Last update: Oct 2026

Cost of Living Comparison Between Lima and San Juan del Sur

For one person, living costs are similar in Lima and in San Juan del Sur: $1,012 and $1,058 a month, rent and utilities included.

49

Cost of Living Index in Lima
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Lima Living Index
51

Cost of Living Index in San Juan del Sur
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San Juan del Sur Living Index

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Lima

🇵🇪 Peru

$1,012

/mo nomad

San Juan del Sur

🇳🇮 Nicaragua

$1,058

/mo nomad

Monthly Cost of Living

How much you'll spend in Lima and in San Juan del Sur

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 San Juan del Sur actually costs, broken down by who's living it.

Monthly costs for one person with rent: $1,012 in Lima versus $1,058 in San Juan del Sur.

Lima $1,012
San Juan del Sur $1,058

Estimated couple costs with rent: $1,589 in Lima versus $1,682 in San Juan del Sur.

Lima $1,589
San Juan del Sur $1,682

Monthly costs for a family of three with rent: $2,167 in Lima versus $2,307 in San Juan del Sur.

Lima $2,167
San Juan del Sur $2,307

Living in Lima costs roughly 4% less than in San Juan del Sur, and outside of rent the biggest gap is in clothing.

Both cities sit below the global median: Lima 25% lower, San Juan del Sur 22% lower.

Meal at Budget Restaurant

$4.40 PEN 15.10

$4.17 NIO 153

5.52%

Three-Course Dinner for Two, Mid-Range

$35.17 PEN 121

$34.08 NIO 1,248

3.20%

Fast Food Meal (McDonalds, etc)

$6.89 PEN 23.65

$5.57 NIO 204

23.70%

Cappuccino

$3.26 PEN 11.20

$2.56 NIO 93.7

27.34%

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

$1.12 PEN 3.84

$0.86 NIO 31.37

30.23%

Water (0.33 liter bottle)

$0.62 PEN 2.11

$0.68 NIO 25.02

-8.82%

Local Beer (0.5 liter draught)

$2.65 PEN 9.09

$1.47 NIO 53.8

80.27%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$4.41 PEN 15.15

$2.23 NIO 81.8

97.76%

Milk (1 liter)

$1.63 PEN 5.61

$1.24 NIO 45.36

31.45%

White Bread (500g)

$2.56 PEN 8.78

$1.53 NIO 55.9

67.32%

Rice (white) (1kg)

$1.35 PEN 4.65

$1.19 NIO 43.56

13.45%

Eggs

$2.90 PEN 9.96

$2.44 NIO 89.2

18.85%

Local Cheese (1kg)

$8.85 PEN 30.38

$7.71 NIO 283

14.79%

Chicken Fillets (1kg)

$5.98 PEN 20.52

$6.15 NIO 225

-2.76%

Beef Round Steak (1kg)

$9.78 PEN 33.59

$7.84 NIO 287

24.74%

Apples (1kg)

$2.05 PEN 7.02

$4.10 NIO 150

-50.00%

Banana (1kg)

$1.06 PEN 3.66

$0.62 NIO 22.71

70.97%

Oranges (1kg)

$1.35 PEN 4.64

$1.84 NIO 67.3

-26.63%

Tomato (1kg)

$1.50 PEN 5.15

$2.45 NIO 89.9

-38.78%

Potato (1kg)

$0.88 PEN 3.03

$3.11 NIO 114

-71.70%

Onion (1kg)

$0.92 PEN 3.15

$2.18 NIO 79.9

-57.80%

Lettuce (1 head)

$0.89 PEN 3.07

$1.05 NIO 38.54

-15.24%

Water (1.5 liter bottle)

$0.90 PEN 3.10

$1.05 NIO 38.52

-14.29%

Cigarettes 20 Pack (Marlboro, Camel)

$5.90 PEN 20.27

$2.76 NIO 101

113.77%

Wine (Bottle)

$8.52 PEN 29.26

$9.76 NIO 357

-12.70%

Local Beer (0.5 liter bottle)

$1.88 PEN 6.45

$1.42 NIO 51.9

32.39%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$3.22 PEN 11.05

$2.18 NIO 79.7

47.71%

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

$1.58 NIO 58.0

141.14%

Taxi (Normal Tariff) (1km)

$2.02 PEN 6.93

$1.64 NIO 60.3

23.17%

Taxi 1hour Waiting (Normal Tariff)

