Last update: Oct 2026

Cost of Living Comparison Between Lima and Santos

For one person, living is cheaper in Lima: $996 a month against $1,132 in Santos, rent and utilities included – about $1,600 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
56

Cost of Living Index in Santos
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Santos Living Index

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Lima

🇵🇪 Peru

$996

/mo nomad

Santos

🇧🇷 Brazil

$1,132

/mo nomad

Monthly Cost of Living

How much you'll spend in Lima and in Santos

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

Monthly costs for one person with rent: $996 in Lima versus $1,132 in Santos.

Lima $996
Santos $1,132

Estimated couple costs with rent: $1,594 in Lima versus $1,745 in Santos.

Lima $1,594
Santos $1,745

Monthly costs for a family of three with rent: $2,191 in Lima versus $2,359 in Santos.

Lima $2,191
Santos $2,359

Living in Lima costs roughly 12% less than in Santos, and outside of rent the biggest gap is in eating out.

Both cities sit below the global median: Lima 26% lower, Santos 16% lower.

Meal at Budget Restaurant

$4.42 PEN 15.16

$7.80 R$38.94

-43.33%

Three-Course Dinner for Two, Mid-Range

$35.04 PEN 120

$32.51 R$162

7.78%

Fast Food Meal (McDonalds, etc)

$6.84 PEN 23.44

$6.91 R$34.48

-1.01%

Cappuccino

$3.27 PEN 11.22

$2.78 R$13.86

17.63%

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

$1.10 PEN 3.78

$1.41 R$7.05

-21.99%

Water (0.33 liter bottle)

$0.65 PEN 2.22

$1.01 R$5.03

-35.64%

Local Beer (0.5 liter draught)

$2.58 PEN 8.85

$2.64 R$13.17

-2.27%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$4.47 PEN 15.34

$2.96 R$14.80

51.01%

Milk (1 liter)

$1.59 PEN 5.46

$1.08 R$5.38

47.22%

White Bread (500g)

$2.58 PEN 8.86

$1.85 R$9.22

39.46%

Rice (white) (1kg)

$1.36 PEN 4.65

$1.38 R$6.91

-1.45%

Eggs

$2.95 PEN 10.11

$2.52 R$12.56

17.06%

Local Cheese (1kg)

$9.10 PEN 31.19

$12.16 R$60.7

-25.16%

Chicken Fillets (1kg)

$5.81 PEN 19.91

$4.91 R$24.49

18.33%

Beef Round Steak (1kg)

$9.83 PEN 33.68

$10.06 R$50.2

-2.29%

Apples (1kg)

$2.01 PEN 6.89

$2.12 R$10.60

-5.19%

Banana (1kg)

$1.08 PEN 3.69

$1.26 R$6.27

-14.29%

Oranges (1kg)

$1.37 PEN 4.70

$1.98 R$9.89

-30.81%

Tomato (1kg)

$1.48 PEN 5.06

$1.81 R$9.01

-18.23%

Potato (1kg)

$0.96 PEN 3.30

$1.32 R$6.59

-27.27%

Onion (1kg)

$0.85 PEN 2.92

$1.30 R$6.49

-34.62%

Lettuce (1 head)

$0.88 PEN 3.02

$1.21 R$6.03

-27.27%

Water (1.5 liter bottle)

$0.87 PEN 2.97

$0.91 R$4.55

-4.40%

Cigarettes 20 Pack (Marlboro, Camel)

$5.90 PEN 20.24

$2.43 R$12.11

142.80%

Wine (Bottle)

$8.81 PEN 30.21

$8.18 R$40.85

7.70%

Local Beer (0.5 liter bottle)

$1.92 PEN 6.57

$1.39 R$6.95

38.13%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$3.20 PEN 10.98

$1.90 R$9.49

68.42%

One-way Ticket (Public Transport)

$0.68 PEN 2.33

$1.12 R$5.59

-39.29%

Public Transport Monthly Pass (Regular Price)

$26.74 PEN 91.7

$50.4 R$252

-46.94%

Taxi Start (Normal Tariff)

$3.81 PEN 13.06

$1.51 R$7.56

152.32%

Taxi (Normal Tariff) (1km)

$2.04 PEN 7.00

$1.62 R$8.10

25.93%

Taxi 1hour Waiting (Normal Tariff)

$7.14 PEN 24.49

$18.35 R$91.6

-61.09%

Gasoline (1 liter)

$1.65 PEN 5.65

$1.27 R$6.32

29.92%

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

$22.2K PEN 76.0K

$23.9K R$119.1K

-7.07%

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

$25.7K PEN 88.0K

$33.1K R$165.2K

-22.42%

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

$73.0 PEN 250

$104 R$518

-29.62%

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

$16.26 PEN 55.7

$12.45 R$62.1

30.60%

Internet (50+ Mbps, Unlimited Data)

$27.60 PEN 94.6

$22.68 R$113

21.69%

Gym Membership (Monthly)

