Last update: Oct 2026

Cost of Living Comparison Between Lima and Puerto Varas

For one person, living is cheaper in Lima: $1,012 a month against $1,130 in Puerto Varas, rent and utilities included – about $1,400 less a year. Higher rent and utilities in Puerto Varas outweigh lower spending on other living expenses.

49

Cost of Living Index in Lima
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Lima Living Index
52

Cost of Living Index in Puerto Varas
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Puerto Varas Living Index

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Lima

🇵🇪 Peru

$1,012

/mo nomad

Puerto Varas

🇨🇱 Chile

$1,130

/mo nomad

Monthly Cost of Living

How much you'll spend in Lima and in Puerto Varas

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

Monthly costs for one person with rent: $1,012 in Lima versus $1,130 in Puerto Varas.

Lima $1,012
Puerto Varas $1,130

Estimated couple costs with rent: $1,589 in Lima versus $1,624 in Puerto Varas.

Lima $1,589
Puerto Varas $1,624

Monthly costs for a family of three with rent: $2,167 in Lima versus $2,118 in Puerto Varas.

Lima $2,167
Puerto Varas $2,118

Living in Lima costs roughly 10% less than in Puerto Varas, and outside of rent the biggest gap is in clothing.

Both cities sit below the global median: Lima 25% lower, Puerto Varas 16% lower.

Meal at Budget Restaurant

$4.40 PEN 15.10

$12.47 CLP 12.3K

-64.72%

Three-Course Dinner for Two, Mid-Range

$35.17 PEN 121

$41.05 CLP 40.4K

-14.32%

Fast Food Meal (McDonalds, etc)

$6.89 PEN 23.65

$7.58 CLP 7,462

-9.10%

Cappuccino

$3.26 PEN 11.20

$3.28 CLP 3,231

-0.61%

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

$1.12 PEN 3.84

$0.99 CLP 977

13.13%

Water (0.33 liter bottle)

$0.62 PEN 2.11

$0.80 CLP 785

-22.50%

Local Beer (0.5 liter draught)

$2.65 PEN 9.09

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$4.41 PEN 15.15

Milk (1 liter)

$1.63 PEN 5.61

$1.09 CLP 1,077

49.54%

White Bread (500g)

$2.56 PEN 8.78

$1.86 CLP 1,830

37.63%

Rice (white) (1kg)

$1.35 PEN 4.65

$1.61 CLP 1,582

-16.15%

Eggs

$2.90 PEN 9.96

$3.11 CLP 3,062

-6.75%

Local Cheese (1kg)

$8.85 PEN 30.38

$8.61 CLP 8,476

2.79%

Chicken Fillets (1kg)

$5.98 PEN 20.52

$4.68 CLP 4,609

27.78%

Beef Round Steak (1kg)

$9.78 PEN 33.59

$8.50 CLP 8,372

15.06%

Apples (1kg)

$2.05 PEN 7.02

$1.78 CLP 1,751

15.17%

Banana (1kg)

$1.06 PEN 3.66

$1.95 CLP 1,922

-45.64%

Oranges (1kg)

$1.35 PEN 4.64

$2.61 CLP 2,565

-48.28%

Tomato (1kg)

$1.50 PEN 5.15

$1.89 CLP 1,862

-20.63%

Potato (1kg)

$0.88 PEN 3.03

$1.50 CLP 1,480

-41.33%

Onion (1kg)

$0.92 PEN 3.15

$1.25 CLP 1,230

-26.40%

Lettuce (1 head)

$0.89 PEN 3.07

$1.32 CLP 1,296

-32.58%

Water (1.5 liter bottle)

$0.90 PEN 3.10

$1.13 CLP 1,117

-20.35%

Cigarettes 20 Pack (Marlboro, Camel)

$5.90 PEN 20.27

$4.96 CLP 4,884

18.95%

Wine (Bottle)

$8.52 PEN 29.26

$4.63 CLP 4,557

84.02%

Local Beer (0.5 liter bottle)

$1.88 PEN 6.45

$1.40 CLP 1,379

34.29%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$3.22 PEN 11.05

$1.25 CLP 1,226

157.60%

One-way Ticket (Public Transport)

$0.68 PEN 2.33

$1.10 CLP 1,078

-38.18%

Public Transport Monthly Pass (Regular Price)

$26.86 PEN 92.2

Taxi Start (Normal Tariff)

$3.81 PEN 13.09

Taxi (Normal Tariff) (1km)

$2.02 PEN 6.93

Taxi 1hour Waiting (Normal Tariff)

$7.11 PEN 24.41

Gasoline (1 liter)

$1.72 PEN 5.91

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

$22.3K PEN 76.6K

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

$25.5K PEN 87.6K

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

$73.1 PEN 251

$255 CLP 251.2K

-71.36%

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

$16.35 PEN 56.2

$16.06 CLP 15.8K

1.81%

Internet (50+ Mbps, Unlimited Data)

$27.47 PEN 94.3

Gym Membership (Monthly)

