Last update: Oct 2026

Cost of Living Comparison Between San Fernando and Rio de Janeiro

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

61

Cost of Living Index in San Fernando
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San Fernando Living Index
63

Cost of Living Index in Rio de Janeiro
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Rio de Janeiro Living Index

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San Fernando

🇹🇹 Trinidad And Tobago

$1,263

/mo nomad

Rio de Janeiro

🇧🇷 Brazil

$1,289

/mo nomad

Monthly Cost of Living

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Meal at Budget Restaurant

$10.22 TTD 68.8

$10.06 R$51.0

1.59%

Three-Course Dinner for Two, Mid-Range

$59.6 TTD 401

$40.44 R$205

47.26%

Fast Food Meal (McDonalds, etc)

$8.00 TTD 53.9

$8.55 R$43.35

-6.43%

Cappuccino

$3.66 TTD 24.65

$2.38 R$12.04

53.78%

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

$1.02 TTD 6.88

$1.61 R$8.18

-36.65%

Water (0.33 liter bottle)

$0.76 TTD 5.09

$1.03 R$5.22

-26.21%

Local Beer (0.5 liter draught)

$1.89 TTD 12.69

$2.47 R$12.54

-23.48%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$2.63 TTD 17.71

$3.70 R$18.77

-28.92%

Milk (1 liter)

$1.98 TTD 13.33

$1.19 R$6.05

66.39%

White Bread (500g)

$2.29 TTD 15.41

$2.05 R$10.38

11.71%

Rice (white) (1kg)

$2.92 TTD 19.61

$1.28 R$6.49

128.13%

Eggs

$3.90 TTD 26.27

$2.29 R$11.60

70.31%

Local Cheese (1kg)

$6.58 TTD 44.24

$10.76 R$54.5

-38.85%

Chicken Fillets (1kg)

$10.17 TTD 68.4

$4.41 R$22.36

130.61%

Beef Round Steak (1kg)

$9.04 TTD 60.8

$9.84 R$49.86

-8.13%

Apples (1kg)

$5.59 TTD 37.61

$2.81 R$14.25

98.93%

Banana (1kg)

$2.57 TTD 17.31

$1.78 R$9.03

44.38%

Oranges (1kg)

$3.60 TTD 24.21

$1.60 R$8.13

125.00%

Tomato (1kg)

$4.38 TTD 29.43

$1.80 R$9.11

143.33%

Potato (1kg)

$0.75 TTD 5.05

$1.22 R$6.17

-38.52%

Onion (1kg)

$0.74 TTD 5.00

$1.04 R$5.26

-28.85%

Lettuce (1 head)

$1.50 TTD 10.11

$0.77 R$3.92

94.81%

Water (1.5 liter bottle)

$1.15 TTD 7.73

$0.67 R$3.38

71.64%

Cigarettes 20 Pack (Marlboro, Camel)

$5.71 TTD 38.38

$3.01 R$15.27

89.70%

Wine (Bottle)

$17.92 TTD 121

$8.08 R$40.94

121.78%

Local Beer (0.5 liter bottle)

$1.55 TTD 10.43

$1.19 R$6.03

30.25%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$2.93 TTD 19.74

$2.51 R$12.73

16.73%

One-way Ticket (Public Transport)

$0.46 TTD 3.10

$0.99 R$5.00

-53.54%

Public Transport Monthly Pass (Regular Price)

$44.31 TTD 298

$50.1 R$254

-11.57%

Taxi Start (Normal Tariff)

$0.86 TTD 5.79

$1.22 R$6.20

-29.51%

Taxi (Normal Tariff) (1km)

$0.92 TTD 6.20

$0.92 R$4.66

Taxi 1hour Waiting (Normal Tariff)

$14.57 TTD 98.0

$8.97 R$45.45

62.43%

Gasoline (1 liter)

$1.16 TTD 7.81

$1.30 R$6.57

-10.77%

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

$36.1K TTD 243.1K

$23.9K R$121.0K

51.35%

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

$40.3K TTD 270.8K

$32.9K R$166.6K

22.52%

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

$44.87 TTD 302

$133 R$676

-66.36%

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

$42.63 TTD 287

$10.82 R$54.8

293.99%

Internet (50+ Mbps, Unlimited Data)

