Last update: Oct 2026

Cost of Living Comparison Between Qena and Buenos Aires

For one person, living is cheaper in Qena: $468 a month against $1,656 in Buenos Aires, rent and utilities included – about $14,300 less a year. Rent and utilities account for about half of the difference.

22

Cost of Living Index in Qena
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Qena Living Index
80

Cost of Living Index in Buenos Aires
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Buenos Aires Living Index

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Qena

🇪🇬 Egypt

$468

/mo nomad

Buenos Aires

🇦🇷 Argentina

$1,656

/mo nomad

Monthly Cost of Living

How much you'll spend in Qena 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 Qena and in Buenos Aires actually costs, broken down by who's living it.

Monthly costs for one person with rent: $468 in Qena versus $1,656 in Buenos Aires.

Qena $468
Buenos Aires $1,656

Estimated couple costs with rent: $746 in Qena versus $2,697 in Buenos Aires.

Qena $746
Buenos Aires $2,697

Monthly costs for a family of three with rent: $1,023 in Qena versus $3,737 in Buenos Aires.

Qena $1,023
Buenos Aires $3,737

Living in Qena costs roughly 72% less than in Buenos Aires, and outside of rent the biggest gap is in eating out.

The two cities straddle the global median: Qena is 65% below, Buenos Aires is 23% above.

Meal at Budget Restaurant

$3.84 E£205

$19.09 ARS 28.9K

-79.88%

Three-Course Dinner for Two, Mid-Range

$14.99 E£801

$65.8 ARS 99.6K

-77.22%

Fast Food Meal (McDonalds, etc)

$5.78 E£309

$13.20 ARS 20.0K

-56.21%

Cappuccino

$2.00 E£107

$3.85 ARS 5,823

-48.05%

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

$0.50 E£26.78

$1.99 ARS 3,011

-74.87%

Water (0.33 liter bottle)

$0.18 E£9.56

$1.60 ARS 2,423

-88.75%

Local Beer (0.5 liter draught)

$1.92 E£103

$3.93 ARS 5,942

-51.15%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$3.04 E£162

$4.61 ARS 6,982

-34.06%

Milk (1 liter)

$0.97 E£51.7

$1.50 ARS 2,265

-35.33%

White Bread (500g)

$0.76 E£40.69

$2.53 ARS 3,826

-69.96%

Rice (white) (1kg)

$0.66 E£35.14

$1.61 ARS 2,438

-59.01%

Eggs

$1.93 E£103

$2.84 ARS 4,303

-32.04%

Local Cheese (1kg)

$3.15 E£169

$10.30 ARS 15.6K

-69.42%

Chicken Fillets (1kg)

$5.61 E£300

$10.00 ARS 15.1K

-43.90%

Beef Round Steak (1kg)

$9.89 E£528

$13.30 ARS 20.1K

-25.64%

Apples (1kg)

$1.48 E£79.2

$2.88 ARS 4,353

-48.61%

Banana (1kg)

$0.52 E£27.67

$2.20 ARS 3,324

-76.36%

Oranges (1kg)

$0.41 E£21.67

$1.40 ARS 2,114

-70.71%

Tomato (1kg)

$0.41 E£21.99

$1.98 ARS 2,995

-79.29%

Potato (1kg)

$0.34 E£18.28

$1.21 ARS 1,830

-71.90%

Onion (1kg)

$0.39 E£20.87

$1.26 ARS 1,905

-69.05%

Lettuce (1 head)

$0.27 E£14.25

$1.71 ARS 2,584

-84.21%

Water (1.5 liter bottle)

$0.18 E£9.69

$1.72 ARS 2,596

-89.53%

Cigarettes 20 Pack (Marlboro, Camel)

$2.14 E£114

$4.29 ARS 6,486

-50.12%

Wine (Bottle)

$7.22 E£386

$5.70 ARS 8,619

26.67%

Local Beer (0.5 liter bottle)

$1.26 E£67.1

$2.17 ARS 3,278

-41.94%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$1.71 E£91.6

$2.76 ARS 4,175

-38.04%

One-way Ticket (Public Transport)

$0.17 E£9.02

$0.75 ARS 1,137

-77.33%

Public Transport Monthly Pass (Regular Price)

$27.27 ARS 41.3K

Taxi Start (Normal Tariff)

$0.37 E£20.03

$1.57 ARS 2,368

-76.43%

Taxi (Normal Tariff) (1km)

$0.21 E£11.18

$1.03 ARS 1,554

-79.61%

Taxi 1hour Waiting (Normal Tariff)

$1.26 E£67.1

$7.90 ARS 11.9K

-84.05%

Gasoline (1 liter)

$0.43 E£22.75

$1.42 ARS 2,154

-69.72%

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

$31.9K E£1.7M

$27.9K ARS 42.3M

14.08%

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

$21.8K E£1.2M

$35.0K ARS 52.9M

-37.80%

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

$25.42 E£1,359

$195 ARS 295.3K

-86.98%

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

$7.95 E£425

$25.16 ARS 38.1K

-68.40%

Internet (50+ Mbps, Unlimited Data)

$9.28 E£496

$31.54 ARS 47.7K

-70.58%

Gym Membership (Monthly)

