Last update: Oct 2026

Cost of Living Comparison Between Santiago and Manzanillo

For one person, living costs are similar in Santiago and in Manzanillo: $1,190 and $1,230 a month, rent and utilities included.

57

Cost of Living Index in Santiago
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Santiago Living Index
60

Cost of Living Index in Manzanillo
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Manzanillo Living Index

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Santiago

🇨🇱 Chile

$1,190

/mo nomad

Manzanillo

🇲🇽 Mexico

$1,230

/mo nomad

Monthly Cost of Living

How much you'll spend in Santiago and in Manzanillo

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

Monthly costs for one person with rent: $1,190 in Santiago versus $1,230 in Manzanillo.

Santiago $1,190
Manzanillo $1,230

Estimated couple costs with rent: $1,892 in Santiago versus $2,152 in Manzanillo.

Santiago $1,892
Manzanillo $2,152

Monthly costs for a family of three with rent: $2,595 in Santiago versus $3,075 in Manzanillo.

Santiago $2,595
Manzanillo $3,075

Living in Santiago costs roughly 3% less than in Manzanillo, and outside of rent the biggest gap is in transport.

Both cities sit below the global median: Santiago 12% lower, Manzanillo 9% lower.

Meal at Budget Restaurant

$10.37 CLP 10.2K

$11.10 MX$205

-6.58%

Three-Course Dinner for Two, Mid-Range

$51.7 CLP 50.9K

$32.44 MX$599

59.31%

Fast Food Meal (McDonalds, etc)

$8.94 CLP 8,805

$10.83 MX$200

-17.45%

Cappuccino

$3.26 CLP 3,211

$3.58 MX$66.2

-8.94%

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

$1.67 CLP 1,640

$1.17 MX$21.59

42.74%

Water (0.33 liter bottle)

$1.23 CLP 1,212

$1.17 MX$21.54

5.13%

Local Beer (0.5 liter draught)

$3.98 CLP 3,914

$2.16 MX$40.00

84.26%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$4.54 CLP 4,465

$4.39 MX$81.1

3.42%

Milk (1 liter)

$1.28 CLP 1,263

$1.48 MX$27.40

-13.51%

White Bread (500g)

$1.85 CLP 1,817

$2.60 MX$47.96

-28.85%

Rice (white) (1kg)

$1.59 CLP 1,567

$1.20 MX$22.26

32.50%

Eggs

$4.10 CLP 4,031

$2.09 MX$38.64

96.17%

Local Cheese (1kg)

$11.41 CLP 11.2K

$8.28 MX$153

37.80%

Chicken Fillets (1kg)

$6.69 CLP 6,586

$5.41 MX$100

23.66%

Beef Round Steak (1kg)

$10.81 CLP 10.6K

$9.93 MX$184

8.86%

Apples (1kg)

$1.94 CLP 1,905

$2.93 MX$54.2

-33.79%

Banana (1kg)

$1.52 CLP 1,497

$1.42 MX$26.31

7.04%

Oranges (1kg)

$1.60 CLP 1,577

$1.78 MX$32.89

-10.11%

Tomato (1kg)

$1.69 CLP 1,668

$1.52 MX$28.14

11.18%

Potato (1kg)

$1.10 CLP 1,084

$2.23 MX$41.12

-50.67%

Onion (1kg)

$1.52 CLP 1,500

$1.69 MX$31.24

-10.06%

Lettuce (1 head)

$1.18 CLP 1,164

$1.87 MX$34.57

-36.90%

Water (1.5 liter bottle)

$1.08 CLP 1,061

$1.20 MX$22.10

-10.00%

Cigarettes 20 Pack (Marlboro, Camel)

$5.07 CLP 4,995

$5.44 MX$100

-6.80%

Wine (Bottle)

$5.95 CLP 5,858

$6.62 MX$122

-10.12%

Local Beer (0.5 liter bottle)

$1.49 CLP 1,470

$1.83 MX$33.77

-18.58%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$2.38 CLP 2,342

$2.52 MX$46.60

-5.56%

One-way Ticket (Public Transport)

$0.83 CLP 821

$0.75 MX$13.90

10.67%

Public Transport Monthly Pass (Regular Price)

$40.14 CLP 39.5K

Taxi Start (Normal Tariff)

$0.40 CLP 393

$2.41 MX$44.55

-83.40%

Taxi (Normal Tariff) (1km)

$0.91 CLP 897

$2.43 MX$44.84

-62.55%

Taxi 1hour Waiting (Normal Tariff)

$11.63 CLP 11.5K

$9.40 MX$174

23.72%

Gasoline (1 liter)

$1.51 CLP 1,486

$1.36 MX$25.17

11.03%

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

$17.6K CLP 17.3M

$20.9K MX$386.6K

-16.00%

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

$22.0K CLP 21.6M

$24.4K MX$450.4K

-9.81%

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

$151 CLP 149.0K

$65.5 MX$1,211

131.09%

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

$12.34 CLP 12.1K

$19.83 MX$367

-37.77%

Internet (50+ Mbps, Unlimited Data)

$18.73 CLP 18.4K

$29.37 MX$543

-36.23%

Gym Membership (Monthly)

$33.71 CLP 33.2K

$65.3 MX$1,206

-48.35%

Tennis Court (1 Hour on Weekend)

