.08 €2.74

11.36%

Taxi (Normal Tariff) (1km)

$2.07 PEN 7.14

$1.48 €1.32

39.86%

Taxi 1hour Waiting (Normal Tariff)

$7.64 PEN 26.37

$32.87 €29.20

-76.76%

Gasoline (1 liter)

$1.64 PEN 5.65

$1.87 €1.66

-12.30%

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

$21.7K PEN 75.0K

$33.0K €29.3K

-34.02%

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

$28.9K PEN 99.8K

$31.9K €28.4K

-9.41%

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

$66.7 PEN 230

$183 €162

-63.55%

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

$15.80 PEN 54.5

$14.24 €12.65

10.96%

Internet (50+ Mbps, Unlimited Data)

$27.06 PEN 93.4

$34.56 €30.70

-21.70%

Gym Membership (Monthly)

$51.4 €45.68

Tennis Court (1 Hour on Weekend)

$16.38 €14.55

Cinema Ticket

$7.14 PEN 24.63

$11.06 €9.83

-35.44%

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

$318 PEN 1,096

$944 €838

-66.33%

International Primary School, 1 Child (Yearly)

$12.7K PEN 43.6K

$22.3K €19.8K

-43.19%

Jeans (Levis 501 Or Similar)

$53.3 PEN 184

$87.7 €77.9

-39.27%

Summer Dress (H&M, Zara, etc)

$35.12 PEN 121

$38.77 €34.44

-9.41%

Sport Shoes (Adidas, Nike)

$83.7 PEN 289

$105 €92.9

-19.95%

Men's Leather Business Shoes

$79.1 PEN 273

$118 €105

-32.78%

1-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$1,697 €1,507

1-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$1,337 €1,187

3-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$2,692 €2,391

3-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$2,077 €1,845

Buy Apartment in City Center (m2)

$7,155 €6,356

Buy Apartment Outside City Center (m2)

$5,079 €4,512

Average Monthly Net Salary (After Tax)

$2,241 €1,991

20-Year Fixed Mortgage Interest Rate (Annual %)

8.78

3.19

175.24%

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

Last update for La Merced: October 31, 2026

Last update for Barcelona: November 2, 2026

Monthly budget structure

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

Groceries & Markets

La Merced

$185 33.1%

Barcelona

$328 13.4% 77.1% $143

Eating Out

La Merced

$123 22%

Barcelona

$267 10.9% 118% $144

Clothing & Footwear

La Merced

$113 20.3%

Barcelona

$157 6.4% 38.8% $44

Monthly Utilities & Internet

La Merced

$110 19.6%

Barcelona

$232 9.5% 112% $122

Sport & Entertainment

La Merced

$14 * 2.6%

Barcelona

$74 3% 415% $59

Getting Around

La Merced

$14 * 2.5%

Barcelona

$49 2% 258% $36

Accommodation & Living

La Merced

- * 0%

Barcelona

$1.3K 54.7%

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

Cost Breakdown

Dining out: $35 in La Merced vs $67 in Barcelona for a mid-range dinner for two. Groceries echo the gap at $185 vs $328 per month, with La Merced cheaper across the board.

Good to know

🇵🇪 La Merced

🇪🇸 Barcelona

🕒 Local time

18:35 6:35 PM

00:35 12:35 AM

6 h ahead of La Merced

🌤 Weather

👥 Population

8,000

1,660,122

💱 Currency

Peruvian Sol PEN S/

Euro EUR €

📈 Exchange rate

1 PEN = 0.29 USD

1 PEN = 0.258 EUR

1 EUR = 1.13 USD

Exchange rates and currency converter

EUR, USD to PEN – Peruvian Sol Converter

🇺🇸 United States Dollar ($)

🇵🇪 Peruvian Sol (S/)

Peruvian Sol exchange rates as of November 4, 2026: 1 USD = 3.45 PEN (1 PEN = 0.29 USD). 1 EUR = 3.88 PEN (1 PEN = 0.258 EUR).

Euro exchange rates as of November 4, 2026: 1 USD = 0.888 EUR (1 EUR = 1.13 USD).

USD to PEN in detail →

On the map

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Between locations

La Merced Barcelona 9,880 km ≈ 13 h nonstop flight

From you

La Merced
Barcelona

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

La Merced vs Barcelona: Cost of Living - Frequently Asked Questions

Total monthly costs including rent come to $558 in La Merced and $2,443 in Barcelona, so La Merced is about 77% cheaper – a gap that matters a lot on a fixed or modest income.

You’d need roughly $837 in La Merced and $3,664 in Barcelona 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 $318 in La Merced versus $944 in Barcelona. Over years of preschool, even a modest monthly gap compounds into a major financial factor for families.

Dining out is cheaper in La Merced – a meal for two runs $35 versus $67 in Barcelona. If you eat out regularly, this makes a real dent in your monthly spending.

At $558 in La Merced versus $2,443 in Barcelona, a $800 budget is realistic in La Merced but tight or insufficient in Barcelona. The gap between the two cities makes La Merced 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.