Last update: Oct 2026

Cost of Living Comparison Between Sao Paulo and Tamarin

For one person, living is cheaper in Tamarin: $1,024 a month against $1,235 in Sao Paulo, rent and utilities included – about $2,500 less a year. Other living expenses account for most of the difference.

60

Cost of Living Index in Sao Paulo
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Sao Paulo Living Index
50

Cost of Living Index in Tamarin
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Tamarin Living Index

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Sao Paulo

🇧🇷 Brazil

$1,235

/mo nomad

Tamarin

🇲🇺 Mauritius

$1,024

/mo nomad

Monthly Cost of Living

How much you'll spend in Sao Paulo and in Tamarin

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

Monthly costs for one person with rent: $1,235 in Sao Paulo versus $1,024 in Tamarin.

Sao Paulo $1,235
Tamarin $1,024

Estimated couple costs with rent: $2,073 in Sao Paulo versus $1,623 in Tamarin.

Sao Paulo $2,073
Tamarin $1,623

Monthly costs for a family of three with rent: $2,911 in Sao Paulo versus $2,222 in Tamarin.

Sao Paulo $2,911
Tamarin $2,222

Living in Sao Paulo is roughly 21% more expensive than in Tamarin, and outside of rent the biggest gap is in groceries.

Both cities sit below the global median: Sao Paulo 9% lower, Tamarin 24% lower.

Meal at Budget Restaurant

$8.81 R$44.68

$5.64 MUR 266

56.21%

Three-Course Dinner for Two, Mid-Range

$49.37 R$250

$32.00 MUR 1,507

54.28%

Fast Food Meal (McDonalds, etc)

$8.80 R$44.63

$7.05 MUR 332

24.82%

Cappuccino

$2.49 R$12.63

$2.57 MUR 121

-3.11%

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

$1.42 R$7.19

$1.18 MUR 55.5

20.34%

Water (0.33 liter bottle)

$0.85 R$4.31

$0.67 MUR 31.34

26.87%

Local Beer (0.5 liter draught)

$2.98 R$15.11

$2.66 MUR 125

12.03%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$4.34 R$22.02

$4.87 MUR 229

-10.88%

Milk (1 liter)

$1.24 R$6.28

$1.52 MUR 71.7

-18.42%

White Bread (500g)

$1.91 R$9.66

$0.22 MUR 10.37

768.18%

Rice (white) (1kg)

$1.43 R$7.25

$1.14 MUR 53.9

25.44%

Eggs

$2.81 R$14.23

$2.48 MUR 117

13.31%

Local Cheese (1kg)

$12.74 R$64.6

$3.90 MUR 184

226.67%

Chicken Fillets (1kg)

$5.41 R$27.44

$6.34 MUR 299

-14.67%

Beef Round Steak (1kg)

$10.64 R$54.0

$11.06 MUR 521

-3.80%

Apples (1kg)

$2.75 R$13.95

$2.12 MUR 99.6

29.72%

Banana (1kg)

$1.81 R$9.19

$2.19 MUR 103

-17.35%

Oranges (1kg)

$1.63 R$8.27

$1.45 MUR 68.1

12.41%

Tomato (1kg)

$2.00 R$10.16

$2.90 MUR 137

-31.03%

Potato (1kg)

$1.40 R$7.10

$0.95 MUR 44.96

47.37%

Onion (1kg)

$1.27 R$6.43

$1.00 MUR 46.91

27.00%

Lettuce (1 head)

$1.28 R$6.47

$0.70 MUR 32.73

82.86%

Water (1.5 liter bottle)

$0.95 R$4.83

$0.87 MUR 41.10

9.20%

Cigarettes 20 Pack (Marlboro, Camel)

$2.99 R$15.15

$5.99 MUR 282

-50.08%

Wine (Bottle)

$9.96 R$50.5

$8.62 MUR 406

15.55%

Local Beer (0.5 liter bottle)

$1.85 R$9.37

$1.62 MUR 76.5

14.20%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$2.54 R$12.90

$1.87 MUR 88.2

35.83%

One-way Ticket (Public Transport)

$1.09 R$5.50

$0.87 MUR 41.12

25.29%

Public Transport Monthly Pass (Regular Price)

$48.78 R$247

Taxi Start (Normal Tariff)

$1.85 R$9.39

$4.26 MUR 201

-56.57%

Taxi (Normal Tariff) (1km)

$0.99 R$4.99

$3.10 MUR 146

-68.06%

Taxi 1hour Waiting (Normal Tariff)

$10.29 R$52.2

$6.42 MUR 302

60.28%

Gasoline (1 liter)

$1.34 R$6.78

$1.35 MUR 63.6

-0.74%

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

$24.4K R$123.8K

$29.5K MUR 1.4M

-17.14%

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

$33.9K R$172.1K

$30.6K MUR 1.4M

10.96%

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

$104 R$529

$44.88 MUR 2,113

132.73%

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

$16.71 R$84.7

$10.38 MUR 489

60.98%

Internet (50+ Mbps, Unlimited Data)

$22.18 R$112

$29.37 MUR 1,383

-24.48%

Gym Membership (Monthly)

