Cheapest cities in South America

Overview

La Paz tops our ranking of cheapest cities in south america at 9.0/10, just ahead of Buenos Aires and Medellin. There's no shortage of blog posts ranking cities from personal impressions. Cheapest cities in South America takes a different approach: the same seven-criterion scorecard, applied identically to every city, so the ranking below is reproducible rather than anecdotal. Ranked purely on affordability: rent, groceries and everyday costs. We isolated every city in South America from the full 303-city database and sorted that regional subset purely by cheapest, so the comparison stays fair within the region instead of getting diluted by cities on other continents. La Paz stands out as the most affordable option in this set (9/10 on cost of living), which is useful context if budget matters more to you than the overall ranking order suggests. Just outside the top three, Quito, Cali, Barranquilla round out a competitive upper half — worth a look if your specific circumstances (a partner's job, a language you already speak, an existing visa route) rule out the leaders. If you've already decided on South America and just need to narrow it down by cheapest, this is the fastest way to do it — for a fuller picture, cross-reference with the overall livability ranking for the same region. Scroll down for the full table — each city name links to its detailed scorecard if you want to dig into the individual numbers.

Full ranking

Curious how the top two stack up criterion by criterion? Compare La Paz vs Buenos Aires directly →

Methodology

Same single-criterion method as our worldwide rankings (only cheapest counts), applied only to cities within South America so the comparison isn't skewed by cities on other continents. Want different priorities? Set your own weights in the recommender.

Understanding the criteria

Same logic as our worldwide single-criterion rankings: only cheapest decides the order, just filtered down to one region so you're not comparing across continents you've already ruled out.

Tips for using this ranking

• →Compare the top pick here against the equivalent worldwide ranking — a city that leads its continent can still trail the global top 10 by a wide margin.
• →Use this list to narrow down within South America, then switch to the recommender to weigh in your other priorities before committing.

Who this ranking is for

This ranking is most useful for Budget-conscious movers — movers for whom affordability outweighs every other factor, Safety-first movers — people relocating somewhere unfamiliar who weigh personal safety above all and Balanced movers — people without a single dominant priority, weighing all criteria evenly. If none of those match your situation, the recommender tool lets you set your own weights instead of relying on any preset list.

Strengths & limitations of this ranking

Frequently asked questions

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