$33.07 PEN 113

$29.14 R$145

13.49%

Tennis Court (1 Hour on Weekend)

$19.49 PEN 66.8

$56.9 R$284

-65.72%

Cinema Ticket

$7.39 PEN 25.33

$9.03 R$45.06

-18.16%

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

$182 PEN 624

$277 R$1,385

-34.41%

International Primary School, 1 Child (Yearly)

$13.3K PEN 45.7K

$10.4K R$51.9K

28.15%

Jeans (Levis 501 Or Similar)

$52.6 PEN 180

$56.1 R$280

-6.31%

Summer Dress (H&M, Zara, etc)

$34.23 PEN 117

$36.85 R$184

-7.11%

Sport Shoes (Adidas, Nike)

$83.8 PEN 287

$97.5 R$486

-14.05%

Men's Leather Business Shoes

$79.0 PEN 271

$60.1 R$300

31.44%

1-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$723 PEN 2,479

$536 R$2,677

34.89%

1-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$340 PEN 1,166

$422 R$2,106

-19.39%

3-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$1,184 PEN 4,060

$988 R$4,933

19.86%

3-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$635 PEN 2,176

$710 R$3,547

-10.66%

Buy Apartment in City Center (m2)

$2,449 PEN 8,394

$2,477 R$12.4K

-1.13%

Buy Apartment Outside City Center (m2)

$1,372 PEN 4,702

$1,794 R$8,955

-23.54%

Average Monthly Net Salary (After Tax)

$653 PEN 2,237

$585 R$2,922

11.48%

20-Year Fixed Mortgage Interest Rate (Annual %)

8.94

12.79

-30.10%

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

Last update for Lima: October 4, 2026

Last update for Santos: October 4, 2026

Monthly budget structure

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

Accommodation & Living

Lima

$340 33.6%

Santos

$422 36.7% 24% $82

Groceries & Markets

Lima

$226 22.4%

Santos

$221 19.2% 2.5% $5.7

Eating Out

Lima

$124 12.3%

Santos

$145 12.6% 17.1% $21

Monthly Utilities & Internet

Lima

$117 11.6%

Santos

$139 12.1% 18.8% $22

Clothing & Footwear

Lima

$112 11.1%

Santos

$113 9.8% 0.4% $0.4

Sport & Entertainment

Lima

$48 4.7%

Santos

$47 4.1% 1.4% $0.7

Getting Around

Lima

$43 4.3%

Santos

$65 5.6% 48.4% $21

Cost Breakdown

A one-bedroom apartment in the center runs $723 in Lima and $536 in Santos. Housing cost is often the main lever when comparing two cities.

Lima pays 11% 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 $33.00 in Santos for a mid-range dinner for two. Groceries echo the gap at $226 vs $221 per month, with Santos cheaper across the board.

Good to know

🇵🇪 Lima

🇧🇷 Santos

🕒 Local time

00:25 12:25 AM

02:25 2:25 AM

2 h ahead of Lima

🌤 Weather

👥 Population

9,989,369 Capital

418,608

💱 Currency

Peruvian Sol PEN S/

Brazilian Real BRL R$

📈 Exchange rate

1 PEN = 0.292 USD

1 PEN = 0.26 EUR

1 BRL = 0.2 USD

1 BRL = 0.179 EUR

Exchange rates and currency converter

BRL, USD, EUR to PEN – Peruvian Sol Converter

🇺🇸 United States Dollar ($)

🇵🇪 Peruvian Sol (S/)

Peruvian Sol exchange rates as of October 10, 2026: 1 USD = 3.43 PEN (1 PEN = 0.292 USD). 1 EUR = 3.84 PEN (1 PEN = 0.26 EUR).

Brazilian Real exchange rates as of October 10, 2026: 1 USD = 4.99 BRL (1 BRL = 0.2 USD). 1 EUR = 5.6 BRL (1 BRL = 0.179 EUR).

USD to PEN in detail →

On the map

Lowest

Highest

Between locations

Lima Santos 3,490 km ≈ 4 h 45 min nonstop flight

From you

Lima
Santos

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 Santos: Cost of Living - Frequently Asked Questions

Lima and Santos differ by about 14% in total monthly costs ($996 vs $1,132 including rent). Lima is meaningfully more affordable – a gap that matters a lot on a fixed or modest income.

Average pay runs 11% 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: $723 in Lima versus $536 in Santos. Housing is usually the single largest factor when comparing overall living costs between the two.

Childcare runs $182 in Lima versus $277 in Santos. Over years of preschool, even a modest monthly gap compounds into a major financial factor for families.

Shoppers in Santos pay roughly 3% less for everyday groceries. It's an unusual reversal that partly offsets higher costs elsewhere.

At $996 in Lima versus $1,132 in Santos, a $2,000 budget is realistic in Lima but tight or insufficient in Santos. 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 14% less than in Santos. Beyond cost, consider language, visa policies, and how big the international community is in each city.