$7.11 PEN 24.41

$6.87 NIO 252

3.49%

Gasoline (1 liter)

$1.72 PEN 5.91

$1.34 NIO 49.13

28.36%

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

$22.3K PEN 76.6K

$22.8K NIO 836.8K

-2.35%

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

$25.5K PEN 87.6K

$26.7K NIO 977.1K

-4.41%

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

$73.1 PEN 251

$60.8 NIO 2,225

20.26%

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

$16.35 PEN 56.2

$10.32 NIO 378

58.43%

Internet (50+ Mbps, Unlimited Data)

$27.47 PEN 94.3

$33.01 NIO 1,209

-16.78%

Gym Membership (Monthly)

$31.90 PEN 110

$30.51 NIO 1,118

4.56%

Tennis Court (1 Hour on Weekend)

$19.41 PEN 66.7

Cinema Ticket

$7.05 PEN 24.23

$9.23 NIO 338

-23.62%

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

$182 PEN 627

$233 NIO 8,530

-21.66%

International Primary School, 1 Child (Yearly)

$13.0K PEN 44.8K

$6,128 NIO 224.4K

112.79%

Jeans (Levis 501 Or Similar)

$53.8 PEN 185

$61.1 NIO 2,237

-11.92%

Summer Dress (H&M, Zara, etc)

$34.32 PEN 118

$66.1 NIO 2,421

-48.08%

Sport Shoes (Adidas, Nike)

$82.8 PEN 284

$123 NIO 4,500

-32.60%

Men's Leather Business Shoes

$78.2 PEN 269

$146 NIO 5,331

-46.25%

1-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$721 PEN 2,476

$423 NIO 15.5K

70.43%

1-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$343 PEN 1,179

$393 NIO 14.4K

-12.66%

3-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$1,219 PEN 4,186

$930 NIO 34.1K

31.08%

3-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$651 PEN 2,235

$797 NIO 29.2K

-18.39%

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

$346 NIO 12.7K

87.32%

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 San Juan del Sur: October 12, 2026

Monthly budget structure

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

Accommodation & Living

Lima

$343 33.9%

San Juan del Sur

$393 37.2% 14.5% $50

Groceries & Markets

Lima

$226 22.3%

San Juan del Sur

$225 21.3% 0.5% $1.1

Eating Out

Lima

$124 12.3%

San Juan del Sur

$99 9.3% 20.4% $25

Monthly Utilities & Internet

Lima

$117 11.6%

San Juan del Sur

$104 9.8% 11% $13

Clothing & Footwear

Lima

$112 11.1%

San Juan del Sur

$178 16.8% 58.8% $66

Sport & Entertainment

Lima

$46 4.6%

San Juan del Sur

$49 4.6% 6.4% $3

Getting Around

Lima

$43 4.3%

San Juan del Sur

$9.8 * 0.9% 77.4% $34

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 $423 in San Juan del Sur. Housing cost is often the main lever when comparing two cities.

Lima pays 87% 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 $34.00 in San Juan del Sur for a mid-range dinner for two. Groceries echo the gap at $226 vs $225 per month, with San Juan del Sur cheaper across the board.

Good to know

🇵🇪 Lima

🇳🇮 San Juan del Sur

🕒 Local time

22:49 10:49 PM

21:49 9:49 PM

1 h behind Lima

🌤 Weather

👥 Population

9,989,369 Capital

14,741

💱 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 18, 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 18, 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

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Between locations

Lima San Juan del Sur 2,770 km ≈ 4 h nonstop flight

From you

Lima
San Juan del Sur

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 San Juan del Sur: Cost of Living - Frequently Asked Questions

Lima and San Juan del Sur differ by about 5% in total monthly costs ($1,012 vs $1,058 including rent). Lima is meaningfully more affordable – a gap that matters a lot on a fixed or modest income.

Average pay runs 87% 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 $423 in San Juan del Sur. Housing is usually the single largest factor when comparing overall living costs between the two.

Shoppers in San Juan del Sur pay roughly 0% 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 $1,058 in San Juan del Sur – a 5% gap that adds up to real savings over time for anyone picking the cheaper option.

At $1,012 in Lima versus $1,058 in San Juan del Sur, a $2,000 budget is realistic in Lima but tight or insufficient in San Juan del Sur. 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 5% less than in San Juan del Sur. Beyond cost, consider language, visa policies, and how big the international community is in each city.