Last update: Oct 2026

Cost of Living Comparison Between Lima and Santa Tecla

For one person, living is cheaper in Lima: $1,012 a month against $1,355 in Santa Tecla, rent and utilities included – about $4,100 less a year. Rent and utilities account for most of the difference.

49

Cost of Living Index in Lima
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Lima Living Index
66

Cost of Living Index in Santa Tecla
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Santa Tecla Living Index

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Lima

🇵🇪 Peru

$1,012

/mo nomad

Santa Tecla

🇸🇻 El Salvador

$1,355

/mo nomad

Monthly Cost of Living

How much you'll spend in Lima and in Santa Tecla

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 Santa Tecla actually costs, broken down by who's living it.

Monthly costs for one person with rent: $1,012 in Lima versus $1,355 in Santa Tecla.

Lima $1,012
Santa Tecla $1,355

Estimated couple costs with rent: $1,589 in Lima versus $2,006 in Santa Tecla.

Lima $1,589
Santa Tecla $2,006

Monthly costs for a family of three with rent: $2,167 in Lima versus $2,657 in Santa Tecla.

Lima $2,167
Santa Tecla $2,657

Living in Lima costs roughly 25% less than in Santa Tecla, and outside of rent the biggest gap is in clothing.

The two cities straddle the global median: Lima is 25% below, Santa Tecla is 0% above.

Meal at Budget Restaurant

$4.40 PEN 15.10

$6.56 $6.56

-32.93%

Three-Course Dinner for Two, Mid-Range

$35.17 PEN 121

$44.20 $44.20

-20.43%

Fast Food Meal (McDonalds, etc)

$6.89 PEN 23.65

$6.82 $6.82

1.03%

Cappuccino

$3.26 PEN 11.20

$3.50 $3.50

-6.86%

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

$1.12 PEN 3.84

$1.15 $1.15

-2.61%

Water (0.33 liter bottle)

$0.62 PEN 2.11

$0.86 $0.86

-27.91%

Local Beer (0.5 liter draught)

$2.65 PEN 9.09

$1.98 $1.98

33.84%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$4.41 PEN 15.15

$3.63 $3.63

21.49%

Milk (1 liter)

$1.63 PEN 5.61

$1.75 $1.75

-6.86%

White Bread (500g)

$2.56 PEN 8.78

$2.14 $2.14

19.63%

Rice (white) (1kg)

$1.35 PEN 4.65

$1.43 $1.43

-5.59%

Eggs

$2.90 PEN 9.96

$2.30 $2.30

26.09%

Local Cheese (1kg)

$8.85 PEN 30.38

$7.52 $7.52

17.69%

Chicken Fillets (1kg)

$5.98 PEN 20.52

$5.55 $5.55

7.75%

Beef Round Steak (1kg)

$9.78 PEN 33.59

$10.23 $10.23

-4.40%

Apples (1kg)

$2.05 PEN 7.02

$3.27 $3.27

-37.31%

Banana (1kg)

$1.06 PEN 3.66

$1.37 $1.37

-22.63%

Oranges (1kg)

$1.35 PEN 4.64

$2.64 $2.64

-48.86%

Tomato (1kg)

$1.50 PEN 5.15

$3.54 $3.54

-57.63%

Potato (1kg)

$0.88 PEN 3.03

$2.98 $2.98

-70.47%

Onion (1kg)

$0.92 PEN 3.15

$3.35 $3.35

-72.54%

Lettuce (1 head)

$0.89 PEN 3.07

$0.96 $0.96

-7.29%

Water (1.5 liter bottle)

$0.90 PEN 3.10

$0.98 $0.98

-8.16%

Cigarettes 20 Pack (Marlboro, Camel)

$5.90 PEN 20.27

$3.94 $3.94

49.75%

Wine (Bottle)

$8.52 PEN 29.26

$12.06 $12.06

-29.35%

Local Beer (0.5 liter bottle)

$1.88 PEN 6.45

$2.20 $2.20

-14.55%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$3.22 PEN 11.05

$2.95 $2.95

9.15%

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

$6.16 $6.16

-38.15%

Taxi (Normal Tariff) (1km)

$2.02 PEN 6.93

$3.06 $3.06

-33.99%

Taxi 1hour Waiting (Normal Tariff)

$7.11 PEN 24.41

$20.27 $20.27

-64.92%

Gasoline (1 liter)

