Ola Uruguay Real Estate and Investments

Montevideo is ranked second only to San Juan, Puerto Rico, for the highest quality of life in Central and South America, according to Mercer, a reputable human resource consulting firm. Mercer assesses the degree to which expatriates enjoy the standard of living in a range of locations as well as the interaction of political, socio-economic, and environmental factors within the country.

As an expat living in Uruguay for almost two years, I agree that living here is indeed a quality experience. Uruguayans like to say Uruguay is not cheap, and if you are using other Latin American countries as a barometer, it isn’t. However, compared to a North American budget, you will be pleasantly surprised.

A few readers have recently asked about the cost of living in Uruguay. This, as you can imagine, is a hard figure to determine because it is so subjective. Are you a coupon clipper? Do you only take the bus? Do you only buy organic food? Or do you love eating out? Depending on how you are as a consumer, your cost of living will differ from mine, like mine will differ from my American friend Cory, who drinks more beer than I do. That said, I have hunted down some actual numbers to give you an idea of how some people are living.

Apartments

An apartment for under US$500 is virtually impossible to find, especially if you are looking to live within what most people would consider a “middle class lifestyle.” However, even the “normal” range varies. A friend, Paul, who lives in Montevideo with his wife and child, said that his fully renovated apartment in the Centro costs something like US$2,800/month to rent. Hal, a reader of Ola, who also lives in Montevideo, recently commented on the site that he found an apartment in Nuevo Pocitos for US$1,100/month. It was a fully renovated, partially furnished two-bedroom, with brand new appliances and garage parking. He ended up going for a three-bedroom penthouse in Punta Carretas for a slightly higher price. A quick search on the internet showed two-bedroom houses in both Carrasco and Punta Carretas (two great neighborhoods) renting for US$1,300 to $1,600 on the high-end and US$900 to $1,100 on the low-end.

Utilities and gastos comunes

Utilities, such as electricity, are usually not included in your rent, nor are gastos comunes, or the shared costs that you and everyone in your building pays for building expenses (lights, elevators, doorman, etc.). Here are two versions of monthly expenses. All prices have been calculated with today’s exchange rate of US$1 to UR19.40.

For a professional Uruguayan couple living in a two-bedroom apartment in a building in Pocitos:

Gastos comunes: UR2,900 / US$149

Gas: UR300 / US$15

Phone and internet: UR1,200 / US$62

Cable: UR600 / US$31

Lights: UR1,400 / US$72

Groceries: UR 6,000 / US$ 310

For an expat American male, who works from home and lives in a penthouse apartment in Punta Carretas:

Gastos Comunes: UR5,000 / US$258

Utilities: UR3,000 / US$155

Eating out: UR8,000 / US$412

Farmer’s Market UR1,200 / USD61

Taxis: UR2,000/US$103

Laundry Service: UR360 / US$18.55

Housecleaner (comes once a week): UR1,200 / US$61.80

Extras

These depend on you and your lifestyle. For example, do you like going to the movies? A ticket costs UR130/US$6. Want popcorn with that? UR45/US$2.30. If you join the independent movie theater, Cinemateca, you can get a monthly pass for UR150/US$7.73 and see as many crazy independent films as you can wish, or just pay UR80/US$4.12 for a single entry.

Do you prefer taking the bus over a taxi? A ride will cost you UR16/US$0.84. Prefer a taxi to a bus? A trip from my house in Punta Carretas to my favorite bar in the Old City, at night, is usually around 115 pesos or about six bucks.

Shopping for clothes and shoes can be expensive here, so bring all the Levi’s and Adidas that you will need, or plan to have friends bring you them when they come visit. To give you an idea, last spring I bought a pair of Nike Dunks here for US$125. This past summer I went home to visit family and saw that you could get the same model for US$40 to US$70 depending on where you were looking. Given the small population in Uruguay, you don’t have a lot of bargain options for brand names like in the states, where overflow merchandise gets funneled into stores like Nordstrom Rack or Ross.

As I said, one person’s “living well” could be someone else’s luxury, or someone else’s scraping by. Check out blogs of expatriates to get an up-to-date sense of how people are living, and if you have specific questions, write and ask them directly.

We love hearing from you, so if you have come across a helpful website that helps calculate cost of living, or have a personal experience to share, Ola welcomes your comments below. Are you retired? With kids? Let us know how you live so we can
find comparable living costs and update this article.