Last update: Oct 2026

Cost of Living Comparison Between Lisbon and Salvador

For one person, living is cheaper in Salvador: $977 a month against $2,223 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
48

Cost of Living Index in Salvador
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Salvador Living Index

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Lisbon

🇵🇹 Portugal

$2,223

/mo nomad

Salvador

🇧🇷 Brazil

$977

/mo nomad

Monthly Cost of Living

How much you'll spend in Lisbon and in Salvador

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

Monthly costs for one person with rent: $2,223 in Lisbon versus $977 in Salvador.

Lisbon $2,223
Salvador $977

Estimated couple costs with rent: $3,271 in Lisbon versus $1,501 in Salvador.

Lisbon $3,271
Salvador $1,501

Monthly costs for a family of three with rent: $4,319 in Lisbon versus $2,024 in Salvador.

Lisbon $4,319
Salvador $2,024

Living in Lisbon is roughly 128% more expensive than in Salvador, and outside of rent the biggest gap is in eating out.

The two cities straddle the global median: Lisbon is 65% above, Salvador is 28% below.

Meal at Budget Restaurant

$16.50 €14.67

$8.31 R$42.12

98.56%

Three-Course Dinner for Two, Mid-Range

$61.3 €54.5

$36.15 R$183

69.43%

Fast Food Meal (McDonalds, etc)

$11.27 €10.03

$7.90 R$40.06

42.66%

Cappuccino

$3.06 €2.72

$2.59 R$13.15

18.15%

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

$2.26 €2.01

$1.33 R$6.73

69.92%

Water (0.33 liter bottle)

$1.73 €1.54

$0.88 R$4.46

96.59%

Local Beer (0.5 liter draught)

$3.39 €3.02

$2.53 R$12.84

33.99%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$3.40 €3.02

$4.02 R$20.40

-15.42%

Milk (1 liter)

$1.12 €1.00

$1.42 R$7.20

-21.13%

White Bread (500g)

$1.86 €1.65

$1.53 R$7.76

21.57%

Rice (white) (1kg)

$1.53 €1.36

$1.26 R$6.38

21.43%

Eggs

$3.96 €3.53

$2.11 R$10.70

87.68%

Local Cheese (1kg)

$12.76 €11.35

$9.44 R$47.86

35.17%

Chicken Fillets (1kg)

$7.90 €7.02

$4.53 R$22.98

74.39%

Beef Round Steak (1kg)

$16.97 €15.09

$7.08 R$35.90

139.69%

Apples (1kg)

$2.27 €2.02

$2.16 R$10.93

5.09%

Banana (1kg)

$1.75 €1.55

$1.55 R$7.86

12.90%

Oranges (1kg)

$1.85 €1.64

$1.17 R$5.94

58.12%

Tomato (1kg)

$2.57 €2.28

$1.38 R$6.99

86.23%

Potato (1kg)

$1.86 €1.65

$1.09 R$5.55

70.64%

Onion (1kg)

$2.02 €1.80

$1.33 R$6.75

51.88%

Lettuce (1 head)

$1.44 €1.28

$0.79 R$4.03

82.28%

Water (1.5 liter bottle)

$0.82 €0.73

$1.11 R$5.65

-26.13%

Cigarettes 20 Pack (Marlboro, Camel)

$6.56 €5.83

$2.43 R$12.31

169.96%

Wine (Bottle)

$5.62 €5.00

$6.09 R$30.86

-7.72%

Local Beer (0.5 liter bottle)

$1.28 €1.14

$1.29 R$6.54

-0.78%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$2.07 €1.84

$2.04 R$10.32

1.47%

One-way Ticket (Public Transport)

$2.35 €2.09

$1.21 R$6.15

94.21%

Public Transport Monthly Pass (Regular Price)

$44.18 €39.30

$59.7 R$303

-26.02%

Taxi Start (Normal Tariff)

$3.99 €3.55

$1.67 R$8.46

138.92%

Taxi (Normal Tariff) (1km)

$1.09 €0.97

$1.19 R$6.02

-8.40%

Taxi 1hour Waiting (Normal Tariff)

$16.64 €14.81

$9.79 R$49.63

69.97%

Gasoline (1 liter)

$2.28 €2.03

$1.34 R$6.77

70.15%

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

$33.7K €30.0K

$23.4K R$118.5K

44.04%

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

$39.3K €35.0K

$33.3K R$168.8K

17.98%

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

$167 €149

$94.2 R$478

77.78%

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

$18.80 €16.72

$9.72 R$49.30

93.42%

Internet (50+ Mbps, Unlimited Data)

