Last update: Oct 2026

Cost of Living Comparison Between Maseru and Buenos Aires

For one person, living is cheaper in Maseru: $658 a month against $1,685 in Buenos Aires, rent and utilities included – about $12,300 less a year. Rent and utilities account for most of the difference.

32

Cost of Living Index in Maseru
Learn more

Maseru Living Index
81

Cost of Living Index in Buenos Aires
Learn more

Buenos Aires Living Index

Jump to prices

Maseru

🇱🇸 Lesotho

$658

/mo nomad

Buenos Aires

🇦🇷 Argentina

$1,685

/mo nomad

Monthly Cost of Living

How much you'll spend in Maseru and in Buenos Aires

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

Monthly costs for one person with rent: $658 in Maseru versus $1,685 in Buenos Aires.

Maseru $658
Buenos Aires $1,685

Estimated couple costs with rent: $1,123 in Maseru versus $2,742 in Buenos Aires.

Maseru $1,123
Buenos Aires $2,742

Monthly costs for a family of three with rent: $1,588 in Maseru versus $3,799 in Buenos Aires.

Maseru $1,588
Buenos Aires $3,799

Living in Maseru costs roughly 61% less than in Buenos Aires, and outside of rent the biggest gap is in eating out.

The two cities straddle the global median: Maseru is 51% below, Buenos Aires is 26% above.

Meal at Budget Restaurant

$9.06 LSL 149

$18.73 ARS 28.4K

-51.63%

Three-Course Dinner for Two, Mid-Range

$23.68 LSL 391

$64.5 ARS 97.8K

-63.28%

Fast Food Meal (McDonalds, etc)

$8.35 LSL 138

$12.88 ARS 19.5K

-35.17%

Cappuccino

$2.01 LSL 33.20

$3.98 ARS 6,029

-49.50%

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

$1.05 LSL 17.27

$2.05 ARS 3,103

-48.78%

Water (0.33 liter bottle)

$0.80 LSL 13.18

$1.55 ARS 2,349

-48.39%

Local Beer (0.5 liter draught)

$1.75 LSL 28.89

$3.84 ARS 5,830

-54.43%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$2.46 LSL 40.61

$4.60 ARS 6,970

-46.52%

Milk (1 liter)

$1.18 LSL 19.47

$1.44 ARS 2,181

-18.06%

White Bread (500g)

$0.80 LSL 13.14

$2.46 ARS 3,738

-67.48%

Rice (white) (1kg)

$1.78 LSL 29.34

$1.63 ARS 2,467

9.20%

Eggs

$1.53 LSL 25.23

$2.89 ARS 4,385

-47.06%

Local Cheese (1kg)

$6.71 LSL 111

$10.65 ARS 16.1K

-37.00%

Chicken Fillets (1kg)

$6.32 LSL 104

$10.00 ARS 15.2K

-36.80%

Beef Round Steak (1kg)

$6.20 LSL 102

$13.74 ARS 20.8K

-54.88%

Apples (1kg)

$1.92 LSL 31.60

$2.75 ARS 4,166

-30.18%

Banana (1kg)

$2.30 LSL 37.95

$2.18 ARS 3,300

5.50%

Oranges (1kg)

$2.64 LSL 43.54

$1.45 ARS 2,205

82.07%

Tomato (1kg)

$2.36 LSL 39.02

$1.99 ARS 3,013

18.59%

Potato (1kg)

$1.59 LSL 26.25

$1.24 ARS 1,885

28.23%

Onion (1kg)

$1.62 LSL 26.75

$1.27 ARS 1,921

27.56%

Lettuce (1 head)

$1.52 LSL 25.10

$1.70 ARS 2,575

-10.59%

Water (1.5 liter bottle)

$0.78 LSL 12.88

$1.73 ARS 2,617

-54.91%

Cigarettes 20 Pack (Marlboro, Camel)

$5.03 LSL 83.0

$4.18 ARS 6,337

20.33%

Wine (Bottle)

$7.31 LSL 121

$5.80 ARS 8,790

26.03%

Local Beer (0.5 liter bottle)

$1.03 LSL 16.99

$2.09 ARS 3,163

-50.72%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$1.52 LSL 25.15

$2.77 ARS 4,198

-45.13%

One-way Ticket (Public Transport)

$0.77 LSL 12.68

$0.75 ARS 1,132

2.67%

Public Transport Monthly Pass (Regular Price)

$30.06 LSL 496

$27.15 ARS 41.2K

10.72%

Taxi Start (Normal Tariff)

$0.73 LSL 12.05

$1.62 ARS 2,451

-54.94%

Taxi (Normal Tariff) (1km)

$0.63 LSL 10.36

$0.98 ARS 1,481

-35.71%

Taxi 1hour Waiting (Normal Tariff)

$3.65 LSL 60.3

$7.72 ARS 11.7K

-52.72%

Gasoline (1 liter)

$1.33 LSL 22.02

$1.36 ARS 2,058

-2.21%

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

$20.9K LSL 344.3K

$28.0K ARS 42.5M

-25.50%

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

$16.4K LSL 270.6K

$34.5K ARS 52.4M

-52.51%

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

$216 ARS 326.9K

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

$14.63 LSL 241

$25.61 ARS 38.8K

-42.87%

Internet (50+ Mbps, Unlimited Data)

$37.63 LSL 621

$31.36 ARS 47.6K

19.99%

Gym Membership (Monthly)

