Last update: Oct 2026

Cost of Living Comparison Between La Merced and Buenos Aires

For one person, living is cheaper in La Merced: $565 a month against $1,656 in Buenos Aires, rent and utilities included – about $13,100 less a year. Rent and utilities account for most of the difference.

28

Cost of Living Index in La Merced
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La Merced Living Index
80

Cost of Living Index in Buenos Aires
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Buenos Aires Living Index

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La Merced

🇵🇪 Peru

$565

/mo nomad

Buenos Aires

🇦🇷 Argentina

$1,656

/mo nomad

Monthly Cost of Living

How much you'll spend in La Merced and in Buenos Aires

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

Monthly costs for one person with rent: $565 in La Merced versus $1,656 in Buenos Aires.

La Merced $565
Buenos Aires $1,656

Estimated couple costs with rent: $917 in La Merced versus $2,697 in Buenos Aires.

La Merced $917
Buenos Aires $2,697

Monthly costs for a family of three with rent: $1,269 in La Merced versus $3,737 in Buenos Aires.

La Merced $1,269
Buenos Aires $3,737

Living in La Merced costs roughly 66% less than in Buenos Aires, and outside of rent the biggest gap is in eating out.

The two cities straddle the global median: La Merced is 58% below, Buenos Aires is 23% above.

Meal at Budget Restaurant

$4.38 PEN 15.04

$19.09 ARS 29.0K

-77.06%

Three-Course Dinner for Two, Mid-Range

$34.69 PEN 119

$65.8 ARS 99.9K

-47.28%

Fast Food Meal (McDonalds, etc)

$6.77 PEN 23.26

$13.20 ARS 20.0K

-48.71%

Cappuccino

$3.16 PEN 10.84

$3.85 ARS 5,841

-17.92%

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

$1.07 PEN 3.67

$1.99 ARS 3,020

-46.23%

Water (0.33 liter bottle)

$0.64 PEN 2.20

$1.60 ARS 2,430

-60.00%

Local Beer (0.5 liter draught)

$2.60 PEN 8.93

$3.93 ARS 5,959

-33.84%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$4.33 PEN 14.87

$4.61 ARS 7,003

-6.07%

Milk (1 liter)

$1.63 PEN 5.60

$1.50 ARS 2,272

8.67%

White Bread (500g)

$1.98 PEN 6.79

$2.53 ARS 3,837

-21.74%

Rice (white) (1kg)

$1.28 PEN 4.40

$1.61 ARS 2,445

-20.50%

Eggs

$2.34 PEN 8.04

$2.84 ARS 4,316

-17.61%

Local Cheese (1kg)

$7.09 PEN 24.34

$10.30 ARS 15.6K

-31.17%

Chicken Fillets (1kg)

$5.88 PEN 20.21

$10.00 ARS 15.2K

-41.20%

Beef Round Steak (1kg)

$8.65 PEN 29.69

$13.30 ARS 20.2K

-34.96%

Apples (1kg)

$1.01 PEN 3.45

$2.88 ARS 4,366

-64.93%

Banana (1kg)

$0.46 PEN 1.58

$2.20 ARS 3,334

-79.09%

Oranges (1kg)

$0.28 PEN 0.95

$1.40 ARS 2,120

-80.00%

Tomato (1kg)

$0.75 PEN 2.57

$1.98 ARS 3,004

-62.12%

Potato (1kg)

$0.30 PEN 1.05

$1.21 ARS 1,835

-75.21%

Onion (1kg)

$0.42 PEN 1.45

$1.26 ARS 1,910

-66.67%

Lettuce (1 head)

$0.61 PEN 2.08

$1.71 ARS 2,592

-64.33%

Water (1.5 liter bottle)

$0.91 PEN 3.14

$1.72 ARS 2,603

-47.09%

Cigarettes 20 Pack (Marlboro, Camel)

$5.61 PEN 19.25

$4.29 ARS 6,505

30.77%

Wine (Bottle)

$7.36 PEN 25.26

$5.70 ARS 8,645

29.12%

Local Beer (0.5 liter bottle)

$1.87 PEN 6.43

$2.17 ARS 3,288

-13.82%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$3.23 PEN 11.10

$2.76 ARS 4,188

17.03%

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)

$3.82 PEN 13.12

$1.57 ARS 2,375

143.31%

Taxi (Normal Tariff) (1km)

$2.08 PEN 7.14

$1.03 ARS 1,558

101.94%

Taxi 1hour Waiting (Normal Tariff)

$7.40 PEN 25.41

$7.90 ARS 12.0K

-6.33%

Gasoline (1 liter)

