Last update: Oct 2026

Cost of Living Comparison Between San Juan and Buenos Aires

For one person, living is cheaper in San Juan: $771 a month against $1,656 in Buenos Aires, rent and utilities included – about $10,600 less a year. Rent and utilities account for most of the difference.

37

Cost of Living Index in San Juan
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San Juan Living Index
80

Cost of Living Index in Buenos Aires
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Buenos Aires Living Index

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San Juan

🇹🇹 Trinidad And Tobago

$771

/mo nomad

Buenos Aires

🇦🇷 Argentina

$1,656

/mo nomad

Monthly Cost of Living

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

Monthly costs for one person with rent: $771 in San Juan versus $1,656 in Buenos Aires.

San Juan $771
Buenos Aires $1,656

Estimated couple costs with rent: $1,321 in San Juan versus $2,697 in Buenos Aires.

San Juan $1,321
Buenos Aires $2,697

Monthly costs for a family of three with rent: $1,870 in San Juan versus $3,737 in Buenos Aires.

San Juan $1,870
Buenos Aires $3,737

Living in San Juan costs roughly 53% less than in Buenos Aires, and outside of rent the biggest gap is in eating out.

The two cities straddle the global median: San Juan is 43% below, Buenos Aires is 23% above.

Meal at Budget Restaurant

$10.47 TTD 70.4

$19.09 ARS 29.0K

-45.15%

Three-Course Dinner for Two, Mid-Range

$59.2 TTD 398

$65.8 ARS 99.9K

-10.00%

Fast Food Meal (McDonalds, etc)

$7.95 TTD 53.5

$13.20 ARS 20.0K

-39.77%

Cappuccino

$3.63 TTD 24.39

$3.85 ARS 5,841

-5.71%

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

$1.21 TTD 8.15

$1.99 ARS 3,020

-39.20%

Water (0.33 liter bottle)

$0.75 TTD 5.07

$1.60 ARS 2,430

-53.13%

Local Beer (0.5 liter draught)

$2.23 TTD 14.98

$3.93 ARS 5,959

-43.26%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$3.01 TTD 20.23

$4.61 ARS 7,003

-34.71%

Milk (1 liter)

$1.98 TTD 13.33

$1.50 ARS 2,272

32.00%

White Bread (500g)

$2.36 TTD 15.86

$2.53 ARS 3,837

-6.72%

Rice (white) (1kg)

$2.91 TTD 19.56

$1.61 ARS 2,445

80.75%

Eggs

$3.74 TTD 25.14

$2.84 ARS 4,316

31.69%

Local Cheese (1kg)

$6.80 TTD 45.75

$10.30 ARS 15.6K

-33.98%

Chicken Fillets (1kg)

$10.15 TTD 68.3

$10.00 ARS 15.2K

1.50%

Beef Round Steak (1kg)

$8.89 TTD 59.8

$13.30 ARS 20.2K

-33.16%

Apples (1kg)

$5.51 TTD 37.04

$2.88 ARS 4,366

91.32%

Banana (1kg)

$2.53 TTD 17.00

$2.20 ARS 3,334

15.00%

Oranges (1kg)

$3.60 TTD 24.22

$1.40 ARS 2,120

157.14%

Tomato (1kg)

$4.25 TTD 28.57

$1.98 ARS 3,004

114.65%

Potato (1kg)

$0.77 TTD 5.17

$1.21 ARS 1,835

-36.36%

Onion (1kg)

$0.71 TTD 4.81

$1.26 ARS 1,910

-43.65%

Lettuce (1 head)

$1.45 TTD 9.76

$1.71 ARS 2,592

-15.20%

Water (1.5 liter bottle)

$1.21 TTD 8.13

$1.72 ARS 2,603

-29.65%

Cigarettes 20 Pack (Marlboro, Camel)

$5.77 TTD 38.81

$4.29 ARS 6,505

34.50%

Wine (Bottle)

$18.00 TTD 121

$5.70 ARS 8,645

215.79%

Local Beer (0.5 liter bottle)

$1.56 TTD 10.49

$2.17 ARS 3,288

-28.11%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$3.01 TTD 20.23

$2.76 ARS 4,188

9.06%

One-way Ticket (Public Transport)

$0.75 ARS 1,141

Public Transport Monthly Pass (Regular Price)

$27.27 ARS 41.4K

Taxi Start (Normal Tariff)

$0.87 TTD 5.82

$1.57 ARS 2,375

-44.59%

Taxi (Normal Tariff) (1km)

$0.85 TTD 5.71

$1.03 ARS 1,558

-17.48%

Taxi 1hour Waiting (Normal Tariff)

$14.64 TTD 98.5

$7.90 ARS 12.0K

85.32%

Gasoline (1 liter)

