Encarnación vs La Paz
In short
Calculated from the figures below, with no overall “who wins” score.
Rent
✓in Encarnación cheaper — −40%
Family budget
✓in La Paz cheaper — −18%
Internet
✓in La Paz cheaper — −8%
In numbers
Exchange rate as of the date each figure was checked.
House or apartment rent
per month✓Encarnación≈ $255–373₲1.5–2.2Mcheaper by 40%La Paz≈ $350–700BOB 4,200–8,400Family groceries
per monthEncarnación≈ $280₲1,650,472✓La Paz≈ $252BOB 3,020cheaper by 10%Family budget
per monthEncarnación≈ $634₲3,732,432✓La Paz≈ $519BOB 6,231cheaper by 18%Internet
per monthEncarnación≈ $16–25₲95–150k✓La Paz≈ $19BOB 229cheaper by 8%Winter
averageEncarnación16 °C16 °CLa Paz12 °C12 °CPrecipitation
per yearEncarnación1,760 mm1,760 mmLa Paz502 mm502 mmReady-made house
purchase✓Encarnación$85–160k$85–160kcheaper by 21%La Paz$120–190k$120–190k
By topic
A quick look at each city. Details and sources are on the city page.
Housing
Encarnación
A two-room apartment in the Centro area, three blocks from the Costanera, is PYG 1.5 million; by the river in Ribera Bolik it is 2.2 million. New buildings on the waterfront start at 4 million.
SpecialistInfoCasas: two-bedroom 3 blocks from the Costanera, 1,500,000 guaraníes per month · checked 30 Sep 2026
A new 3-bedroom house in Cambyretá is $85k, in San Pedro $89k, and right by the waterfront in San Isidro $160k. In the expensive part of Cambyretá, up to $264k.
SpecialistInfoCasas: new 105 m² house with a pool in Cambyretá, $84,900 · checked 30 Sep 2026
A 384–440 m² plot on the outskirts (Ita Paso, La Esperanza) is PYG 115–180 million; in Quiteria on paved road, 330 million. In the centre, 500 m² is $110k.
SpecialistViaParaguay: 384 m² plot in Ita Paso, 200 m from Ruta 1, 115,000,000 guaraníes · checked 30 Sep 2026
La Paz
A three-bedroom apartment by listings costs 4200-8400 Bs a month, median about 5500 Bs (about 460 dollars at 11.97). Calacoto is pricier, about 7000.
SpecialistInfoCasas Bolivia: rental of three-bedroom apartments in La Paz · checked 6 Oct 2026
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 40-55 thousand dollars.
SpecialistInfoCasas Bolivia: three-bedroom apartments in anticrético in La Paz · checked 6 Oct 2026
A three-bedroom apartment by listings costs 120-190 thousand dollars, median 148 thousand. In Calacoto about 218 thousand; a three-bedroom house about 230 thousand.
SpecialistInfoCasas Bolivia: sale of three-bedroom apartments in La Paz · checked 6 Oct 2026
Money and prices
Encarnación
The minimum food basket in the country’s cities is PYG 412,618 per person, about 1.65 million for a family of four, roughly $280. There is no figure for the city itself.
SpecialistABC Color: INE data on monetary poverty for 2025, cost of baskets · checked 30 Sep 2026
The INE poverty line is PYG 933,108 per person, for a family of four 3.73 million a month without rent. With a two-room apartment in Centro (1.5–2.2 million) it comes to 5.2–5.9 million.
SpecialistABC Color: INE data on monetary poverty for 2025, cost of baskets · checked 30 Sep 2026
The price gap with Posadas is shrinking: the guaraní has strengthened from 7,800 to 5,900 per dollar, and merchants call sales sluggish. The advantage remains for some goods.
SpecialistFM 89.3: in Encarnación Argentines spend less, according to the head of the chamber of commerce · checked 30 Sep 2026
La Paz
A family of four in La Paz is considered poor with an income below 6231 Bs a month (about 520 dollars). This is the highest 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
The minimum food basket for a family of four in La Paz is about 3020 Bs a month (about 250 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
Family and kids
Encarnación
There are private schools in the city (Bautista, Divina Esperanza, Riogrande), but no prices for them. Nationally the typical level is PYG 0.9–1.5 million a month. Few are bilingual.