$1.74 PEN 5.97

$1.42 ARS 2,160

22.54%

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

$22.1K PEN 76.0K

$27.9K ARS 42.4M

-20.84%

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

$25.5K PEN 87.5K

$35.0K ARS 53.1M

-27.12%

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

$72.8 PEN 250

$195 ARS 296.2K

-62.68%

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

$16.49 PEN 56.6

$25.16 ARS 38.2K

-34.46%

Internet (50+ Mbps, Unlimited Data)

$27.80 PEN 95.5

$31.54 ARS 47.9K

-11.86%

Gym Membership (Monthly)

$50.9 ARS 77.3K

Tennis Court (1 Hour on Weekend)

$16.73 ARS 25.4K

Cinema Ticket

$7.34 PEN 25.22

$10.34 ARS 15.7K

-29.01%

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

$181 PEN 622

$463 ARS 703.2K

-60.89%

International Primary School, 1 Child (Yearly)

$13.2K PEN 45.3K

$8,793 ARS 13.3M

50.07%

Jeans (Levis 501 Or Similar)

$52.6 PEN 181

$120 ARS 181.8K

-56.14%

Summer Dress (H&M, Zara, etc)

$35.20 PEN 121

$95.5 ARS 144.9K

-63.13%

Sport Shoes (Adidas, Nike)

$82.0 PEN 282

$114 ARS 173.1K

-28.10%

Men's Leather Business Shoes

$79.1 PEN 272

$139 ARS 211.4K

-43.21%

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 %)

8.94

57.25

-84.38%

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

Last update for La Merced: October 11, 2026

Last update for Buenos Aires: October 11, 2026

Monthly budget structure

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

Groceries & Markets

La Merced

$186 32.8%

Buenos Aires

$283 17.1% 52.7% $98

Eating Out

La Merced

$122 21.5%

Buenos Aires

$282 17% 131% $160

Monthly Utilities & Internet

La Merced

$117 20.7%

Buenos Aires

$252 15.2% 115% $135

Clothing & Footwear

La Merced

$112 19.8%

Buenos Aires

$211 12.7% 88.3% $99

Sport & Entertainment

La Merced

$15 * 2.6%

Buenos Aires

$72 4.3% 387% $57

Getting Around

La Merced

$14 * 2.5%

Buenos Aires

$37 2.2% 160% $23

Accommodation & Living

La Merced

- * 0%

Buenos Aires

$520 31.4%

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

Cost Breakdown

Dining out: $35.00 in La Merced vs $66.0 in Buenos Aires for a mid-range dinner for two. Groceries echo the gap at $186 vs $283 per month, with La Merced cheaper across the board.

Good to know

🇵🇪 La Merced

🇦🇷 Buenos Aires

🕒 Local time

12:11 12:11 PM

14:11 2:11 PM

2 h ahead of La Merced

🌤 Weather

👥 Population

8,000

2,891,082 Capital

💱 Currency

Peruvian Sol PEN S/

Argentine Peso ARS $

📈 Exchange rate

1 PEN = 0.291 USD

1 PEN = 0.259 EUR

10,000 ARS = 6.59 USD

10,000 ARS = 5.86 EUR

Exchange rates and currency converter

ARS, USD, EUR to PEN – Peruvian Sol Converter

🇺🇸 United States Dollar ($)

🇵🇪 Peruvian Sol (S/)

Peruvian Sol exchange rates as of October 17, 2026: 1 USD = 3.43 PEN (1 PEN = 0.291 USD). 1 EUR = 3.86 PEN (1 PEN = 0.259 EUR).

Argentine Peso exchange rates as of October 17, 2026: 1 USD = 1,517 ARS (10,000 ARS = 6.59 USD). 1 EUR = 1,706 ARS (10,000 ARS = 5.86 EUR).

USD to PEN in detail →

On the map

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Highest

Between locations

La Merced Buenos Aires 3,380 km ≈ 4 h 45 min nonstop flight

From you

La Merced
Buenos Aires

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 Buenos Aires: Cost of Living - Frequently Asked Questions

La Merced and Buenos Aires differ by about 193% in total monthly costs ($565 vs $1,656 including rent). La Merced is meaningfully more affordable – a gap that matters a lot on a fixed or modest income.

You'd need roughly $848 in La Merced and $2,484 in Buenos Aires 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 $181 in La Merced versus $463 in Buenos Aires. 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 $35.00 versus $66.0 in Buenos Aires. If you eat out regularly, this makes a real dent in your monthly spending.

At $565 in La Merced versus $1,656 in Buenos Aires, a $1,000 budget is realistic in La Merced but tight or insufficient in Buenos Aires. 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.

Safety-wise, La Merced and Buenos Aires 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 La Merced gentler on the wallet – expenses run 193% less than in Buenos Aires. Beyond cost, consider language, visa policies, and how big the international community is in each city.