Asunción vs Lima
In short
Calculated from the figures below, with no overall “who wins” score.
Rent
✓in Asunción cheaper — −11%
Family budget
✓in Asunción cheaper — −5%
Internet
✓in Asunción cheaper — −27%
In numbers
Exchange rate as of the date each figure was checked.
House or apartment rent
per month✓Asunción≈ $763–1,020₲4.5–6Mcheaper by 11%Lima≈ $734–1,270S/ 2,509–4,345Family groceries
per month✓Asunción≈ $280₲1,650,472cheaper by 22%Lima≈ $359S/ 1,228Family budget
per month✓Asunción≈ $633₲3,732,432cheaper by 5%Lima≈ $665S/ 2,272Internet
per month✓Asunción≈ $25₲150kcheaper by 27%Lima≈ $29–41S/ 99–139Private school
per month✓Asunción≈ $371–723₲2,185k – 4.26Mcheaper by 38%Lima≈ $468–1,290S/ 1,600–4,426Winter
averageAsunción18 °C18 °CLima15–18 °C15–18 °CPrecipitation
per yearAsunción1,433 mm1,433 mmLima13 mm13 mmReady-made house
purchaseAsunción$195–420k$195–420k✓Lima$151k – 260,500$151k – 260,500cheaper by 33%
By topic
A quick look at each city. Details and sources are on the city page.
Housing
Asunción
A 2–3 bedroom apartment in Villa Morra, Carmelitas or Recoleta is PYG 4.5–6 million a month, that is $770–1,020. Utilities on top.
SpecialistClasipar: apartments, houses and plots in Asunción, Lambaré and Fernando de la Mora · checked 28 Sep 2026
Lambaré and Fernando de la Mora are half the price of the city: a two-room apartment is PYG 2.5–4.5 million, that is $425–770. The price for this is the rush-hour drive.
SpecialistClasipar: apartments, houses and plots in Asunción, Lambaré and Fernando de la Mora · checked 28 Sep 2026
A house in Asunción is most often $195–420k, with the middle around $300k. In guaraní, in cheaper areas the same houses go for PYG 400–900 million, that is $68–153k.
SpecialistClasipar: apartments, houses and plots in Asunción, Lambaré and Fernando de la Mora · checked 28 Sep 2026
Lima
A 100 m² three-bedroom apartment: Barranco 4345 soles a month, San Isidro 4182, Miraflores 3864, Surco 3070, La Molina 2509 (July 2026).
SpecialistInfobae: Urbania Index, apartment rents by district of Lima, July 2026 · checked 29 Sep 2026
Apartment price per m²: San Isidro 2605 dollars, Barranco 2556, Miraflores 2464, Surco 1818, La Molina 1510 (Q1 2026, central bank BCRP).
OfficialBCRP: apartment sale prices by district of Lima, dollars per m², Q1 2025 - Q1 2026 · checked 29 Sep 2026
Money and prices
Asunción
The minimum food basket in the city is PYG 412,618 per person a month, for a family of four about 1.65 million, that is about $280.
SpecialistABC Color: INE data on monetary poverty for 2025, cost of baskets · checked 28 Sep 2026
The poverty line is PYG 933,108 per person, for a family of four 3.73 million without housing. With rent in a decent area, from 8–10 million.
SpecialistABC Color: INE data on monetary poverty for 2025, cost of baskets · checked 28 Sep 2026
Lima
The INEI minimum food basket for Lima is 307 soles per person a month, about 1228 for a family of four. Figures for 2025.
OfficialINEI: Perú, evolución de la pobreza monetaria 2016-2025 · checked 29 Sep 2026
A family of four in Lima counts as poor at spending below 2272 soles a month. The average Lima resident spends 1014 soles, about 4056 for four.
OfficialINEI: Perú, evolución de la pobreza monetaria 2016-2025 · checked 29 Sep 2026
Family and kids
Asunción
Monthly fees at the well-known schools average PYG 3 million, above the minimum wage. For specific schools, from 2.19 to 4.26 million.
SpecialistEl Nacional: monthly fees at private schools in Asunción for the 2026 school year · checked 28 Sep 2026
Lima
Well-known private schools in Lima for 2026: 1600–4426 soles a month plus an entrance fee. The American School Roosevelt: from 1747 dollars a month.
SpecialistInfobae: cost of private schools in Lima for 2026 based on the list by Padres magazine · checked 29 Sep 2026
Healthcare
Asunción
Asunción has private sanatoriums with paediatric cardiology, paediatric haematology, intensive care and their own diagnostics. Nationally beds are few: 1.04 per thousand people.
SpecialistSanatorio Migone Battilana: list of specialties · checked 28 Sep 2026
Lima
With a foreigner's card (carné de extranjería), a family can take the public insurance SIS Independiente: 39 soles a month for one person, 115 for a family of four or more. There is also a free plan.
OfficialSIS: questions and rates of the SIS Independiente plan · checked 29 Sep 2026
Transport
Asunción
A bus fare is PYG 2,300, with air conditioning 3,400 - about 40 and 58 cents. It is cheap because of the subsidy, but the quality is such that almost everyone in Asunción gets a car.
SpecialistABC Color: public transport fares in Greater Asunción and the size of the subsidy · checked 28 Sep 2026
Lima
The new terminal opened on 30 May 2025: 30 million passengers in the first year, up to 40 million by 2026. The first flights were LATAM to Atlanta and Iberia from Madrid.