$11.80 CLP 11.6K

$33.01 MX$610

-64.25%

Cinema Ticket

$7.45 CLP 7,334

$4.46 MX$82.4

67.04%

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

$430 CLP 423.7K

$163 MX$3,016

163.73%

International Primary School, 1 Child (Yearly)

$10.8K CLP 10.6M

$7,172 MX$132.5K

50.56%

Jeans (Levis 501 Or Similar)

$49.65 CLP 48.9K

$43.02 MX$795

15.41%

Summer Dress (H&M, Zara, etc)

$28.94 CLP 28.5K

$24.85 MX$459

16.46%

Sport Shoes (Adidas, Nike)

$65.7 CLP 64.6K

$75.6 MX$1,397

-13.17%

Men's Leather Business Shoes

$80.7 CLP 79.4K

$120 MX$2,213

-32.63%

1-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$559 CLP 550.4K

$684 MX$12.6K

-18.31%

1-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$384 CLP 377.8K

$479 MX$8,845

-19.82%

3-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$1,004 CLP 988.4K

$1,519 MX$28.1K

-33.92%

3-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$780 CLP 767.9K

$1,373 MX$25.4K

-43.19%

Buy Apartment in City Center (m2)

$2,640 CLP 2.6M

Buy Apartment Outside City Center (m2)

$2,546 CLP 2.5M

Average Monthly Net Salary (After Tax)

$804 CLP 791.0K

$409 MX$7,563

96.33%

20-Year Fixed Mortgage Interest Rate (Annual %)

5.39

11.3

-52.30%

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

Last update for Santiago: October 11, 2026

Last update for Manzanillo: October 12, 2026

Monthly budget structure

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

Accommodation & Living

Santiago

$384 32.3%

Manzanillo

$479 38.9% 24.7% $95

Groceries & Markets

Santiago

$236 19.8%

Manzanillo

$233 18.9% 1.3% $3.1

Eating Out

Santiago

$189 15.9%

Manzanillo

$193 15.7% 2% $3.8

Monthly Utilities & Internet

Santiago

$182 15.3%

Manzanillo

$115 9.3% 37.1% $68

Clothing & Footwear

Santiago

$101 8.5%

Manzanillo

$118 9.6% 17% $17

Sport & Entertainment

Santiago

$49 4.1%

Manzanillo

$74 6% 52.6% $26

Getting Around

Santiago

$48 4.1%

Manzanillo

$18 * 1.4% 63.8% $31

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 $559 in Santiago and $684 in Manzanillo. Housing cost is often the main lever when comparing two cities.

Santiago pays 96% more on average while also being the cheaper of the two. The combined effect is a noticeably stronger local purchasing power.

Dining out: $52.0 in Santiago vs $32.00 in Manzanillo for a mid-range dinner for two. Groceries echo the gap at $236 vs $233 per month, with Manzanillo cheaper across the board.

Good to know

🇨🇱 Santiago

🇲🇽 Manzanillo

🕒 Local time

23:33 11:33 PM

20:33 8:33 PM

3 h behind Santiago

🌤 Weather

👥 Population

6,139,087 Capital

159,853

💱 Currency

Chilean Peso CLP $

Mexican Peso MXN $

📈 Exchange rate

10,000 CLP = 10.16 USD

10,000 CLP = 9.04 EUR

100 MXN = 5.41 USD

100 MXN = 4.81 EUR

Exchange rates and currency converter

MXN, USD, EUR to CLP – Chilean Peso Converter

🇺🇸 United States Dollar ($)

🇨🇱 Chilean Peso ($)

Chilean Peso exchange rates as of October 18, 2026: 1 USD = 984 CLP (1,000 CLP = 1.02 USD). 1 EUR = 1,107 CLP (10,000 CLP = 9.04 EUR).

Mexican Peso exchange rates as of October 18, 2026: 1 USD = 18.48 MXN (100 MXN = 5.41 USD). 1 EUR = 20.77 MXN (100 MXN = 4.81 EUR).

USD to CLP in detail →

On the map

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Highest

Between locations

Santiago Manzanillo 6,840 km ≈ 9 h nonstop flight

From you

Santiago
Manzanillo

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

Santiago vs Manzanillo: Cost of Living - Frequently Asked Questions

Santiago and Manzanillo differ by about 3% in total monthly costs ($1,190 vs $1,230 including rent). Santiago is meaningfully more affordable – a gap that matters a lot on a fixed or modest income.

Average pay runs 96% higher in Santiago, 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: $559 in Santiago versus $684 in Manzanillo. Housing is usually the single largest factor when comparing overall living costs between the two.

Shoppers in Manzanillo pay roughly 1% less for everyday groceries. It's an unusual reversal that partly offsets higher costs elsewhere.

All in, you'll spend $1,190 per month in Santiago versus $1,230 in Manzanillo – a 3% gap that adds up to real savings over time for anyone picking the cheaper option.

At $1,190 in Santiago versus $1,230 in Manzanillo, a $1,500 budget is realistic in Santiago but tight or insufficient in Manzanillo. The gap between the two cities makes Santiago 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 Santiago gentler on the wallet – expenses run 3% less than in Manzanillo. Beyond cost, consider language, visa policies, and how big the international community is in each city.