$31.90 PEN 110

$30.89 CLP 30.4K

3.27%

Tennis Court (1 Hour on Weekend)

$19.41 PEN 66.7

Cinema Ticket

$7.05 PEN 24.23

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

$182 PEN 627

$488 CLP 480.6K

-62.63%

International Primary School, 1 Child (Yearly)

$13.0K PEN 44.8K

$6,137 CLP 6.0M

112.47%

Jeans (Levis 501 Or Similar)

$53.8 PEN 185

$20.37 CLP 20.1K

164.06%

Summer Dress (H&M, Zara, etc)

$34.32 PEN 118

$15.32 CLP 15.1K

124.02%

Sport Shoes (Adidas, Nike)

$82.8 PEN 284

$61.1 CLP 60.1K

35.59%

Men's Leather Business Shoes

$78.2 PEN 269

1-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$721 PEN 2,476

$623 CLP 612.8K

15.84%

1-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$343 PEN 1,179

$402 CLP 396.0K

-14.64%

3-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$1,219 PEN 4,186

$819 CLP 805.9K

48.88%

3-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$651 PEN 2,235

$619 CLP 609.7K

5.06%

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

$532 CLP 523.5K

21.85%

20-Year Fixed Mortgage Interest Rate (Annual %)

8.94

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

Last update for Lima: October 11, 2026

Last update for Puerto Varas: October 12, 2026

Monthly budget structure

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

Accommodation & Living

Lima

$343 33.9%

Puerto Varas

$402 35.6% 17.1% $59

Groceries & Markets

Lima

$226 22.3%

Puerto Varas

$208 18.4% 7.8% $18

Eating Out

Lima

$124 12.3%

Puerto Varas

$169 * 15% 36.3% $45

Monthly Utilities & Internet

Lima

$117 11.6%

Puerto Varas

$271 * 24% 132% $154

Clothing & Footwear

Lima

$112 11.1%

Puerto Varas

$44 * 3.9% 61.2% $69

Sport & Entertainment

Lima

$46 4.6%

Puerto Varas

$31 * 2.7% 32.9% $15

Getting Around

Lima

$43 4.3%

Puerto Varas

$4.4 * 0.4% 89.9% $39

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 $721 in Lima and $623 in Puerto Varas. Housing cost is often the main lever when comparing two cities.

Lima pays 22% more on average while also being the cheaper of the two. The combined effect is a noticeably stronger local purchasing power.

Dining out: $35.00 in Lima vs $41.00 in Puerto Varas. Groceries flip the comparison at $226 vs $208, with Puerto Varas cheaper for home cooking.

Good to know

🇵🇪 Lima

🇨🇱 Puerto Varas

🕒 Local time

19:55 7:55 PM

21:55 9:55 PM

2 h ahead of Lima

🌤 Weather

👥 Population

9,989,369 Capital

41,255

💱 Currency

Peruvian Sol PEN S/

Chilean Peso CLP $

📈 Exchange rate

1 PEN = 0.291 USD

1 PEN = 0.259 EUR

10,000 CLP = 10.16 USD

10,000 CLP = 9.04 EUR

Exchange rates and currency converter

CLP, USD, EUR to PEN – Peruvian Sol Converter

🇺🇸 United States Dollar ($)

🇵🇪 Peruvian Sol (S/)

Peruvian Sol exchange rates as of October 18, 2026: 1 USD = 3.43 PEN (1 PEN = 0.291 USD). 1 EUR = 3.86 PEN (1 PEN = 0.259 EUR).

Chilean Peso exchange rates as of October 18, 2026: 1 USD = 984 CLP (1,000 CLP = 1.02 USD). 1 EUR = 1,107 CLP (10,000 CLP = 9.04 EUR).

USD to PEN in detail →

On the map

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Between locations

Lima Puerto Varas 3,280 km ≈ 4 h 30 min nonstop flight

From you

Lima
Puerto Varas

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 Puerto Varas: Cost of Living - Frequently Asked Questions

Lima and Puerto Varas differ by about 12% in total monthly costs ($1,012 vs $1,130 including rent). Lima is meaningfully more affordable – a gap that matters a lot on a fixed or modest income.

Average pay runs 22% higher in Lima, which matters when comparing affordability. Whether that higher income actually nets you more depends on your spending habits and housing choices.

Rent for a central apartment: $721 in Lima versus $623 in Puerto Varas. Housing is usually the single largest factor when comparing overall living costs between the two.

Shoppers in Puerto Varas pay roughly 8% 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 $1,130 in Puerto Varas – a 12% gap that adds up to real savings over time for anyone picking the cheaper option.

At $1,012 in Lima versus $1,130 in Puerto Varas, a $2,000 budget is realistic in Lima but tight or insufficient in Puerto Varas. The gap between the two cities makes Lima 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.

Expats usually find Lima gentler on the wallet – expenses run 12% less than in Puerto Varas. Beyond cost, consider language, visa policies, and how big the international community is in each city.