$15.61 E£834

$50.9 ARS 77.0K

-69.34%

Tennis Court (1 Hour on Weekend)

$16.73 ARS 25.3K

Cinema Ticket

$3.39 E£181

$10.34 ARS 15.6K

-67.21%

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

$101 E£5,375

$463 ARS 701.1K

-78.29%

International Primary School, 1 Child (Yearly)

$598 E£32.0K

$8,793 ARS 13.3M

-93.20%

Jeans (Levis 501 Or Similar)

$19.95 E£1,066

$120 ARS 181.3K

-83.35%

Summer Dress (H&M, Zara, etc)

$33.52 E£1,791

$95.5 ARS 144.5K

-64.89%

Sport Shoes (Adidas, Nike)

$123 E£6,579

$114 ARS 172.6K

7.90%

Men's Leather Business Shoes

$28.92 E£1,545

$139 ARS 210.8K

-79.24%

1-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$133 E£7,086

$756 ARS 1.1M

-82.47%

1-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$79.8 E£4,265

$520 ARS 786.5K

-84.65%

3-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$280 E£14.9K

$1,590 ARS 2.4M

-82.41%

3-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$145 E£7,723

$1,198 ARS 1.8M

-87.94%

Buy Apartment in City Center (m2)

$709 E£37.9K

$2,713 ARS 4.1M

-73.88%

Buy Apartment Outside City Center (m2)

$300 E£16.0K

$1,901 ARS 2.9M

-84.21%

Average Monthly Net Salary (After Tax)

$938 ARS 1.4M

20-Year Fixed Mortgage Interest Rate (Annual %)

16.21

57.25

-71.69%

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

Last update for Qena: October 12, 2026

Last update for Buenos Aires: October 11, 2026

Monthly budget structure

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

Groceries & Markets

Qena

$138 29.5%

Buenos Aires

$283 17.1% 105% $145

Clothing & Footwear

Qena

$92 19.8%

Buenos Aires

$211 12.7% 128% $118

Eating Out

Qena

$90 19.3%

Buenos Aires

$282 17% 212% $191

Accommodation & Living

Qena

$80 17.1%

Buenos Aires

$520 31.4% 551% $440

Monthly Utilities & Internet

Qena

$43 9.1%

Buenos Aires

$252 15.2% 491% $209

Sport & Entertainment

Qena

$22 4.8%

Buenos Aires

$72 4.3% 220% $49

Getting Around

Qena

$2.1 * 0.5%

Buenos Aires

$37 2.2% 1661% $35

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 $133 in Qena and $756 in Buenos Aires. Housing cost is often the main lever when comparing two cities.

Dining out: $15.00 in Qena vs $66.0 in Buenos Aires for a mid-range dinner for two. Groceries echo the gap at $138 vs $283 per month, with Qena cheaper across the board.

Good to know

🇪🇬 Qena

🇦🇷 Buenos Aires

🕒 Local time

22:18 10:18 PM

16:18 4:18 PM

6 h behind Qena

🌤 Weather

👥 Population

235,362

2,891,082 Capital

💱 Currency

Egyptian Pound EGP £

Argentine Peso ARS $

📈 Exchange rate

100 EGP = 1.87 USD

100 EGP = 1.67 EUR

10,000 ARS = 6.61 USD

10,000 ARS = 5.9 EUR

Exchange rates and currency converter

ARS, USD, EUR to EGP – Egyptian Pound Converter

🇺🇸 United States Dollar ($)

🇪🇬 Egyptian Pound (£)

Egyptian Pound exchange rates as of October 15, 2026: 1 USD = 53.44 EGP (100 EGP = 1.87 USD). 1 EUR = 59.84 EGP (100 EGP = 1.67 EUR).

Argentine Peso exchange rates as of October 15, 2026: 1 USD = 1,513 ARS (10,000 ARS = 6.61 USD). 1 EUR = 1,694 ARS (10,000 ARS = 5.9 EUR).

USD to EGP in detail →

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Between locations

Qena Buenos Aires 11,720 km ≈ 15 h nonstop flight

From you

Qena
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

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

Qena and Buenos Aires differ by about 254% in total monthly costs ($468 vs $1,656 including rent). Qena is meaningfully more affordable – a gap that matters a lot on a fixed or modest income.

You'd need roughly $702 in Qena and $2,484 in Buenos Aires to live well. The gap comes down to housing and overall price levels. Both cities are liveable on less, but these numbers represent actual comfort.

Rent for a central apartment: $133 in Qena versus $756 in Buenos Aires. Housing is usually the single largest factor when comparing overall living costs between the two.

Childcare runs $101 in Qena versus $463 in Buenos Aires. Over years of preschool, even a modest monthly gap compounds into a major financial factor for families.

Dining out is cheaper in Qena – a meal for two runs $15.00 versus $66.0 in Buenos Aires. If you eat out regularly, this makes a real dent in your monthly spending.

At $468 in Qena versus $1,656 in Buenos Aires, a $1,500 budget is realistic in Qena but tight or insufficient in Buenos Aires. The gap between the two cities makes Qena 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, Qena 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 Qena gentler on the wallet – expenses run 254% less than in Buenos Aires. Beyond cost, consider language, visa policies, and how big the international community is in each city.