Last update: Oct 2026

Cost of Living Comparison Between Rio de Janeiro and San Pedro de Macoris

For one person, living is cheaper in San Pedro de Macoris: $619 a month against $1,289 in Rio de Janeiro, rent and utilities included – about $8,000 less a year. Rent and utilities account for most of the difference.

63

Cost of Living Index in Rio de Janeiro
Learn more

Rio de Janeiro Living Index
30

Cost of Living Index in San Pedro de Macoris
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San Pedro de Macoris Living Index

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Rio de Janeiro

🇧🇷 Brazil

$1,289

/mo nomad

San Pedro de Macoris

🇩🇴 Dominican Republic

$619

/mo nomad

Monthly Cost of Living

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

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 Pedro de Macoris actually costs, broken down by who's living it.

Monthly costs for one person with rent: $1,289 in Rio de Janeiro versus $619 in San Pedro de Macoris.

Rio de Janeiro $1,289
San Pedro de Macoris $619

Estimated couple costs with rent: $1,868 in Rio de Janeiro versus $1,000 in San Pedro de Macoris.

Rio de Janeiro $1,868
San Pedro de Macoris $1,000

Monthly costs for a family of three with rent: $2,448 in Rio de Janeiro versus $1,381 in San Pedro de Macoris.

Rio de Janeiro $2,448
San Pedro de Macoris $1,381

Living in Rio de Janeiro is roughly 108% more expensive than in San Pedro de Macoris, and outside of rent the biggest gap is in eating out.

Both cities sit below the global median: Rio de Janeiro 5% lower, San Pedro de Macoris 54% lower.

Meal at Budget Restaurant

$10.06 R$51.0

$5.72 DOP 350

75.87%

Three-Course Dinner for Two, Mid-Range

$40.44 R$205

$41.44 DOP 2,539

-2.41%

Fast Food Meal (McDonalds, etc)

$8.55 R$43.35

$6.80 DOP 416

25.74%

Cappuccino

$2.38 R$12.04

$1.75 DOP 107

36.00%

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

$1.61 R$8.18

$0.72 DOP 44.35

123.61%

Water (0.33 liter bottle)

$1.03 R$5.22

$0.37 DOP 22.82

178.38%

Local Beer (0.5 liter draught)

$2.47 R$12.54

$2.48 DOP 152

-0.40%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$3.70 R$18.77

$3.93 DOP 241

-5.85%

Milk (1 liter)

$1.19 R$6.05

$1.15 DOP 70.4

3.48%

White Bread (500g)

$2.05 R$10.38

$1.79 DOP 110

14.53%

Rice (white) (1kg)

$1.28 R$6.49

$1.49 DOP 91.2

-14.09%

Eggs

$2.29 R$11.60

$1.49 DOP 91.3

53.69%

Local Cheese (1kg)

$10.76 R$54.5

$6.15 DOP 377

74.96%

Chicken Fillets (1kg)

$4.41 R$22.36

$3.47 DOP 212

27.09%

Beef Round Steak (1kg)

$9.84 R$49.86

$4.83 DOP 296

103.73%

Apples (1kg)

$2.81 R$14.25

$3.62 DOP 222

-22.38%

Banana (1kg)

$1.78 R$9.03

$1.39 DOP 85.1

28.06%

Oranges (1kg)

$1.60 R$8.13

$3.25 DOP 199

-50.77%

Tomato (1kg)

$1.80 R$9.11

$2.15 DOP 132

-16.28%

Potato (1kg)

$1.22 R$6.17

$3.44 DOP 211

-64.53%

Onion (1kg)

$1.04 R$5.26

$2.82 DOP 173

-63.12%

Lettuce (1 head)

$0.77 R$3.92

$0.94 DOP 57.7

-18.09%

Water (1.5 liter bottle)

$0.67 R$3.38

$1.66 DOP 102

-59.64%

Cigarettes 20 Pack (Marlboro, Camel)

$3.01 R$15.27

$4.67 DOP 286

-35.55%

Wine (Bottle)

$8.08 R$40.94

$16.37 DOP 1,003

-50.64%

Local Beer (0.5 liter bottle)

$1.19 R$6.03

$2.85 DOP 174

-58.25%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$2.51 R$12.73

$3.27 DOP 200

-23.24%

One-way Ticket (Public Transport)

$0.99 R$5.00

Public Transport Monthly Pass (Regular Price)

$50.1 R$254

Taxi Start (Normal Tariff)

$1.22 R$6.20

$2.52 DOP 155

-51.59%

Taxi (Normal Tariff) (1km)

$0.92 R$4.66

$3.31 DOP 203

-72.21%

Taxi 1hour Waiting (Normal Tariff)

$8.97 R$45.45

Gasoline (1 liter)

$1.30 R$6.57

$1.23 DOP 75.6

5.69%

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

$23.9K R$121.0K

$14.6K DOP 896.7K

63.11%

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

$32.9K R$166.6K

$25.7K DOP 1.6M

27.78%

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

$133 R$676

$95.2 DOP 5,833

40.10%

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

$10.82 R$54.8

$26.76 DOP 1,640

-59.57%

Internet (50+ Mbps, Unlimited Data)