$35.82 R$182

$40.56 MUR 1,910

-11.69%

Tennis Court (1 Hour on Weekend)

$47.28 R$240

Cinema Ticket

$10.06 R$51.0

$6.24 MUR 294

61.22%

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

$579 R$2,936

$124 MUR 5,855

365.76%

International Primary School, 1 Child (Yearly)

$17.1K R$86.6K

$3,087 MUR 145.3K

453.31%

Jeans (Levis 501 Or Similar)

$65.7 R$333

$64.1 MUR 3,016

2.48%

Summer Dress (H&M, Zara, etc)

$61.0 R$309

$53.0 MUR 2,497

15.09%

Sport Shoes (Adidas, Nike)

$100 R$509

$83.2 MUR 3,916

20.70%

Men's Leather Business Shoes

$92.1 R$467

$58.1 MUR 2,736

58.48%

1-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$659 R$3,341

$937 MUR 44.1K

-29.66%

1-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$428 R$2,170

$420 MUR 19.8K

2.02%

3-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$1,515 R$7,678

$1,603 MUR 75.5K

-5.50%

3-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$1,026 R$5,201

$839 MUR 39.5K

22.28%

Buy Apartment in City Center (m2)

$2,773 R$14.1K

Buy Apartment Outside City Center (m2)

$2,007 R$10.2K

Average Monthly Net Salary (After Tax)

$909 R$4,609

$826 MUR 38.9K

10.13%

20-Year Fixed Mortgage Interest Rate (Annual %)

11.68

6.67

75.11%

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

Last update for Sao Paulo: October 13, 2026

Last update for Tamarin: October 10, 2026

Monthly budget structure

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

Accommodation & Living

Sao Paulo

$428 34.7%

Tamarin

$420 41% 2% $8.5

Groceries & Markets

Sao Paulo

$244 19.8%

Tamarin

$200 19.5% 18.2% $45

Eating Out

Sao Paulo

$159 12.9%

Tamarin

$128 12.5% 20% $32

Clothing & Footwear

Sao Paulo

$144 11.6%

Tamarin

$116 11.4% 19% $27

Monthly Utilities & Internet

Sao Paulo

$143 11.6%

Tamarin

$85 8.3% 41% $59

Getting Around

Sao Paulo

$60 4.9%

Tamarin

$23 * 2.3% 61.2% $37

Sport & Entertainment

Sao Paulo

$56 4.5%

Tamarin

$53 5.2% 5.2% $2.9

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 $659 in Sao Paulo and $937 in Tamarin. Housing cost is often the main lever when comparing two cities.

Sao Paulo pays 10% more on average. The extra income cushions the higher costs, though housing choices and lifestyle decide how much of the gap is truly closed.

Dining out: $49.00 in Sao Paulo vs $32.00 in Tamarin for a mid-range dinner for two. Groceries echo the gap at $244 vs $200 per month, with Tamarin cheaper across the board.

Good to know

🇧🇷 Sao Paulo

🇲🇺 Tamarin

🕒 Local time

14:42 2:42 PM

21:42 9:42 PM

7 h ahead of Sao Paulo

🌤 Weather

👥 Population

11,451,999

4,371

💱 Currency

Brazilian Real BRL R$

Mauritian Rupee MUR ₨

📈 Exchange rate

1 BRL = 0.197 USD

1 BRL = 0.175 EUR

100 MUR = 2.12 USD

100 MUR = 1.89 EUR

Exchange rates and currency converter

MUR, 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).

Mauritian Rupee exchange rates as of October 18, 2026: 1 USD = 47.08 MUR (100 MUR = 2.12 USD). 1 EUR = 52.93 MUR (100 MUR = 1.89 EUR).

USD to BRL in detail →

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Between locations

Sao Paulo Tamarin 10,450 km ≈ 14 h nonstop flight

From you

Sao Paulo
Tamarin

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

Sao Paulo vs Tamarin: Cost of Living - Frequently Asked Questions

Tamarin is cheaper overall, especially in groceries, eating out, and clothing. The 21% gap adds up to real monthly savings that compound significantly over time.

Average pay runs 10% higher in Sao Paulo, 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: $659 in Sao Paulo versus $937 in Tamarin. Housing is usually the single largest factor when comparing overall living costs between the two.

Childcare runs $579 in Sao Paulo versus $124 in Tamarin. Over years of preschool, even a modest monthly gap compounds into a major financial factor for families.

Dining out is cheaper in Tamarin – a meal for two runs $32.00 versus $49.00 in Sao Paulo. If you eat out regularly, this makes a real dent in your monthly spending.

At $1,024 in Tamarin versus $1,235 in Sao Paulo, a $1,000 budget is realistic in Tamarin but tight or insufficient in Sao Paulo. The gap between the two cities makes Tamarin the clear choice for anyone on this budget.

For families, Tamarin is more practical. Housing and childcare are both notably cheaper than in Sao Paulo, and the savings on those two alone free up budget for education, activities, and family trips.

Safety-wise, Sao Paulo and Tamarin 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 Tamarin gentler on the wallet – expenses run 21% less than in Sao Paulo. Beyond cost, consider language, visa policies, and how big the international community is in each city.