Last update: Oct 2026

Cost of Living Comparison Between Lima and La Paz Centro

For one person, living is cheaper in La Paz Centro: $818 a month against $1,012 in Lima, rent and utilities included – about $2,300 less a year. Higher rent and utilities in Lima outweigh lower spending on other living expenses.

49

Cost of Living Index in Lima
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Lima Living Index
40

Cost of Living Index in La Paz Centro
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La Paz Centro Living Index

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Lima

🇵🇪 Peru

$1,012

/mo nomad

La Paz Centro

🇳🇮 Nicaragua

$818

/mo nomad

Monthly Cost of Living

How much you'll spend in Lima and in La Paz Centro

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

Monthly costs for one person with rent: $1,012 in Lima versus $818 in La Paz Centro.

Lima $1,012
La Paz Centro $818

Estimated couple costs with rent: $1,589 in Lima versus $1,279 in La Paz Centro.

Lima $1,589
La Paz Centro $1,279

Monthly costs for a family of three with rent: $2,167 in Lima versus $1,740 in La Paz Centro.

Lima $2,167
La Paz Centro $1,740

Living in Lima is roughly 24% more expensive than in La Paz Centro, and outside of rent the biggest gap is in clothing.

Both cities sit below the global median: Lima 25% lower, La Paz Centro 39% lower.

Meal at Budget Restaurant

$4.40 PEN 15.10

$9.84 NIO 360

-55.28%

Three-Course Dinner for Two, Mid-Range

$35.17 PEN 121

$34.80 NIO 1,275

1.06%

Fast Food Meal (McDonalds, etc)

$6.89 PEN 23.65

$7.73 NIO 283

-10.87%

Cappuccino

$3.26 PEN 11.20

$2.66 NIO 97.3

22.56%

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

$1.12 PEN 3.84

$0.86 NIO 31.45

30.23%

Water (0.33 liter bottle)

$0.62 PEN 2.11

$0.69 NIO 25.44

-10.14%

Local Beer (0.5 liter draught)

$2.65 PEN 9.09

$1.46 NIO 53.3

81.51%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$4.41 PEN 15.15

$2.31 NIO 84.8

90.91%

Milk (1 liter)

$1.63 PEN 5.61

$1.21 NIO 44.42

34.71%

White Bread (500g)

$2.56 PEN 8.78

$2.34 NIO 85.8

9.40%

Rice (white) (1kg)

$1.35 PEN 4.65

$1.87 NIO 68.4

-27.81%

Eggs

$2.90 PEN 9.96

$2.31 NIO 84.5

25.54%

Local Cheese (1kg)

$8.85 PEN 30.38

$11.38 NIO 417

-22.23%

Chicken Fillets (1kg)

$5.98 PEN 20.52

$6.51 NIO 239

-8.14%

Beef Round Steak (1kg)

$9.78 PEN 33.59

$7.62 NIO 279

28.35%

Apples (1kg)

$2.05 PEN 7.02

$4.09 NIO 150

-49.88%

Banana (1kg)

$1.06 PEN 3.66

$0.58 NIO 21.38

82.76%

Oranges (1kg)

$1.35 PEN 4.64

$1.78 NIO 65.1

-24.16%

Tomato (1kg)

$1.50 PEN 5.15

$2.52 NIO 92.2

-40.48%

Potato (1kg)

$0.88 PEN 3.03

$4.03 NIO 148

-78.16%

Onion (1kg)

$0.92 PEN 3.15

$2.18 NIO 79.9

-57.80%

Lettuce (1 head)

$0.89 PEN 3.07

$1.08 NIO 39.68

-17.59%

Water (1.5 liter bottle)

$0.90 PEN 3.10

$1.06 NIO 38.75

-15.09%

Cigarettes 20 Pack (Marlboro, Camel)

$5.90 PEN 20.27

$2.66 NIO 97.4

121.80%

Wine (Bottle)

$8.52 PEN 29.26

$14.52 NIO 532

-41.32%

Local Beer (0.5 liter bottle)

$1.88 PEN 6.45

$1.42 NIO 52.1

32.39%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$3.22 PEN 11.05

$2.19 NIO 80.2

47.03%

One-way Ticket (Public Transport)

$0.68 PEN 2.33

Public Transport Monthly Pass (Regular Price)

$26.86 PEN 92.2

Taxi Start (Normal Tariff)

$3.81 PEN 13.09

$1.60 NIO 58.7

138.13%

Taxi (Normal Tariff) (1km)

$2.02 PEN 6.93

$1.68 NIO 61.4

20.24%

Taxi 1hour Waiting (Normal Tariff)

$7.11 PEN 24.41

$6.76 NIO 248

5.18%

Gasoline (1 liter)

