Last update: Oct 2026

Cost of Living Comparison Between Rio de Janeiro and San Fernando

For one person, living costs are similar in Rio de Janeiro and in San Fernando: $1,289 and $1,263 a month, rent and utilities included.

63

Cost of Living Index in Rio de Janeiro
Learn more

Rio de Janeiro Living Index
61

Cost of Living Index in San Fernando
Learn more

San Fernando Living Index

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Rio de Janeiro

🇧🇷 Brazil

$1,289

/mo nomad

San Fernando

🇹🇹 Trinidad And Tobago

$1,263

/mo nomad

Monthly Cost of Living

How much you'll spend in Rio de Janeiro and in San Fernando

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

Monthly costs for one person with rent: $1,289 in Rio de Janeiro versus $1,263 in San Fernando.

Rio de Janeiro $1,289
San Fernando $1,263

Estimated couple costs with rent: $1,868 in Rio de Janeiro versus $2,045 in San Fernando.

Rio de Janeiro $1,868
San Fernando $2,045

Monthly costs for a family of three with rent: $2,448 in Rio de Janeiro versus $2,827 in San Fernando.

Rio de Janeiro $2,448
San Fernando $2,827

Living in Rio de Janeiro is roughly 2% more expensive than in San Fernando, and outside of rent the biggest gap is in groceries.

Both cities sit below the global median: Rio de Janeiro 5% lower, San Fernando 6% lower.

Meal at Budget Restaurant

$10.06 R$51.0

$10.22 TTD 68.8

-1.57%

Three-Course Dinner for Two, Mid-Range

$40.44 R$205

$59.6 TTD 401

-32.09%

Fast Food Meal (McDonalds, etc)

$8.55 R$43.35

$8.00 TTD 53.9

6.88%

Cappuccino

$2.38 R$12.04

$3.66 TTD 24.65

-34.97%

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

$1.61 R$8.18

$1.02 TTD 6.88

57.84%

Water (0.33 liter bottle)

$1.03 R$5.22

$0.76 TTD 5.09

35.53%

Local Beer (0.5 liter draught)

$2.47 R$12.54

$1.89 TTD 12.69

30.69%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$3.70 R$18.77

$2.63 TTD 17.71

40.68%

Milk (1 liter)

$1.19 R$6.05

$1.98 TTD 13.33

-39.90%

White Bread (500g)

$2.05 R$10.38

$2.29 TTD 15.41

-10.48%

Rice (white) (1kg)

$1.28 R$6.49

$2.92 TTD 19.61

-56.16%

Eggs

$2.29 R$11.60

$3.90 TTD 26.27

-41.28%

Local Cheese (1kg)

$10.76 R$54.5

$6.58 TTD 44.24

63.53%

Chicken Fillets (1kg)

$4.41 R$22.36

$10.17 TTD 68.4

-56.64%

Beef Round Steak (1kg)

$9.84 R$49.86

$9.04 TTD 60.8

8.85%

Apples (1kg)

$2.81 R$14.25

$5.59 TTD 37.61

-49.73%

Banana (1kg)

$1.78 R$9.03

$2.57 TTD 17.31

-30.74%

Oranges (1kg)

$1.60 R$8.13

$3.60 TTD 24.21

-55.56%

Tomato (1kg)

$1.80 R$9.11

$4.38 TTD 29.43

-58.90%

Potato (1kg)

$1.22 R$6.17

$0.75 TTD 5.05

62.67%

Onion (1kg)

$1.04 R$5.26

$0.74 TTD 5.00

40.54%

Lettuce (1 head)

$0.77 R$3.92

$1.50 TTD 10.11

-48.67%

Water (1.5 liter bottle)

$0.67 R$3.38

$1.15 TTD 7.73

-41.74%

Cigarettes 20 Pack (Marlboro, Camel)

$3.01 R$15.27

$5.71 TTD 38.38

-47.29%

Wine (Bottle)

$8.08 R$40.94

$17.92 TTD 121

-54.91%

Local Beer (0.5 liter bottle)

$1.19 R$6.03

$1.55 TTD 10.43

-23.23%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$2.51 R$12.73

$2.93 TTD 19.74

-14.33%

One-way Ticket (Public Transport)

$0.99 R$5.00

$0.46 TTD 3.10

115.22%

Public Transport Monthly Pass (Regular Price)

$50.1 R$254

$44.31 TTD 298

13.09%

Taxi Start (Normal Tariff)

$1.22 R$6.20

$0.86 TTD 5.79

41.86%

Taxi (Normal Tariff) (1km)

$0.92 R$4.66

$0.92 TTD 6.20

Taxi 1hour Waiting (Normal Tariff)

$8.97 R$45.45

$14.57 TTD 98.0

-38.44%

Gasoline (1 liter)

$1.30 R$6.57

$1.16 TTD 7.81

12.07%

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

$23.9K R$121.0K

$36.1K TTD 243.1K

-33.93%

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

$32.9K R$166.6K

$40.3K TTD 270.8K

-18.38%

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

$133 R$676

$44.87 TTD 302

197.30%

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

$10.82 R$54.8

$42.63 TTD 287

-74.62%

Internet (50+ Mbps, Unlimited Data)

$22.90 R$116

$45.78 TTD 308

-49.98%

Gym Membership (Monthly)

$30.79 R$156

$50.5 TTD 340

-39.07%

Tennis Court (1 Hour on Weekend)

