Asunción vs Punta del Este
In short
Calculated from the figures below, with no overall “who wins” score.
Rent
✓in Punta del Este cheaper — −32%
Family groceries
✓in Asunción cheaper — −49%
Internet
✓in Asunción cheaper — −66%
In numbers
Exchange rate as of the date each figure was checked.
House or apartment rent
per monthAsunción≈ $763–1,020₲4.5–6M✓Punta del Este≈ $576–628UYU 23,083–25,177cheaper by 32%Family groceries
per month✓Asunción≈ $280₲1,650,472cheaper by 49%Punta del Este≈ $541–561UYU 21,684–22,484Internet
per month✓Asunción≈ $25₲150kcheaper by 66%Punta del Este≈ $41–108UYU 1,650–4,342Private school
per month✓Asunción≈ $371–723₲2,185k – 4.26Mcheaper by 38%Punta del Este$500–1,250$500–1,250Winter
averageAsunción18 °C18 °CPunta del Este9–14 °C9–14 °CPrecipitation
per yearAsunción1,433 mm1,433 mmPunta del Este1,011 mm1,011 mmReady-made house
purchase✓Asunción$195–420k$195–420kcheaper by 44%Punta del Este$138–967k$138–967k
By topic
A quick look at each city. Details and sources are on the city page.
Daily life
Asunción
Nothing yet
Punta del Este
In summer the city lives on tourists: 1.3 million of them entered the country in December–February, and Punta del Este is the main destination. A two-bedroom apartment for half of January rents for 6,500 dollars.
SpecialistPuntanews: results of the 2025-2026 summer season according to the Ministry of Tourism · checked 29 Sep 2026
Maldonado is the fastest-growing department in the country, 212,951 residents in the 2023 census. It grows through the arrival of Uruguayans and foreigners.
OfficialINE: final results of the 2023 census, population by department · checked 29 Sep 2026
For living with children, realtors recommend Cantegril, Beverly Hills, Pinares and Mansa. Península, La Barra and Roosevelt are jammed with traffic in summer.
SpecialistLa Cite Realtors: international schools in Maldonado and where to live nearby · checked 29 Sep 2026
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
Punta del Este
Maldonado department: average existing contract 23,083 pesos a month, new 25,177 - more than Montevideo (July 2026). INE does not calculate the city separately.
OfficialINE: average rent by department, existing contracts · checked 29 Sep 2026
A two-bedroom apartment for a year or for winter is asked at 700 to 3,500 dollars a month, median about 1,550. Plus gastos comunes separately, up to 1,000–1,400 dollars in towers.
SpecialistGallito: two-bedroom apartments for rent in Punta del Este, 80 listings on the page · checked 29 Sep 2026
A two-bedroom apartment in Punta del Este is on sale for 138–967k dollars, median about 270k for 75 m². These are asking prices, not transactions.
SpecialistGallito: two-bedroom apartments for sale in Punta del Este · 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
Punta del Este
The INE minimum food basket for the country excluding the capital is 5,421–5,621 pesos per person a month, for a family of four 21.7–22.5k. Data from 2025.
OfficialINE: income poverty estimate, first half of 2025, with poverty lines · checked 29 Sep 2026
A family of three renting housing outside the capital is considered poor at an income below 42,055 pesos a month. In Punta del Este the real bar is much higher.
OfficialINE: income poverty estimate, first half of 2025, with poverty lines · 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
Punta del Este
International schools Woodside, St Clare's and Garzón School. According to a realtor's estimate, 6–15k dollars a year per child, with higher grades costing more.
SpecialistLa Cite Realtors: international schools in Maldonado and where to live nearby · 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
Punta del Este
The ASSE state hospital and the Mautone sanatorium are in the neighbouring city of Maldonado. In Punta del Este itself, on Roosevelt, parada 13, is the head office of the private mutualista Asistencial.
OfficialASSE: Hospital Departamental de Maldonado Dr. Elbio Rivero Moreno · 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
Punta del Este
A Montevideo – Punta del Este ticket from COPSA costs 466 pesos, return 932. To Maldonado 450, with a student discount.
SpecialistCOPSA Línea Este: intercity bus fares from 7 January 2026 · checked 29 Sep 2026
Only Buenos Aires and São Paulo have regular flights all year round. Santiago, Asunción and Campinas are added only in summer. Data for the 2024–2025 season.
SpecialistAviacionline: Punta del Este adds flights for the 2024-2025 season · 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
Punta del Este
July is the coldest month: average minimum 8.7 degrees, maximum 14.4. Summer is mild: in January 18.1 and 25.2.
OfficialWMO, World Weather Information Service: climate normals for Punta del Este · checked 29 Sep 2026
About 1,010 mm a year, evenly distributed: from 67 mm in December to 94 mm in August, 8–10 rain days in any month.
OfficialWMO, World Weather Information Service: climate normals for Punta del Este · 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
Punta del Este
In 2025 there were 14 homicides in the Maldonado department, about 6.6 per 100 thousand residents. Nationwide, 10.3.
SpecialistMontevideo Portal: breakdown of 2025 homicides by department · 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
Punta del Este
Antel fibre from 1,650 pesos for 400 Mbit/s to 4,342 for a gigabit. For holiday-home owners there is Fibra Temporada for 865 pesos: unlimited data from December to March.
OfficialAntel: data plan price list, 2026 · 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
Punta del Este
The UTE tariff is uniform: 300 kWh comes to about 2,940 pesos, 600 kWh about 5,470. In apartments, gastos comunes come on top: from 13k pesos to 1,400 dollars.
OfficialDecree 339/025: UTE tariffs from 1 January 2026 · checked 29 Sep 2026
OSE, Maldonado resort zone: 47.41 pesos per m³ up to 15 m³ plus a fixed charge of 636.68. For 15 m³ with sewage about 2,200 pesos a month, more than in Montevideo.
OfficialDecree 340/025: OSE water and sewerage tariffs from 1 January 2026 · checked 29 Sep 2026
We did not find network gas in Punta del Este: the distributors Montevideo Gas and Conecta do not list Maldonado. Refilling a 13 kg cylinder costs about 1,216 pesos.
OfficialURSEA: network gas, tariffs of distribution companies · checked 29 Sep 2026