$22.90 R$116

$30.33 DOP 1,858

-24.50%

Gym Membership (Monthly)

$30.79 R$156

Tennis Court (1 Hour on Weekend)

$31.85 R$161

Cinema Ticket

$8.05 R$40.83

$5.05 DOP 309

59.41%

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

$598 R$3,029

$150 DOP 9,199

297.96%

International Primary School, 1 Child (Yearly)

$13.4K R$68.0K

$5,470 DOP 335.1K

145.33%

Jeans (Levis 501 Or Similar)

$42.04 R$213

$26.74 DOP 1,638

57.22%

Summer Dress (H&M, Zara, etc)

$49.68 R$252

$45.76 DOP 2,803

8.57%

Sport Shoes (Adidas, Nike)

$74.5 R$378

$62.5 DOP 3,831

19.16%

Men's Leather Business Shoes

$68.7 R$348

$66.7 DOP 4,084

3.03%

1-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$903 R$4,578

1-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$529 R$2,684

3-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$1,326 R$6,724

$408 DOP 25.0K

225.13%

3-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$756 R$3,831

Buy Apartment in City Center (m2)

$4,010 R$20.3K

Buy Apartment Outside City Center (m2)

$1,560 R$7,910

Average Monthly Net Salary (After Tax)

$640 R$3,242

20-Year Fixed Mortgage Interest Rate (Annual %)

11.93

8.45%

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 Pedro de Macoris: October 11, 2026

Monthly budget structure

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

Accommodation & Living

Rio de Janeiro

$529 41.1%

San Pedro de Macoris

- * 0% 100%

Groceries & Markets

Rio de Janeiro

$215 16.7%

San Pedro de Macoris

$235 38% 9.4% $20

Monthly Utilities & Internet

Rio de Janeiro

$167 13%

San Pedro de Macoris

$152 24.6% 8.9% $15

Eating Out

Rio de Janeiro

$165 12.8%

San Pedro de Macoris

$112 18.1% 32.2% $53

Clothing & Footwear

Rio de Janeiro

$106 8.2%

San Pedro de Macoris

$91 14.7% 14.1% $15

Getting Around

Rio de Janeiro

$60 4.7%

San Pedro de Macoris

$19 * 3.1% 68.1% $41

Sport & Entertainment

Rio de Janeiro

$47 3.6%

San Pedro de Macoris

$10 * 1.6% 78.5% $37

Categories marked with * are only partly priced – their share counts the items that do have prices.

Cost Breakdown

Dining out: $40.00 in Rio de Janeiro vs $41.00 in San Pedro de Macoris for a mid-range dinner for two. Groceries echo the gap at $215 vs $235 per month, with Rio de Janeiro cheaper across the board.

Good to know

🇧🇷 Rio de Janeiro

🇩🇴 San Pedro de Macoris

🕒 Local time

11:13 11:13 AM

10:13 10:13 AM

1 h behind Rio de Janeiro

🌤 Weather

👥 Population

6,211,223

217,141

💱 Currency

Brazilian Real BRL R$

Dominican Peso DOP $

📈 Exchange rate

1 BRL = 0.197 USD

1 BRL = 0.175 EUR

100 DOP = 1.63 USD

100 DOP = 1.45 EUR

Exchange rates and currency converter

DOP, 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).

Dominican Peso exchange rates as of October 18, 2026: 1 USD = 61.26 DOP (100 DOP = 1.63 USD). 1 EUR = 68.87 DOP (100 DOP = 1.45 EUR).

USD to BRL in detail →

On the map

Lowest

Highest

Between locations

Rio de Janeiro San Pedro de Macoris 5,400 km ≈ 7 h nonstop flight

From you

Rio de Janeiro
San Pedro de Macoris

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 Pedro de Macoris: Cost of Living - Frequently Asked Questions

Rio de Janeiro and San Pedro de Macoris differ by about 108% in total monthly costs ($1,289 vs $619 including rent). San Pedro de Macoris is meaningfully more affordable – a gap that matters a lot on a fixed or modest income.

You'd need roughly $1,933 in Rio de Janeiro and $928 in San Pedro de Macoris 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.

Childcare runs $598 in Rio de Janeiro versus $150 in San Pedro de Macoris. Over years of preschool, even a modest monthly gap compounds into a major financial factor for families.

Dining out is cheaper in San Pedro de Macoris – a meal for two runs $41.00 versus $40.00 in Rio de Janeiro. If you eat out regularly, this makes a real dent in your monthly spending.

At $619 in San Pedro de Macoris versus $1,289 in Rio de Janeiro, a $2,000 budget is realistic in San Pedro de Macoris but tight or insufficient in Rio de Janeiro. The gap between the two cities makes San Pedro de Macoris 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 Pedro de Macoris gentler on the wallet – expenses run 108% less than in Rio de Janeiro. Beyond cost, consider language, visa policies, and how big the international community is in each city.