$45.78 TTD 308

$22.90 R$116

99.91%

Gym Membership (Monthly)

$50.5 TTD 340

$30.79 R$156

64.11%

Tennis Court (1 Hour on Weekend)

$22.37 TTD 151

$31.85 R$161

-29.76%

Cinema Ticket

$8.70 TTD 58.5

$8.05 R$40.83

8.07%

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

$402 TTD 2,702

$598 R$3,029

-32.79%

International Primary School, 1 Child (Yearly)

$10.9K TTD 73.0K

$13.4K R$68.0K

-19.11%

Jeans (Levis 501 Or Similar)

$53.6 TTD 360

$42.04 R$213

27.38%

Summer Dress (H&M, Zara, etc)

$37.29 TTD 251

$49.68 R$252

-24.94%

Sport Shoes (Adidas, Nike)

$88.1 TTD 593

$74.5 R$378

18.28%

Men's Leather Business Shoes

$89.7 TTD 603

$68.7 R$348

30.59%

1-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$517 TTD 3,480

$903 R$4,578

-42.72%

1-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$398 TTD 2,675

$529 R$2,684

-24.88%

3-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$914 TTD 6,149

$1,326 R$6,724

-31.08%

3-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$743 TTD 5,000

$756 R$3,831

-1.65%

Buy Apartment in City Center (m2)

$1,991 TTD 13.4K

$4,010 R$20.3K

-50.35%

Buy Apartment Outside City Center (m2)

$1,492 TTD 10.0K

$1,560 R$7,910

-4.40%

Average Monthly Net Salary (After Tax)

$1,043 TTD 7,019

$640 R$3,242

63.14%

20-Year Fixed Mortgage Interest Rate (Annual %)

5.75

11.93

-51.80%

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

Last update for San Fernando: October 12, 2026

Last update for Rio de Janeiro: October 10, 2026

Monthly budget structure

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

Accommodation & Living

San Fernando

$398 31.5%

Rio de Janeiro

$529 41.1% 33.1% $132

Groceries & Markets

San Fernando

$320 25.4%

Rio de Janeiro

$215 16.7% 33% $106

Eating Out

San Fernando

$172 13.6%

Rio de Janeiro

$165 12.8% 3.9% $6.6

Monthly Utilities & Internet

San Fernando

$133 10.6%

Rio de Janeiro

$167 13% 25.4% $34

Clothing & Footwear

San Fernando

$121 9.6%

Rio de Janeiro

$106 8.2% 12.6% $15

Sport & Entertainment

San Fernando

$68 5.4%

Rio de Janeiro

$47 3.6% 31% $21

Getting Around

San Fernando

$52 4.1%

Rio de Janeiro

$60 4.7% 16% $8.3

Cost Breakdown

A one-bedroom apartment in the center runs $517 in San Fernando and $903 in Rio de Janeiro. 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: $60.0 in San Fernando vs $40.00 in Rio de Janeiro for a mid-range dinner for two. Groceries echo the gap at $320 vs $215 per month, with Rio de Janeiro cheaper across the board.

Good to know

🇹🇹 San Fernando

🇧🇷 Rio de Janeiro

🕒 Local time

13:55 1:55 PM

14:55 2:55 PM

1 h ahead of San Fernando

🌤 Weather

👥 Population

55,419

6,211,223

💱 Currency

Trinidad and Tobago Dollar TTD $

Brazilian Real BRL R$

📈 Exchange rate

1 TTD = 0.149 USD

1 TTD = 0.132 EUR

1 BRL = 0.197 USD

1 BRL = 0.175 EUR

Exchange rates and currency converter

BRL, USD, EUR to TTD – Trinidad and Tobago Dollar Converter

🇺🇸 United States Dollar ($)

🇹🇹 Trinidad and Tobago Dollar ($)

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).

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).

USD to TTD in detail →

On the map

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Between locations

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

From you

San Fernando
Rio de Janeiro

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

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

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

Average pay runs 63% higher in San Fernando, 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: $517 in San Fernando versus $903 in Rio de Janeiro. 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 $1,263 per month in San Fernando versus $1,289 in Rio de Janeiro – 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.