Last update: Oct 2026

Cost of Living Comparison Between Lisbon and Quilmes

For one person, living is cheaper in Quilmes: $957 a month against $2,210 in Lisbon, rent and utilities included – about $15,000 less a year. Rent and utilities account for most of the difference.

107

Cost of Living Index in Lisbon
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Lisbon Living Index
47

Cost of Living Index in Quilmes
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Quilmes Living Index

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Lisbon

🇵🇹 Portugal

$2,210

/mo nomad

Quilmes

🇦🇷 Argentina

$957

/mo nomad

Monthly Cost of Living

How much you'll spend in Lisbon and in Quilmes

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

Monthly costs for one person with rent: $2,210 in Lisbon versus $957 in Quilmes.

Lisbon $2,210
Quilmes $957

Estimated couple costs with rent: $3,275 in Lisbon versus $1,615 in Quilmes.

Lisbon $3,275
Quilmes $1,615

Monthly costs for a family of three with rent: $4,341 in Lisbon versus $2,273 in Quilmes.

Lisbon $4,341
Quilmes $2,273

Living in Lisbon is roughly 131% more expensive than in Quilmes, and outside of rent the biggest gap is in eating out.

The two cities straddle the global median: Lisbon is 62% above, Quilmes is 30% below.

Meal at Budget Restaurant

$16.65 €14.95

$5.55 ARS 8,543

200.00%

Three-Course Dinner for Two, Mid-Range

$61.7 €55.5

$35.20 ARS 54.1K

75.40%

Fast Food Meal (McDonalds, etc)

$11.36 €10.20

$8.82 ARS 13.6K

28.80%

Cappuccino

$2.97 €2.67

$2.93 ARS 4,501

1.37%

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

$2.29 €2.06

$1.71 ARS 2,634

33.92%

Water (0.33 liter bottle)

$1.74 €1.56

$1.63 ARS 2,500

6.75%

Local Beer (0.5 liter draught)

$3.40 €3.06

$3.90 ARS 5,993

-12.82%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$3.31 €2.97

$2.29 ARS 3,519

44.54%

Milk (1 liter)

$1.16 €1.04

$0.97 ARS 1,495

19.59%

White Bread (500g)

$1.91 €1.72

$1.58 ARS 2,426

20.89%

Rice (white) (1kg)

$1.51 €1.36

$1.58 ARS 2,425

-4.43%

Eggs

$4.02 €3.61

$2.28 ARS 3,508

76.32%

Local Cheese (1kg)

$12.94 €11.62

$13.31 ARS 20.5K

-2.78%

Chicken Fillets (1kg)

$7.77 €6.98

$6.11 ARS 9,398

27.17%

Beef Round Steak (1kg)

$17.76 €15.95

$9.80 ARS 15.1K

81.22%

Apples (1kg)

$2.30 €2.07

$1.96 ARS 3,016

17.35%

Banana (1kg)

$1.73 €1.56

$1.53 ARS 2,350

13.07%

Oranges (1kg)

$1.86 €1.67

$1.01 ARS 1,557

84.16%

Tomato (1kg)

$2.59 €2.33

$2.95 ARS 4,538

-12.20%

Potato (1kg)

$1.82 €1.64

$0.92 ARS 1,412

97.83%

Onion (1kg)

$1.97 €1.77

$0.64 ARS 990

207.81%

Lettuce (1 head)

$1.47 €1.32

$0.72 ARS 1,111

104.17%

Water (1.5 liter bottle)

$0.72 €0.65

$0.69 ARS 1,060

4.35%

Cigarettes 20 Pack (Marlboro, Camel)

$6.58 €5.91

$4.99 ARS 7,671

31.86%

Wine (Bottle)

$5.61 €5.04

$4.29 ARS 6,603

30.77%

Local Beer (0.5 liter bottle)

$1.36 €1.22

$1.23 ARS 1,896

10.57%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$2.14 €1.92

$1.89 ARS 2,904

13.23%

One-way Ticket (Public Transport)

$2.33 €2.10

$1.02 ARS 1,574

128.43%

Public Transport Monthly Pass (Regular Price)

$44.68 €40.14

Taxi Start (Normal Tariff)

$3.85 €3.46

$1.49 ARS 2,285

158.39%

Taxi (Normal Tariff) (1km)

$1.07 €0.96

$1.02 ARS 1,576

4.90%

Taxi 1hour Waiting (Normal Tariff)

$16.46 €14.79

Gasoline (1 liter)

$2.20 €1.98

$1.14 ARS 1,756

92.98%

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

$34.2K €30.7K

$50.3K ARS 77.4M

-32.09%

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

$38.7K €34.8K

$38.0K ARS 58.4M

2.04%

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

$161 €145

$60.2 ARS 92.6K

167.85%

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

$18.41 €16.54

$14.48 ARS 22.3K

27.14%

Internet (50+ Mbps, Unlimited Data)

$32.74 €29.41

$21.58 ARS 33.2K

51.71%

Gym Membership (Monthly)

$44.55 €40.02

$26.79 ARS 41.2K

66.29%

Tennis Court (1 Hour on Weekend)