OfficialMTC: opening of the new terminal at Jorge Chávez airport · checked 29 Sep 2026
The Metropolitano with a feeder route across the whole city is 3.50 soles; short trips on corridor buses are 1–1.50. The second metro line is free for now.
OfficialATU: how to save money on the Metropolitano and corridor buses · checked 29 Sep 2026
Climate
Asunción
The average July temperature is 18.3 degrees, with an average daytime high of 24.2. There is no winter in the usual sense, but the station’s absolute minimum went down to minus 1.2.
OfficialDINAC: climatological table of Silvio Pettirossi airport, 2011-2023 data · checked 28 Sep 2026
The average January maximum is 33.8 degrees, December and February about 33. The station’s absolute maximum is 43 degrees, and it fell in October, not at the height of summer.
OfficialDINAC: climatological table of Silvio Pettirossi airport, 2011-2023 data · checked 28 Sep 2026
About 1,433 mm a year: a wet summer and a dry winter. The wettest month is November (203 mm), the driest August (25 mm), and 222 mm has fallen in a day.
OfficialDINAC: climatological table of Silvio Pettirossi airport, 2011-2023 data · checked 28 Sep 2026
Lima
The coldest month is August: average minimum 14.6 degrees, maximum 18.4. July and September are almost the same; in February it is 19.4 and 26.5.
OfficialWMO, World Weather Information Service: climate normals for Lima · checked 29 Sep 2026
There is almost no rain: about 13 mm a year, and no month above 5.4 mm. In winter, instead of rain there is garúa drizzle, which wets the streets but barely shows up in millimetres.
OfficialWMO, World Weather Information Service: climate normals for Lima · checked 29 Sep 2026
In winter humidity is above 90% and reaches 99%: fog, garúa drizzle, dense cloud cover by the sea. Because of the dampness, 15 degrees feels like 13–14.
SpecialistAndina: winter 2025 in Lima, SENAMHI forecast for temperature and humidity · checked 29 Sep 2026
Safety
Asunción
Nationally in 2025 there were 6.1 homicides per 100k people - the third-best figure in Latin America. No separate statistics by district of Asunción could be found.
SpecialistLa Nación: Paraguay among the three countries in the region with the lowest homicide rate in 2025 · checked 28 Sep 2026
Lima
In 2025, 27.6% of Lima residents aged over 15 were victims of crime. In the zone with Miraflores and San Isidro it was 21.5%, in the east with La Molina 31.3%.
OfficialINEI: Victimización en el Perú 2025, ENAPRES survey · checked 29 Sep 2026
The IGP geophysical institute expects an earthquake stronger than M8.8 near Lima with a tsunami above 8 m. The last one like that was in 1746; when the next will come is unknown.
OfficialIGP: the 1746 earthquake and the expected seismic scenario for Lima · checked 29 Sep 2026
Internet and phone
Asunción
Fibre to the home: Personal Hogar plans start from 400 Mbit/s for PYG 150k a month, about $26. For remote work the conditions are good.
SpecialistPersonal Hogar: home fiber rates · checked 28 Sep 2026
Lima
WIN fibre in Lima: 500 Mbit/s for 99 soles a month, 850 for 119, 1000 for 139. The line is symmetric, traffic is unlimited, and the first month is cheaper.
SpecialistWIN: home fiber-optic internet plans for Lima and Callao · checked 29 Sep 2026
Services
Asunción
Since December 2024 the ANDE tariff depends on the hour: at peak, 12 to 16 and 18 to 22, a kilowatt-hour costs PYG 669 instead of the previous 404; off-peak, 264.
SpecialistABC Color: new ANDE tariff scheme, peak-hour rates 65% higher · checked 28 Sep 2026
ESSAP water: a fixed charge of PYG 8,236 and 1,767 per m³ up to 15 m³. A bill for 15 m³ is about 35k ($6), and sewerage adds the same again. The tariff dates from 2018.
SpecialistDiario HOY: ESSAP tariff rises from September, table of old and new prices by category · checked 29 Sep 2026
Cooking is done on cylinder gas: a 10 kg cylinder costs PYG 110–125k ($19–21). About half of homes cook on gas, a third on electricity.
SpecialistLa Nación: gas price to rise by an average of 500 guaraníes per kg, the 10 kg cylinder to go up to 110,000 · checked 29 Sep 2026
Lima
Luz del Sur from August 2026: 75.56 centimos per kWh for consumption above 140 kWh and 2.66 soles a month. For 300 kWh the bill comes to about 229 soles.
OfficialLuz del Sur: electricity tariffs including IGV, pliego of 4 August 2026 (document “Tarifas - Setiembre 2026”) · checked 29 Sep 2026
Water and sewerage: the first 10 m³ at 3.58 soles, more after that. A bill for 15 m³ is about 72 soles with IGV tax; this is a calculation based on the Sedapal tariff.
OfficialSunass: resolution 00145-2025-SUNASS-CD, Sedapal tariff structure for year 5 of the 2022-2027 period · checked 30 Sep 2026
Piped gas from Cálidda, September 2026: about 1.73 soles per m³ with tax and 1.29 soles a month. For 30 m³ it comes to about 53 soles. The network is not available everywhere.
OfficialCálidda: tariff table for piped gas in Lima and Callao, service for September 2026 (Osinergmin) · checked 30 Sep 2026