$1.16 TTD 7.78

$1.42 ARS 2,160

-18.31%

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

$37.6K TTD 253.1K

$27.9K ARS 42.4M

34.60%

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

$41.0K TTD 275.6K

$35.0K ARS 53.1M

17.17%

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

$43.82 TTD 295

$195 ARS 296.2K

-77.55%

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

$42.30 TTD 285

$25.16 ARS 38.2K

68.12%

Internet (50+ Mbps, Unlimited Data)

$44.86 TTD 302

$31.54 ARS 47.9K

42.23%

Gym Membership (Monthly)

$50.9 ARS 77.3K

Tennis Court (1 Hour on Weekend)

$16.73 ARS 25.4K

Cinema Ticket

$8.95 TTD 60.2

$10.34 ARS 15.7K

-13.44%

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

$398 TTD 2,678

$463 ARS 703.2K

-14.10%

International Primary School, 1 Child (Yearly)

$10.8K TTD 72.6K

$8,793 ARS 13.3M

22.79%

Jeans (Levis 501 Or Similar)

$53.8 TTD 362

$120 ARS 181.8K

-55.09%

Summer Dress (H&M, Zara, etc)

$37.61 TTD 253

$95.5 ARS 144.9K

-60.61%

Sport Shoes (Adidas, Nike)

$87.8 TTD 591

$114 ARS 173.1K

-23.05%

Men's Leather Business Shoes

$89.9 TTD 605

$139 ARS 211.4K

-35.48%

1-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$756 ARS 1.1M

1-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$520 ARS 788.8K

3-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$1,590 ARS 2.4M

3-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$1,198 ARS 1.8M

Buy Apartment in City Center (m2)

$2,713 ARS 4.1M

Buy Apartment Outside City Center (m2)

$1,901 ARS 2.9M

Average Monthly Net Salary (After Tax)

$938 ARS 1.4M

20-Year Fixed Mortgage Interest Rate (Annual %)

5.75

57.25

-89.96%

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

Last update for San Juan: October 11, 2026

Last update for Buenos Aires: October 11, 2026

Monthly budget structure

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

Groceries & Markets

San Juan

$320 41.5%

Buenos Aires

$283 17.1% 11.5% $37

Eating Out

San Juan

$176 22.8%

Buenos Aires

$282 17% 60% $106

Monthly Utilities & Internet

San Juan

$131 17%

Buenos Aires

$252 15.2% 92.3% $121

Clothing & Footwear

San Juan

$121 15.7%

Buenos Aires

$211 12.7% 74.2% $90

Sport & Entertainment

San Juan

$18 * 2.3%

Buenos Aires

$72 4.3% 300% $54

Getting Around

San Juan

$5.1 * 0.7%

Buenos Aires

$37 2.2% 624% $32

Accommodation & Living

San Juan

- * 0%

Buenos Aires

$520 31.4%

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

Cost Breakdown

Dining out: $59.0 in San Juan vs $66.0 in Buenos Aires. Groceries flip the comparison at $320 vs $283, with Buenos Aires cheaper for home cooking.

Good to know

🇹🇹 San Juan

🇦🇷 Buenos Aires

🕒 Local time

07:05 7:05 AM

08:05 8:05 AM

1 h ahead of San Juan

🌤 Weather

👥 Population

2,891,082 Capital

💱 Currency

Trinidad and Tobago Dollar TTD $

Argentine Peso ARS $

📈 Exchange rate

1 TTD = 0.149 USD

1 TTD = 0.132 EUR

10,000 ARS = 6.59 USD

10,000 ARS = 5.86 EUR

Exchange rates and currency converter

ARS, 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).

Argentine Peso exchange rates as of October 18, 2026: 1 USD = 1,517 ARS (10,000 ARS = 6.59 USD). 1 EUR = 1,706 ARS (10,000 ARS = 5.86 EUR).

USD to TTD in detail →

On the map

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Between locations

San Juan Buenos Aires 5,040 km ≈ 7 h nonstop flight

From you

San Juan
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

San Juan vs Buenos Aires: Cost of Living - Frequently Asked Questions

San Juan and Buenos Aires differ by about 115% in total monthly costs ($771 vs $1,656 including rent). San Juan is meaningfully more affordable – a gap that matters a lot on a fixed or modest income.

You'd need roughly $1,157 in San Juan 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.

Childcare runs $398 in San Juan 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 San Juan – a meal for two runs $59.0 versus $66.0 in Buenos Aires. If you eat out regularly, this makes a real dent in your monthly spending.

At $771 in San Juan versus $1,656 in Buenos Aires, a $1,000 budget is realistic in San Juan but tight or insufficient in Buenos Aires. The gap between the two cities makes San Juan 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, San Juan 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 San Juan gentler on the wallet – expenses run 115% less than in Buenos Aires. Beyond cost, consider language, visa policies, and how big the international community is in each city.