$33.09 €29.43

$17.47 R$88.6

89.41%

Gym Membership (Monthly)

$46.01 €40.93

$26.01 R$132

76.89%

Tennis Court (1 Hour on Weekend)

$19.19 €17.07

$17.77 R$90.1

7.99%

Cinema Ticket

$9.84 €8.75

$7.50 R$38.01

31.20%

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

$677 €602

$373 R$1,890

81.62%

International Primary School, 1 Child (Yearly)

$16.9K €15.1K

$15.6K R$78.9K

8.69%

Jeans (Levis 501 Or Similar)

$101 €90.1

$58.9 R$298

72.00%

Summer Dress (H&M, Zara, etc)

$45.76 €40.70

$35.45 R$180

29.08%

Sport Shoes (Adidas, Nike)

$100.0 €88.9

$89.2 R$452

12.10%

Men's Leather Business Shoes

$123 €109

$83.1 R$421

47.82%

1-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$1,614 €1,436

$526 R$2,669

206.58%

1-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$1,197 €1,065

$279 R$1,416

328.41%

3-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$2,862 €2,545

$949 R$4,810

201.57%

3-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$1,990 €1,770

$456 R$2,310

336.72%

Buy Apartment in City Center (m2)

$7,577 €6,740

$2,145 R$10.9K

253.25%

Buy Apartment Outside City Center (m2)

$4,307 €3,831

$1,372 R$6,956

213.88%

Average Monthly Net Salary (After Tax)

$1,588 €1,412

$397 R$2,010

300.37%

20-Year Fixed Mortgage Interest Rate (Annual %)

3.85

-61.50%

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

Last update for Lisbon: October 11, 2026

Last update for Salvador: October 13, 2026

Monthly budget structure

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

Accommodation & Living

Lisbon

$1.2K 53.9%

Salvador

$279 28.6% 76.7% $918

Groceries & Markets

Lisbon

$269 12.1%

Salvador

$192 19.7% 28.7% $77

Eating Out

Lisbon

$242 10.9%

Salvador

$151 15.4% 37.7% $91

Monthly Utilities & Internet

Lisbon

$219 9.9%

Salvador

$121 12.4% 44.7% $98

Clothing & Footwear

Lisbon

$166 7.5%

Salvador

$120 12.3% 27.9% $46

Sport & Entertainment

Lisbon

$66 3%

Salvador

$41 4.2% 37.6% $25

Getting Around

Lisbon

$63 2.8%

Salvador

$72 7.4% 14.6% $9.2

Cost Breakdown

A one-bedroom apartment in the center runs $1,614 in Lisbon and $526 in Salvador. Housing cost is often the main lever when comparing two cities.

Lisbon pays 300% 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: $61.0 in Lisbon vs $36.00 in Salvador for a mid-range dinner for two. Groceries echo the gap at $269 vs $192 per month, with Salvador cheaper across the board.

Good to know

🇵🇹 Lisbon

🇧🇷 Salvador

🕒 Local time

14:31 2:31 PM

10:31 10:31 AM

4 h behind Lisbon

🌤 Weather

👥 Population

545,923 Capital

2,417,678

💱 Currency

Euro EUR €

Brazilian Real BRL R$

📈 Exchange rate

1 EUR = 1.12 USD

1 BRL = 0.197 USD

1 BRL = 0.175 EUR

Exchange rates and currency converter

On the map

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Between locations

Lisbon Salvador 6,510 km ≈ 9 h nonstop flight

From you

Lisbon
Salvador

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 Salvador: Cost of Living - Frequently Asked Questions

Lisbon and Salvador differ by about 128% in total monthly costs ($2,223 vs $977 including rent). Salvador is meaningfully more affordable – a gap that matters a lot on a fixed or modest income.

Average pay runs 300% 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: $1,614 in Lisbon versus $526 in Salvador. Housing is usually the single largest factor when comparing overall living costs between the two.

Childcare runs $677 in Lisbon versus $373 in Salvador. Over years of preschool, even a modest monthly gap compounds into a major financial factor for families.

Supermarket bills run roughly 40% higher in Lisbon. For households that cook at home regularly, that difference adds up over a month.

At $977 in Salvador versus $2,223 in Lisbon, a $1,500 budget is realistic in Salvador but tight or insufficient in Lisbon. The gap between the two cities makes Salvador 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, Lisbon and Salvador 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 Salvador gentler on the wallet – expenses run 128% less than in Lisbon. Beyond cost, consider language, visa policies, and how big the international community is in each city.