Last update: Oct 2026

Cost of Living Comparison Between Santa Ana and Lima

For one person, living costs are similar in Santa Ana and in Lima: $1,026 and $1,012 a month, rent and utilities included.

50

Cost of Living Index in Santa Ana
Learn more

Santa Ana Living Index
49

Cost of Living Index in Lima
Learn more

Lima Living Index

Jump to prices

Santa Ana

🇸🇻 El Salvador

$1,026

/mo nomad

Lima

🇵🇪 Peru

$1,012

/mo nomad

Monthly Cost of Living

How much you'll spend in Santa Ana and in Lima

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

Monthly costs for one person with rent: $1,026 in Santa Ana versus $1,012 in Lima.

Santa Ana $1,026
Lima $1,012

Estimated couple costs with rent: $1,625 in Santa Ana versus $1,589 in Lima.

Santa Ana $1,625
Lima $1,589

Monthly costs for a family of three with rent: $2,225 in Santa Ana versus $2,167 in Lima.

Santa Ana $2,225
Lima $2,167

Living in Santa Ana is roughly 1% more expensive than in Lima, and outside of rent the biggest gap is in groceries.

Both cities sit below the global median: Santa Ana 24% lower, Lima 25% lower.

Meal at Budget Restaurant

$6.80 $6.80

$4.40 PEN 15.11

54.55%

Three-Course Dinner for Two, Mid-Range

$44.56 $44.56

$35.17 PEN 121

26.70%

Fast Food Meal (McDonalds, etc)

$6.93 $6.93

$6.89 PEN 23.66

0.58%

Cappuccino

$3.64 $3.64

$3.26 PEN 11.21

11.66%

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

$1.17 $1.17

$1.12 PEN 3.84

4.46%

Water (0.33 liter bottle)

$0.82 $0.82

$0.62 PEN 2.11

32.26%

Local Beer (0.5 liter draught)

$2.05 $2.05

$2.65 PEN 9.10

-22.64%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$3.46 $3.46

$4.41 PEN 15.15

-21.54%

Milk (1 liter)

$1.80 $1.80

$1.63 PEN 5.61

10.43%

White Bread (500g)

$2.86 $2.86

$2.56 PEN 8.78

11.72%

Rice (white) (1kg)

$1.39 $1.39

$1.35 PEN 4.65

2.96%

Eggs

$2.97 $2.97

$2.90 PEN 9.96

2.41%

Local Cheese (1kg)

$7.49 $7.49

$8.85 PEN 30.39

-15.37%

Chicken Fillets (1kg)

$7.00 $7.00

$5.98 PEN 20.53

17.06%

Beef Round Steak (1kg)

$10.29 $10.29

$9.78 PEN 33.61

5.21%

Apples (1kg)

$5.02 $5.02

$2.05 PEN 7.03

144.88%

Banana (1kg)

$1.38 $1.38

$1.06 PEN 3.66

30.19%

Oranges (1kg)

$2.68 $2.68

$1.35 PEN 4.64

98.52%

Tomato (1kg)

$3.55 $3.55

$1.50 PEN 5.16

136.67%

Potato (1kg)

$2.98 $2.98

$0.88 PEN 3.03

238.64%

Onion (1kg)

$3.23 $3.23

$0.92 PEN 3.15

251.09%

Lettuce (1 head)

$1.01 $1.01

$0.89 PEN 3.07

13.48%

Water (1.5 liter bottle)

$0.99 $0.99

$0.90 PEN 3.11

10.00%

Cigarettes 20 Pack (Marlboro, Camel)

$3.96 $3.96

$5.90 PEN 20.28

-32.88%

Wine (Bottle)

$11.77 $11.77

$8.52 PEN 29.27

38.15%

Local Beer (0.5 liter bottle)

$2.17 $2.17

$1.88 PEN 6.45

15.43%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$2.98 $2.98

$3.22 PEN 11.05

-7.45%

One-way Ticket (Public Transport)

$0.29 $0.29

$0.68 PEN 2.34

-57.35%

Public Transport Monthly Pass (Regular Price)

$26.86 PEN 92.3

Taxi Start (Normal Tariff)

$5.96 $5.96

$3.81 PEN 13.10

56.43%

Taxi (Normal Tariff) (1km)

$2.94 $2.94

$2.02 PEN 6.93

45.54%

Taxi 1hour Waiting (Normal Tariff)

$19.64 $19.64

$7.11 PEN 24.42

176.23%

Gasoline (1 liter)

$0.95 $0.95

$1.72 PEN 5.91

-44.77%

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

$22.8K $22.8K

$22.3K PEN 76.7K

2.22%

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

$26.8K $26.8K

$25.5K PEN 87.6K

4.92%

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

$40.10 $40.10

$73.1 PEN 251

-45.12%

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

$20.97 $20.97

$16.35 PEN 56.2

28.26%

Internet (50+ Mbps, Unlimited Data)

$38.73 $38.73

$27.47 PEN 94.4

40.99%

Gym Membership (Monthly)

