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City comparison

Asunción vs Santa Cruz de la Sierra

In short

Calculated from the figures below, with no overall “who wins” score.

  • Rent

    in Santa Cruz cheaper — −42%

  • Family budget

    in Santa Cruz cheaper — −35%

  • Internet

    in Santa Cruz cheaper — −25%

In numbers

Exchange rate as of the date each figure was checked.

  • House or apartment rent

    per month
    Asunción≈ $763–1,020₲4.5–6M
    Santa Cruz de la Sierra≈ $342–700BOB 4,100–8,400
    cheaper by 42%
  • Family groceries

    per month
    Asunción≈ $280₲1,650,472
    Santa Cruz de la Sierra≈ $208BOB 2,490
    cheaper by 26%
  • Family budget

    per month
    Asunción≈ $633₲3,732,432
    Santa Cruz de la Sierra≈ $410BOB 4,917
    cheaper by 35%
  • Internet

    per month
    Asunción≈ $25₲150k
    Santa Cruz de la Sierra≈ $19BOB 229
    cheaper by 25%
  • Winter

    average
    Asunción18 °C18 °C
    Santa Cruz de la Sierra22 °C22 °C
  • Precipitation

    per year
    Asunción1,433 mm1,433 mm
    Santa Cruz de la Sierra1,372 mm1,372 mm
  • Ready-made house

    purchase
    Asunción$195–420k$195–420k
    Santa Cruz de la Sierra$87,900 – 180k$87,900 – 180k
    cheaper by 56%

By topic

A quick look at each city. Details and sources are on the city page.

Housing

Asunción

Long-term rent

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

Buying a house

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

Rent in the suburbs

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

Everything about housing in Asunción →

Santa Cruz de la Sierra

Buying a house

A three-bedroom house by listings costs 88-180 thousand dollars, median 123 thousand. In Urubó about 228 thousand, in the north of the city about 117 thousand.

SpecialistInfoCasas Bolivia: sale of three-bedroom houses in Santa Cruz · checked 6 Oct 2026

Apartment rent

A three-bedroom apartment by listings costs 4100-8400 Bs a month, median about 5500 Bs (about 460 dollars at 11.97). Almost twice as much in Equipetrol.

SpecialistInfoCasas Bolivia: rental of three-bedroom apartments in Santa Cruz · checked 6 Oct 2026

Anticrético instead of rent

Instead of renting you can give the owner a large sum for a term and live without paying: a three-bedroom apartment in anticrético is about 35-50 thousand dollars.

SpecialistInfoCasas Bolivia: three-bedroom apartments in anticrético in Santa Cruz · checked 6 Oct 2026

Everything about housing in Santa Cruz →

Money and prices

Asunción

Groceries for a family

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

Family monthly budget

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

Everything about money and prices in Asunción →

Santa Cruz de la Sierra

Monthly family budget

A family of four in Santa Cruz is considered poor with an income below 4917 Bs a month (about 410 dollars). This is the lowest line among the cities in the INE table.

OfficialINE: poverty line and extreme poverty line per person per month by city, 2016 - December 2025 · checked 6 Oct 2026

Groceries for a family

The minimum food basket for a family of four in Santa Cruz is about 2490 Bs a month (about 210 dollars) by the INE extreme poverty line for December 2025.

OfficialINE: poverty line and extreme poverty line per person per month by city, 2016 - December 2025 · checked 6 Oct 2026

Everything about money and prices in Santa Cruz →

Family and kids

Asunción

Private schools

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

Everything about family and kids in Asunción →

Santa Cruz de la Sierra

Private and public schools

In 2025 the department of Santa Cruz had 822 thousand students, about 104 thousand (12.6%) in private schools and kindergartens. Private school fees: not found.

OfficialINE with Ministry of Education data: students in public and private schools by department, 2011 - 2025 · checked 6 Oct 2026

Everything about family and kids in Santa Cruz →

Healthcare

Asunción

Healthcare

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

Everything about healthcare in Asunción →

Santa Cruz de la Sierra

Hospital beds

The department of Santa Cruz had 5131 hospital beds in 2024, about 691 inhabitants per bed. This is slightly worse than the national average (669).

OfficialINE with Ministry of Health data: hospital beds and inhabitants per bed by department, 2005 - 2024 · checked 6 Oct 2026

Everything about healthcare in Santa Cruz →

Transport

Asunción

Transport in the city

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

Everything about transport in Asunción →

Santa Cruz de la Sierra

Airports and roads

INE names Viru Viru near Santa Cruz one of the three key international airports; the city also has El Trompillo. A highway runs to Cochabamba and La Paz.

OfficialINE: geographic information on Bolivia (roads and international airports) · checked 6 Oct 2026

Everything about transport in Santa Cruz →

Climate

Asunción

Winter

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

Summer heat

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

Rainfall and seasonality

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

Everything about climate in Asunción →

Santa Cruz de la Sierra

Precipitation and seasons

About 1370 mm of precipitation a year, from 980 to 1740 mm in different years. The rainiest are December and January (about 180 mm), the driest is July (about 26 mm).

OfficialINE with SENAMHI data: mean temperature and precipitation by city by month, 1990 - 2026; annual tables by weather station, 2005 - 2024 · checked 6 Oct 2026

Winter climate

Winter is warm: the mean temperature in June-August is about 21.7 degrees. But the yearly absolute minimum at the city weather station is 2-9 degrees.

OfficialINE with SENAMHI data: mean temperature and precipitation by city by month, 1990 - 2026; annual tables by weather station, 2005 - 2024 · checked 6 Oct 2026

Everything about climate in Santa Cruz →

Safety

Asunción

Homicides and safety

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

Everything about safety in Asunción →

Santa Cruz de la Sierra

Crime reports

In 2024 police in the department of Santa Cruz got 15.6 thousand crime reports, 5.1 thousand on robberies. Homicide reports in 2023: 228, three times La Paz.

OfficialINE with police data: crime reports in the department of Santa Cruz by type, 2007 - 2024 · checked 6 Oct 2026

Everything about safety in Santa Cruz →

Internet and phone

Asunción

Internet

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

Everything about internet and phone service in Asunción →

Santa Cruz de la Sierra

Fiber internet

The state operator Entel sells home fiber at 200 Mbps for 229 Bs a month, 1000 Mbps for 450 Bs. Installation is 200 Bs, subject to an address check.

SpecialistEntel: home fiber internet, Simple plans · checked 6 Oct 2026

Everything about internet and phone service in Santa Cruz →

Services

Asunción

Electricity and the ANDE tariff

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

Gas: cylinders instead of a network

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

ESSAP water and sewerage

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

Everything about services in Asunción →

Santa Cruz de la Sierra

Bottled gas

Liquefied gas at a regulated price of 2.25 Bs per kg, a 10 kg cylinder is 22.50 Bs (under 2 dollars). We did not find the piped gas tariff.

OfficialANH: regulated prices of petroleum products on the domestic market, including liquefied gas (GLP) · checked 6 Oct 2026

Electricity from CRE

The average residential tariff of the CRE cooperative in 2024 was 11 US cents per kWh without VAT, about 0.77 Bs. 300 kWh a month is about 230 Bs before tax.

OfficialAETN: statistical yearbook 2024, average tariff for the final consumer by category (CRE, Área Integrada) · checked 6 Oct 2026

Water and sewerage

The SAGUAPAC water utility received on average about 7 Bs per billed m³ in 2025. Only two thirds of residents in its area have sewerage.

OfficialSAGUAPAC: annual report (Memoria) for 2025 · checked 6 Oct 2026

Everything about services in Santa Cruz →

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