$23.17 LSL 382

$49.82 ARS 75.6K

-53.49%

Tennis Court (1 Hour on Weekend)

$17.06 ARS 25.9K

Cinema Ticket

$10.43 ARS 15.8K

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

$51.2 LSL 845

$466 ARS 706.7K

-89.00%

International Primary School, 1 Child (Yearly)

$1,181 LSL 19.5K

$9,057 ARS 13.7M

-86.96%

Jeans (Levis 501 Or Similar)

$46.25 LSL 763

$122 ARS 185.2K

-62.12%

Summer Dress (H&M, Zara, etc)

$55.2 LSL 911

$97.4 ARS 147.8K

-43.36%

Sport Shoes (Adidas, Nike)

$105 LSL 1,736

$117 ARS 177.4K

-10.05%

Men's Leather Business Shoes

$151 LSL 2,493

$140 ARS 211.9K

8.15%

1-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$92.4 LSL 1,525

$763 ARS 1.2M

-87.89%

1-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$55.8 LSL 920

$505 ARS 766.1K

-88.96%

3-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$426 LSL 7,025

$1,598 ARS 2.4M

-73.36%

3-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$173 LSL 2,851

$1,185 ARS 1.8M

-85.41%

Buy Apartment in City Center (m2)

$377 LSL 6,219

$2,678 ARS 4.1M

-85.93%

Buy Apartment Outside City Center (m2)

$514 LSL 8,481

$1,858 ARS 2.8M

-72.34%

Average Monthly Net Salary (After Tax)

$631 LSL 10.4K

$954 ARS 1.4M

-33.93%

20-Year Fixed Mortgage Interest Rate (Annual %)

8.5

57.25

-85.15%

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

Last update for Maseru: October 3, 2026

Last update for Buenos Aires: October 6, 2026

Monthly budget structure

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

Groceries & Markets

Maseru

$195 29.3%

Buenos Aires

$284 17.1% 45.4% $89

Clothing & Footwear

Maseru

$161 24.1%

Buenos Aires

$214 12.9% 33.1% $53

Eating Out

Maseru

$143 21.4%

Buenos Aires

$279 16.8% 95.5% $136

Accommodation & Living

Maseru

$56 8.4%

Buenos Aires

$505 30.4% 806% $449

Monthly Utilities & Internet

Maseru

$52 * 7.8%

Buenos Aires

$273 16.4% 422% $220

Getting Around

Maseru

$37 5.6%

Buenos Aires

$37 2.2% 1% $0.4

Sport & Entertainment

Maseru

$23 * 3.5%

Buenos Aires

$71 4.3% 205% $48

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 $92.4 in Maseru and $763 in Buenos Aires. Housing cost is often the main lever when comparing two cities.

Buenos Aires pays 51% 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: $24.00 in Maseru vs $64.0 in Buenos Aires for a mid-range dinner for two. Groceries echo the gap at $195 vs $284 per month, with Maseru cheaper across the board.

Good to know

🇱🇸 Maseru

🇦🇷 Buenos Aires

🕒 Local time

07:29 7:29 AM

02:29 2:29 AM

5 h behind Maseru

🌤 Weather

👥 Population

227,880 Capital

2,891,082 Capital

💱 Currency

Lesotho Loti LSL L

Argentine Peso ARS $

📈 Exchange rate

100 LSL = 6.06 USD

100 LSL = 5.4 EUR

10,000 ARS = 6.59 USD

10,000 ARS = 5.88 EUR

Exchange rates and currency converter

ARS, USD, EUR to LSL – Lesotho Loti Converter

🇺🇸 United States Dollar ($)

🇱🇸 Lesotho Loti (L)

Lesotho Loti exchange rates as of October 10, 2026: 1 USD = 16.5 LSL (100 LSL = 6.06 USD). 1 EUR = 18.51 LSL (100 LSL = 5.4 EUR).

Argentine Peso exchange rates as of October 10, 2026: 1 USD = 1,517 ARS (10,000 ARS = 6.59 USD). 1 EUR = 1,701 ARS (10,000 ARS = 5.88 EUR).

USD to LSL in detail →

On the map

Lowest

Highest

Between locations

Maseru Buenos Aires 7,870 km ≈ 10 h nonstop flight

From you

Maseru
Buenos Aires

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

Maseru vs Buenos Aires: Cost of Living - Frequently Asked Questions

Maseru and Buenos Aires differ by about 156% in total monthly costs ($658 vs $1,685 including rent). Maseru is meaningfully more affordable – a gap that matters a lot on a fixed or modest income.

On paper, salaries run 51% lower in Buenos Aires. That's worth factoring in alongside costs, though remote workers earning in a stronger currency may not notice the difference at all.

Rent for a central apartment: $92.4 in Maseru versus $763 in Buenos Aires. Housing is usually the single largest factor when comparing overall living costs between the two.

Childcare runs $51.2 in Maseru versus $466 in Buenos Aires. Over years of preschool, even a modest monthly gap compounds into a major financial factor for families.

Supermarket bills run roughly 45% higher in Buenos Aires. For households that cook at home regularly, that difference adds up over a month.

At $658 in Maseru versus $1,685 in Buenos Aires, a $2,000 budget is realistic in Maseru but tight or insufficient in Buenos Aires. The gap between the two cities makes Maseru 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, Maseru and Buenos Aires 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 Maseru gentler on the wallet – expenses run 156% less than in Buenos Aires. Beyond cost, consider language, visa policies, and how big the international community is in each city.