$34.57 $34.57

$31.90 PEN 110

8.37%

Tennis Court (1 Hour on Weekend)

$19.41 PEN 66.7

Cinema Ticket

$4.97 $4.97

$7.05 PEN 24.24

-29.50%

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

$162 $162

$182 PEN 627

-10.97%

International Primary School, 1 Child (Yearly)

$4,797 $4,797

$13.0K PEN 44.8K

-63.22%

Jeans (Levis 501 Or Similar)

$67.5 $67.5

$53.8 PEN 185

25.47%

Summer Dress (H&M, Zara, etc)

$46.93 $46.93

$34.32 PEN 118

36.74%

Sport Shoes (Adidas, Nike)

$120 $120

$82.8 PEN 285

45.28%

Men's Leather Business Shoes

$117 $117

$78.2 PEN 269

50.12%

1-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$640 $640

$721 PEN 2,478

-11.21%

1-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$271 $271

$343 PEN 1,180

-21.04%

3-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$1,019 $1,019

$1,219 PEN 4,188

-16.42%

3-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$448 $448

$651 PEN 2,236

-31.20%

Buy Apartment in City Center (m2)

$2,414 PEN 8,296

Buy Apartment Outside City Center (m2)

$1,357 PEN 4,663

Average Monthly Net Salary (After Tax)

$457 $457

$648 PEN 2,227

-29.53%

20-Year Fixed Mortgage Interest Rate (Annual %)

8.94

-44.07%

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

Last update for Santa Ana: October 10, 2026

Last update for Lima: October 11, 2026

Monthly budget structure

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

Groceries & Markets

Santa Ana

$286 27.9%

Lima

$226 22.3% 21% $60

Accommodation & Living

Santa Ana

$271 26.4%

Lima

$343 33.9% 26.7% $72

Clothing & Footwear

Santa Ana

$158 15.5%

Lima

$112 11.1% 29.3% $46

Eating Out

Santa Ana

$144 14%

Lima

$124 12.3% 13.9% $20

Monthly Utilities & Internet

Santa Ana

$100 9.7%

Lima

$117 11.6% 17.1% $17

Sport & Entertainment

Santa Ana

$45 4.3%

Lima

$46 4.6% 3.4% $1.5

Getting Around

Santa Ana

$22 * 2.1%

Lima

$43 4.3% 99.4% $22

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 $640 in Santa Ana and $721 in Lima. Housing cost is often the main lever when comparing two cities.

Lima pays 42% more on average while also being the cheaper of the two. The combined effect is a noticeably stronger local purchasing power.

Dining out: $45.00 in Santa Ana vs $35.00 in Lima for a mid-range dinner for two. Groceries echo the gap at $286 vs $226 per month, with Lima cheaper across the board.

Good to know

🇸🇻 Santa Ana

🇵🇪 Lima

🕒 Local time

16:13 4:13 PM

17:13 5:13 PM

1 h ahead of Santa Ana

🌤 Weather

👥 Population

167,200

9,989,369 Capital

💱 Currency

United States Dollar USD $

Peruvian Sol PEN S/

📈 Exchange rate

1 USD = 0.892 EUR

1 PEN = 0.291 USD

1 PEN = 0.26 EUR

Exchange rates and currency converter

PEN, EUR to USD – United States Dollar Converter

🇵🇪 Peruvian Sol (S/)

🇺🇸 United States Dollar ($)

United States Dollar exchange rates as of October 15, 2026: 1 EUR = 1.12 USD (1 USD = 0.892 EUR).

Peruvian Sol exchange rates as of October 15, 2026: 1 USD = 3.44 PEN (1 PEN = 0.291 USD). 1 EUR = 3.85 PEN (1 PEN = 0.26 EUR).

PEN to USD in detail →

On the map

Lowest

Highest

Between locations

Santa Ana Lima 3,210 km ≈ 4 h 30 min nonstop flight

From you

Santa Ana
Lima

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

Santa Ana vs Lima: Cost of Living - Frequently Asked Questions

Santa Ana and Lima differ by about 1% in total monthly costs ($1,026 vs $1,012 including rent). Lima is meaningfully more affordable – a gap that matters a lot on a fixed or modest income.

On paper, salaries run 42% lower in Lima. 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: $640 in Santa Ana versus $721 in Lima. Housing is usually the single largest factor when comparing overall living costs between the two.

Supermarket bills run roughly 27% higher in Santa Ana. For households that cook at home regularly, that difference adds up over a month.

All in, you'll spend $1,026 per month in Santa Ana versus $1,012 in Lima – a 1% gap that adds up to real savings over time for anyone picking the cheaper option.

At $1,012 in Lima versus $1,026 in Santa Ana, a $2,000 budget is realistic in Lima but tight or insufficient in Santa Ana. The gap between the two cities makes Lima 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 Lima gentler on the wallet – expenses run 1% less than in Santa Ana. Beyond cost, consider language, visa policies, and how big the international community is in each city.