$31.85 R$161

$22.37 TTD 151

42.38%

Cinema Ticket

$8.05 R$40.83

$8.70 TTD 58.5

-7.47%

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

$598 R$3,029

$402 TTD 2,702

48.79%

International Primary School, 1 Child (Yearly)

$13.4K R$68.0K

$10.9K TTD 73.0K

23.63%

Jeans (Levis 501 Or Similar)

$42.04 R$213

$53.6 TTD 360

-21.49%

Summer Dress (H&M, Zara, etc)

$49.68 R$252

$37.29 TTD 251

33.23%

Sport Shoes (Adidas, Nike)

$74.5 R$378

$88.1 TTD 593

-15.45%

Men's Leather Business Shoes

$68.7 R$348

$89.7 TTD 603

-23.42%

1-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$903 R$4,578

$517 TTD 3,480

74.58%

1-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$529 R$2,684

$398 TTD 2,675

33.12%

3-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$1,326 R$6,724

$914 TTD 6,149

45.10%

3-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$756 R$3,831

$743 TTD 5,000

1.68%

Buy Apartment in City Center (m2)

$4,010 R$20.3K

$1,991 TTD 13.4K

101.40%

Buy Apartment Outside City Center (m2)

$1,560 R$7,910

$1,492 TTD 10.0K

4.60%

Average Monthly Net Salary (After Tax)

$640 R$3,242

$1,043 TTD 7,019

-38.70%

20-Year Fixed Mortgage Interest Rate (Annual %)

11.93

5.75

107.48%

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

Last update for Rio de Janeiro: October 10, 2026

Last update for San Fernando: October 12, 2026

Monthly budget structure

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

Accommodation & Living

Rio de Janeiro

$529 41.1%

San Fernando

$398 31.5% 24.9% $132

Groceries & Markets

Rio de Janeiro

$215 16.7%

San Fernando

$320 25.4% 49.3% $106

Monthly Utilities & Internet

Rio de Janeiro

$167 13%

San Fernando

$133 10.6% 20.2% $34

Eating Out

Rio de Janeiro

$165 12.8%

San Fernando

$172 13.6% 4% $6.6

Clothing & Footwear

Rio de Janeiro

$106 8.2%

San Fernando

$121 9.6% 14.4% $15

Getting Around

Rio de Janeiro

$60 4.7%

San Fernando

$52 4.1% 13.8% $8.3

Sport & Entertainment

Rio de Janeiro

$47 3.6%

San Fernando

$68 5.4% 44.9% $21

Cost Breakdown

A one-bedroom apartment in the center runs $903 in Rio de Janeiro and $517 in San Fernando. Housing cost is often the main lever when comparing two cities.

San Fernando pays 63% more on average while also being the cheaper of the two. The combined effect is a noticeably stronger local purchasing power.

Dining out: $40.00 in Rio de Janeiro vs $60.0 in San Fernando for a mid-range dinner for two. Groceries echo the gap at $215 vs $320 per month, with Rio de Janeiro cheaper across the board.

Good to know

🇧🇷 Rio de Janeiro

🇹🇹 San Fernando

🕒 Local time

15:45 3:45 PM

14:45 2:45 PM

1 h behind Rio de Janeiro

🌤 Weather

👥 Population

6,211,223

55,419

💱 Currency

Brazilian Real BRL R$

Trinidad and Tobago Dollar TTD $

📈 Exchange rate

1 BRL = 0.197 USD

1 BRL = 0.175 EUR

1 TTD = 0.149 USD

1 TTD = 0.132 EUR

Exchange rates and currency converter

TTD, USD, EUR to BRL – Brazilian Real Converter

🇺🇸 United States Dollar ($)

🇧🇷 Brazilian Real (R$)

Brazilian Real exchange rates as of October 18, 2026: 1 USD = 5.07 BRL (1 BRL = 0.197 USD). 1 EUR = 5.7 BRL (1 BRL = 0.175 EUR).

Trinidad and Tobago Dollar exchange rates as of October 18, 2026: 1 USD = 6.73 TTD (1 TTD = 0.149 USD). 1 EUR = 7.56 TTD (1 TTD = 0.132 EUR).

USD to BRL in detail →

On the map

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Highest

Between locations

Rio de Janeiro San Fernando 4,190 km ≈ 6 h nonstop flight

From you

Rio de Janeiro
San Fernando

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

Rio de Janeiro vs San Fernando: Cost of Living - Frequently Asked Questions

Rio de Janeiro and San Fernando differ by about 2% in total monthly costs ($1,289 vs $1,263 including rent). San Fernando is meaningfully more affordable – a gap that matters a lot on a fixed or modest income.

On paper, salaries run 63% lower in San Fernando. 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: $903 in Rio de Janeiro versus $517 in San Fernando. Housing is usually the single largest factor when comparing overall living costs between the two.

Dining out is cheaper in San Fernando – a meal for two runs $60.0 versus $40.00 in Rio de Janeiro. If you eat out regularly, this makes a real dent in your monthly spending.

All in, you'll spend $1,289 per month in Rio de Janeiro versus $1,263 in San Fernando – a 2% gap that adds up to real savings over time for anyone picking the cheaper option.

At $1,263 in San Fernando versus $1,289 in Rio de Janeiro, a $1,500 budget is realistic in San Fernando but tight or insufficient in Rio de Janeiro. The gap between the two cities makes San Fernando 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 San Fernando gentler on the wallet – expenses run 2% less than in Rio de Janeiro. Beyond cost, consider language, visa policies, and how big the international community is in each city.