$1.72 PEN 5.91

$1.30 NIO 47.70

32.31%

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

$22.3K PEN 76.6K

$22.8K NIO 835.7K

-2.22%

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

$25.5K PEN 87.6K

$26.1K NIO 956.7K

-2.36%

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

$73.1 PEN 251

$151 NIO 5,518

-51.50%

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

$16.35 PEN 56.2

$19.84 NIO 727

-17.59%

Internet (50+ Mbps, Unlimited Data)

$27.47 PEN 94.3

$32.35 NIO 1,185

-15.09%

Gym Membership (Monthly)

$31.90 PEN 110

Tennis Court (1 Hour on Weekend)

$19.41 PEN 66.7

Cinema Ticket

$7.05 PEN 24.23

$9.15 NIO 335

-22.95%

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

$182 PEN 627

$235 NIO 8,593

-22.23%

International Primary School, 1 Child (Yearly)

$13.0K PEN 44.8K

$6,136 NIO 224.7K

112.51%

Jeans (Levis 501 Or Similar)

$53.8 PEN 185

$60.5 NIO 2,217

-11.13%

Summer Dress (H&M, Zara, etc)

$34.32 PEN 118

$64.3 NIO 2,353

-46.59%

Sport Shoes (Adidas, Nike)

$82.8 PEN 284

$122 NIO 4,474

-32.20%

Men's Leather Business Shoes

$78.2 PEN 269

$143 NIO 5,249

-45.41%

1-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$721 PEN 2,476

1-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$343 PEN 1,179

3-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$1,219 PEN 4,186

3-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$651 PEN 2,235

Buy Apartment in City Center (m2)

$2,414 PEN 8,292

Buy Apartment Outside City Center (m2)

$1,357 PEN 4,660

Average Monthly Net Salary (After Tax)

$648 PEN 2,226

20-Year Fixed Mortgage Interest Rate (Annual %)

8.94

11.92

-25.00%

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

Last update for Lima: October 11, 2026

Last update for La Paz Centro: October 13, 2026

Monthly budget structure

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

Accommodation & Living

Lima

$343 33.9%

La Paz Centro

- * 0% 100%

Groceries & Markets

Lima

$226 22.3%

La Paz Centro

$260 31.7% 14.8% $34

Eating Out

Lima

$124 12.3%

La Paz Centro

$152 18.6% 22.5% $28

Monthly Utilities & Internet

Lima

$117 11.6%

La Paz Centro

$203 24.8% 73.5% $86

Clothing & Footwear

Lima

$112 11.1%

La Paz Centro

$176 21.5% 56.6% $64

Sport & Entertainment

Lima

$46 4.6%

La Paz Centro

$18 * 2.2% 60.2% $28

Getting Around

Lima

$43 4.3%

La Paz Centro

$10 * 1.2% 77% $33

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

Cost Breakdown

Dining out: $35.00 in Lima vs $35.00 in La Paz Centro for a mid-range dinner for two. Groceries echo the gap at $226 vs $260 per month, with Lima cheaper across the board.

Good to know

🇵🇪 Lima

🇳🇮 La Paz Centro

🕒 Local time

18:05 6:05 PM

17:05 5:05 PM

1 h behind Lima

🌤 Weather

👥 Population

9,989,369 Capital

33,228

💱 Currency

Peruvian Sol PEN S/

Nicaraguan Córdoba NIO C$

📈 Exchange rate

1 PEN = 0.291 USD

1 PEN = 0.259 EUR

100 NIO = 2.73 USD

100 NIO = 2.43 EUR

Exchange rates and currency converter

NIO, 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).

Nicaraguan Córdoba exchange rates as of October 17, 2026: 1 USD = 36.62 NIO (100 NIO = 2.73 USD). 1 EUR = 41.17 NIO (100 NIO = 2.43 EUR).

USD to PEN in detail →

On the map

Lowest

Highest

Between locations

Lima La Paz Centro 2,910 km ≈ 4 h 15 min nonstop flight

From you

Lima
La Paz Centro

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

Lima vs La Paz Centro: Cost of Living - Frequently Asked Questions

La Paz Centro is cheaper overall, especially in leisure and transport. The 24% gap adds up to real monthly savings that compound significantly over time.

You'd need roughly $1,518 in Lima and $1,227 in La Paz Centro 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.

Shoppers in Lima pay roughly 15% less for everyday groceries. It's an unusual reversal that partly offsets higher costs elsewhere.

All in, you'll spend $1,012 per month in Lima versus $818 in La Paz Centro – a 24% gap that adds up to real savings over time for anyone picking the cheaper option.

At $818 in La Paz Centro versus $1,012 in Lima, a $1,500 budget is realistic in La Paz Centro but tight or insufficient in Lima. The gap between the two cities makes La Paz Centro the clear choice for anyone on this budget.

For families, La Paz Centro is more practical. Housing and childcare are both notably cheaper than in Lima, and the savings on those two alone free up budget for education, activities, and family trips.

Safety-wise, Lima and La Paz Centro 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 Paz Centro gentler on the wallet – expenses run 24% less than in Lima. Beyond cost, consider language, visa policies, and how big the international community is in each city.