Cost of living comparison

Montevideo, Uruguay

compared to

Buenos Aires, Argentina

Buenos Aires vs. Montevideo Cost of Living Summary

Buenos Aires is 29.6% cheaper than Montevideo.

Restaurants: pay 21.8% less in Buenos Aires
Groceries: pay 24.4% less in Buenos Aires
Transportation: pay 59.3% less in Buenos Aires
Housing: pay 30.5% less in Buenos Aires
Childcare: pay 44.6% less in Buenos Aires
Entertainment and Sports: pay 44.9% less in Buenos Aires
Clothing: pay 18.1% more in Buenos Aires

Expenses including transportation, entertainment and sports, childcare, housing, groceries, and restaurants are lower in Buenos Aires.

Buenos Aires vs. Montevideo Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Buenos Aires instead of Montevideo, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 21.8% less for restaurants

	Montevideo	Buenos Aires
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$14.37 UYU597.26	$11.00 ARS12,984.18	-23.5%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$9.64 UYU400.66	$8.49 ARS10,021.43	-12.0%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.93 UYU80.18	$1.47 ARS1,734.36	-23.9%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$1.50 UYU62.41	$1.08 ARS1,280.15	-27.8%
Average			-21.8%

Montevideo vs. Buenos Aires - Cost of restaurants

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 24.4% less for groceries

	Montevideo	Buenos Aires
Bread 1 loaf	$2.66 UYU110.59	$2.16 ARS2,543.80	-19.0%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$6.01 UYU249.74	$5.19 ARS6,129.72	-13.6%
Milk (1 gallon)	$4.25 UYU176.41	$5.04 ARS5,949.77	+18.7%
Eggs 1 dozen	$4.43 UYU184.23	$2.31 ARS2,722.86	-48.0%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$4.29 UYU178.33	$2.80 ARS3,308.33	-34.7%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.24 UYU51.69	$0.92 ARS1,091.07	-25.7%
Bananas (1 lb)	$1.01 UYU41.85	$0.87 ARS1,032.47	-13.2%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.64 UYU26.59	$0.61 ARS715.12	-5.3%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.66 UYU68.98	$1.00 ARS1,179.92	-39.8%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.84 UYU34.75	$0.43 ARS504.05	-48.9%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.82 UYU34.10	$0.51 ARS596.51	-38.4%
Average			-24.4%

Montevideo vs. Buenos Aires - Cost of groceries

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 59.3% less for transportation

	Montevideo	Buenos Aires
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$6.92 UYU287.45	$3.50 ARS4,136.99	-49.3%
Monthly public transit pass	$47.91 UYU1,990.86	$11.00 ARS12,984.18	-77.0%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$35,934.74 UYU1,493,143.01	$23,250.00 ARS27,443,843.35	-35.3%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$30.38 UYU1,262.20	$7.35 ARS8,675.80	-75.8%
Average			-59.3%

Montevideo vs. Buenos Aires - Cost of transportation

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 30.5% less for housing

	Montevideo	Buenos Aires
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$43.60 UYU1,811.49	$23.79 ARS28,086.41	-45.4%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$578.38 UYU24,032.49	$513.68 ARS606,334.68	-11.2%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$419.05 UYU17,412.32	$357.39 ARS421,858.91	-14.7%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$99.70 UYU4,142.54	$49.23 ARS58,114.30	-50.6%
Average			-30.5%

Montevideo vs. Buenos Aires - Cost of housing

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 44.6% less for childcare

	Montevideo	Buenos Aires
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$386.12 UYU16,044.01	$216.50 ARS255,552.35	-43.9%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$8,206.60 UYU340,996.64	$4,476.88 ARS5,284,417.75	-45.4%
Average			-44.6%

Montevideo vs. Buenos Aires - Cost of childcare

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 44.9% less for entertainment and sports

	Montevideo	Buenos Aires
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$3.42 UYU141.96	$1.80 ARS2,124.41	-47.3%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.79 UYU157.31	$2.98 ARS3,522.41	-21.2%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$5.03 UYU209.04	$2.40 ARS2,832.91	-52.3%
Monthly membership at local gym	$58.44 UYU2,428.26	$27.22 ARS32,128.65	-53.4%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$10.06 UYU418.08	$5.00 ARS5,901.90	-50.3%
Average			-44.9%

Montevideo vs. Buenos Aires - Cost of entertainment and sports

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 18.1% more for clothing

	Montevideo	Buenos Aires
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$93.83 UYU3,898.58	$89.58 ARS105,732.57	-4.5%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$44.64 UYU1,854.69	$74.73 ARS88,208.80	+67.4%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$109.94 UYU4,568.07	$114.08 ARS134,654.16	+3.8%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$113.02 UYU4,695.95	$119.22 ARS140,722.59	+5.5%
Average			+18.1%

Montevideo vs. Buenos Aires - Cost of clothing

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

The statistics used to build this comparison are calculated using data from users just like you. We average the price of thousands of data points entered by users across the world. Learn more about our data sources. Page last updated: June 2025

More cost comparisons

Montevideo vs.

Kiev

Montevideo vs.

Moscow

Montevideo vs.

Washington

Montevideo vs.

Mexico City

Montevideo vs.

Hanoi

Montevideo vs.

Reykjavik

Montevideo vs.

Dodoma

Montevideo vs.

Warsaw

Share this

Compare countries by overall cost of living

See the cost of living in Uruguay vs. Argentina. This provides a comparison of the average cost of living from cities within Uruguay and Argentina.

Help us improve these prices

MyLifeElsewhere is a collaborative project. Please enter price information for your location to help assist us in making these comparisons more accurate. Learn more

Add prices for Montevideo

Add prices for Buenos Aires

ASK THE ELSEWHERE COMMUNITY

Join the Elsewhere community and ask a question about Buenos Aires or Montevideo. It's a free, question-and-answer based forum to discuss what life is like in countries and cities around the world.

Ask a question about Montevideo

Ask a question about Buenos Aires