$19.10 €17.16

$18.31 ARS 28.2K

4.31%

Cinema Ticket

$9.60 €8.62

$10.13 ARS 15.6K

-5.23%

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

$668 €600

$240 ARS 369.2K

178.18%

International Primary School, 1 Child (Yearly)

$17.6K €15.8K

$4,307 ARS 6.6M

309.00%

Jeans (Levis 501 Or Similar)

$102 €91.6

$95.2 ARS 146.4K

7.22%

Summer Dress (H&M, Zara, etc)

$44.46 €39.94

$34.45 ARS 53.0K

29.06%

Sport Shoes (Adidas, Nike)

$98.5 €88.5

$62.9 ARS 96.8K

56.56%

Men's Leather Business Shoes

$124 €111

$70.1 ARS 107.8K

76.49%

1-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$1,608 €1,445

$518 ARS 796.8K

210.48%

1-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$1,190 €1,069

$330 ARS 507.0K

261.04%

3-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$2,812 €2,526

$1,058 ARS 1.6M

165.87%

3-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$2,013 €1,808

$817 ARS 1.3M

146.51%

Buy Apartment in City Center (m2)

$7,839 €7,042

$2,378 ARS 3.7M

229.69%

Buy Apartment Outside City Center (m2)

$4,576 €4,110

$1,264 ARS 1.9M

262.06%

Average Monthly Net Salary (After Tax)

$1,575 €1,415

$1,102 ARS 1.7M

42.87%

20-Year Fixed Mortgage Interest Rate (Annual %)

3.85

100

-96.15%

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

Last update for Lisbon: October 27, 2026

Last update for Quilmes: October 26, 2026

Monthly budget structure

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

Accommodation & Living

Lisbon

$1.2K 53.8%

Quilmes

$330 34.4% 72.3% $860

Groceries & Markets

Lisbon

$272 12.3%

Quilmes

$212 22.2% 22.1% $60

Eating Out

Lisbon

$243 11%

Quilmes

$143 15% 40.9% $99

Monthly Utilities & Internet

Lisbon

$212 9.6%

Quilmes

$96 10.1% 54.7% $116

Clothing & Footwear

Lisbon

$166 7.5%

Quilmes

$118 12.3% 28.8% $48

Sport & Entertainment

Lisbon

$64 2.9%

Quilmes

$47 4.9% 26.2% $17

Getting Around

Lisbon

$63 2.9%

Quilmes

$11 * 1.1% 83.1% $53

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 $1,608 in Lisbon and $518 in Quilmes. Housing cost is often the main lever when comparing two cities.

Lisbon pays 43% more on average. The extra income cushions the higher costs, though housing choices and lifestyle decide how much of the gap is truly closed.

Dining out: $62 in Lisbon vs $35 in Quilmes for a mid-range dinner for two. Groceries echo the gap at $272 vs $212 per month, with Quilmes cheaper across the board.

Good to know

🇵🇹 Lisbon

🇦🇷 Quilmes

🕒 Local time

21:07 9:07 PM

18:07 6:07 PM

3 h behind Lisbon

🌤 Weather

👥 Population

545,923 Capital

230,810

💱 Currency

Euro EUR €

Argentine Peso ARS $

📈 Exchange rate

1 EUR = 1.11 USD

10,000 ARS = 6.5 USD

10,000 ARS = 5.84 EUR

Exchange rates and currency converter

ARS, USD to EUR – Euro Converter

🇺🇸 United States Dollar ($)

🇪🇺 Euro (€)

Euro exchange rates as of October 28, 2026: 1 USD = 0.898 EUR (1 EUR = 1.11 USD).

Argentine Peso exchange rates as of October 28, 2026: 1 USD = 1,538 ARS (10,000 ARS = 6.5 USD). 1 EUR = 1,712 ARS (10,000 ARS = 5.84 EUR).

USD to EUR in detail →

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Between locations

Lisbon Quilmes 9,600 km ≈ 13 h nonstop flight

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Lisbon
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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

Lisbon vs Quilmes: Cost of Living - Frequently Asked Questions

Total monthly costs including rent come to $2,210 in Lisbon and $957 in Quilmes, so Quilmes is about 57% cheaper – a gap that matters a lot on a fixed or modest income.

Average pay runs 43% higher in Lisbon, 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: $1,608 in Lisbon versus $518 in Quilmes. Housing is usually the single largest factor when comparing overall living costs between the two.

Supermarket bills run roughly 28% higher in Lisbon. For households that cook at home regularly, that difference adds up over a month.

All in, you’ll spend $2,210 per month in Lisbon versus $957 in Quilmes – Quilmes is about 57% cheaper, which adds up to real savings over time.

Both cities are expensive relative to $800. Quilmes is the more realistic option, but even there you’ll need to be disciplined with housing, food, and fun money.

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, Lisbon and Quilmes are both considered safe, so it’s unlikely to be the deciding factor between them.

It comes down to priorities – Quilmes wins on affordability, Lisbon on earning potential. Factor in climate, language, visa rules, and proximity to places that matter to you before deciding.