$1.72 PEN 5.91

$1.24 $1.24

38.71%

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

$22.3K PEN 76.6K

$25.4K $25.4K

-12.28%

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

$25.5K PEN 87.6K

$27.0K $27.0K

-5.46%

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

$73.1 PEN 251

$132 $132

-44.58%

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

$16.35 PEN 56.2

$20.92 $20.92

-21.85%

Internet (50+ Mbps, Unlimited Data)

$27.47 PEN 94.3

$42.31 $42.31

-35.07%

Gym Membership (Monthly)

$31.90 PEN 110

$24.72 $24.72

29.05%

Tennis Court (1 Hour on Weekend)

$19.41 PEN 66.7

Cinema Ticket

$7.05 PEN 24.23

$5.03 $5.03

40.16%

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

$182 PEN 627

$160 $160

13.86%

International Primary School, 1 Child (Yearly)

$13.0K PEN 44.8K

$4,809 $4,809

171.19%

Jeans (Levis 501 Or Similar)

$53.8 PEN 185

$67.0 $67.0

-19.75%

Summer Dress (H&M, Zara, etc)

$34.32 PEN 118

$46.85 $46.85

-26.74%

Sport Shoes (Adidas, Nike)

$82.8 PEN 284

$116 $116

-28.69%

Men's Leather Business Shoes

$78.2 PEN 269

$115 $115

-32.09%

1-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$721 PEN 2,476

$765 $765

-5.68%

1-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$343 PEN 1,179

$548 $548

-37.34%

3-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$1,219 PEN 4,186

$1,200 $1,200

1.54%

3-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$651 PEN 2,235

$887 $887

-26.61%

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

$406 $406

59.60%

20-Year Fixed Mortgage Interest Rate (Annual %)

8.94

8.5

5.18%

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

Last update for Lima: October 11, 2026

Last update for Santa Tecla: October 13, 2026

Monthly budget structure

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

Accommodation & Living

Lima

$343 33.9%

Santa Tecla

$548 40.4% 59.6% $205

Groceries & Markets

Lima

$226 22.3%

Santa Tecla

$260 19.2% 15.1% $34

Eating Out

Lima

$124 12.3%

Santa Tecla

$140 10.4% 13.1% $16

Monthly Utilities & Internet

Lima

$117 11.6%

Santa Tecla

$195 14.4% 66.9% $78

Clothing & Footwear

Lima

$112 11.1%

Santa Tecla

$155 11.5% 38.6% $43

Sport & Entertainment

Lima

$46 4.6%

Santa Tecla

$35 2.6% 24.4% $11

Getting Around

Lima

$43 4.3%

Santa Tecla

$21 * 1.6% 50.6% $22

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 $765 in Santa Tecla. Housing cost is often the main lever when comparing two cities.

Lima pays 60% 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 $44.00 in Santa Tecla 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

🇸🇻 Santa Tecla

🕒 Local time

01:02 1:02 AM

00:02 12:02 AM

1 h behind Lima

🌤 Weather

👥 Population

9,989,369 Capital

138,695

💱 Currency

Peruvian Sol PEN S/

United States Dollar USD $

📈 Exchange rate

1 PEN = 0.291 USD

1 PEN = 0.259 EUR

1 USD = 0.89 EUR

Exchange rates and currency converter

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).

United States Dollar exchange rates as of October 18, 2026: 1 EUR = 1.12 USD (1 USD = 0.89 EUR).

USD to PEN in detail →

On the map

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Highest

Between locations

Lima Santa Tecla 3,160 km ≈ 4 h 30 min nonstop flight

From you

Lima
Santa Tecla

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 Santa Tecla: Cost of Living - Frequently Asked Questions

Lima and Santa Tecla differ by about 34% in total monthly costs ($1,012 vs $1,355 including rent). Lima is meaningfully more affordable – a gap that matters a lot on a fixed or modest income.

Average pay runs 60% 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 $765 in Santa Tecla. Housing is usually the single largest factor when comparing overall living costs between the two.

Supermarket bills run roughly 15% higher in Santa Tecla. For households that cook at home regularly, that difference adds up over a month.

All in, you'll spend $1,012 per month in Lima versus $1,355 in Santa Tecla – a 34% gap that adds up to real savings over time for anyone picking the cheaper option.

At $1,012 in Lima versus $1,355 in Santa Tecla, a $2,000 budget is realistic in Lima but tight or insufficient in Santa Tecla. 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.

Safety-wise, Lima and Santa Tecla 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 Lima gentler on the wallet – expenses run 34% less than in Santa Tecla. Beyond cost, consider language, visa policies, and how big the international community is in each city.