SpecialistRDN: private education in Paraguay, segments by size of monthly fee · checked 30 Sep 2026
La Paz
In 2025 the department of La Paz had 718 thousand students, about 95 thousand (13.2%) 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
Healthcare
Encarnación
Since July 2025 specialised care in Itapúa has moved to the new Hospital General de Itapúa, and there is also the private Sanatorio Itapúa. The most complex cases go to Asunción.
SpecialistABC Color: Hospital Regional de Encarnación reduces intake after the opening of Hospital General de Itapúa · checked 30 Sep 2026
La Paz
The department of La Paz had 4294 hospital beds in 2024, about 724 inhabitants per bed. The national average is 669 inhabitants per bed.
OfficialINE with Ministry of Health data: hospital beds and inhabitants per bed by department, 2005 - 2024 · checked 6 Oct 2026
Transport
Encarnación
The bus to Asunción takes 4–7.5 hours, a ticket is PYG 120–150k ($20–25), about 16 departures a day. Night departures take about 5 hours.
SpecialistCheckMyBus: Encarnación - Asunción buses, travel time and number of departures · checked 30 Sep 2026
There are no scheduled flights from Encarnación. The nearest working airport is in Posadas across the bridge; from 1 November 2026 JetSMART flies from there to Buenos Aires from $66.
SpecialistAviacionline: with no flights in Encarnación, JetSMART urges Itapúa residents to fly from Posadas · checked 30 Sep 2026
The bridge is open around the clock. On weekdays the queue is 30–60 minutes, at weekends 2 hours or more. The train takes 8 minutes, a ticket is PYG 18,000, the bus 17,000.
SpecialistMisiones Online: how long the crossing from Posadas to Encarnación takes, joint border control · checked 30 Sep 2026
La Paz
The Mi Teleférico cable car is mass transit in the city: in 2025 it carried 87.7 million passengers, about 7.3 million a month.
OfficialINE with Mi Teleférico data: passengers of the La Paz cable car by month, 2014 - 2026 · checked 6 Oct 2026
The city is served by El Alto international airport in the neighbouring city, one of the three key ones per INE. A highway runs to Oruro, Cochabamba and Santa Cruz.
OfficialINE: geographic information on Bolivia (altitude zones, roads, international airports) · checked 6 Oct 2026
Climate
Encarnación
July is the coldest: on average 16.2 degrees, about 22 by day and about 10 at night. Frosts are rare, but the station record is minus 6 degrees (June 1945).
SpecialistClimas y Viajes: climate of Encarnación, monthly averages 1991-2020 · checked 30 Sep 2026
January: on average 27 degrees, about 33 by day and about 21 at night. Heat waves above 35 occur from September to March; the station record is 42 degrees (December 2008).
SpecialistClimas y Viajes: climate of Encarnación, monthly averages 1991-2020 · checked 30 Sep 2026
About 1,760 mm a year, no dry season: the driest month, July, has 105 mm, the wettest, October, 180 mm. The daily record is 268 mm (December 1997).
SpecialistClimas y Viajes: climate of Encarnación, monthly averages 1991-2020 · checked 30 Sep 2026
La Paz
The mean temperature in June-August is about 11.7 degrees, and 11 to 15 all year round. About 20 in the daytime, about 6 at night, with frosts in some winters.
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
About 500 mm of precipitation a year, 70% of it from December to March. May to August is dry: 5-19 mm a month.
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
La Paz lies at about 3640 m, and neighbouring El Alto, where the airport is, is colder still: about 6 degrees on average in winter versus 12 in La Paz.
SpecialistOpenStreetMap: municipality of Nuestra Señora de La Paz, coordinates and elevation · checked 6 Oct 2026
Safety
Encarnación
Itapúa is fourth in the country for homicides: 46 intentional ones in January–August 2026. The outlet names Cambyretá as a risk zone. There is no data by city district.
SpecialistABC Color: stronger security in Itapúa ahead of the Mundial de Rally, Ministerio Público statistics · checked 30 Sep 2026
La Paz
In 2024 police in the department of La Paz got 10.2 thousand crime reports, 1.5 thousand on robberies. Homicide reports in 2023: 69, against 228 in Santa Cruz.
OfficialINE with police data: crime reports in the department of La Paz by type, 2007 - 2024 · checked 6 Oct 2026
Internet and phone
Encarnación
Home fibre: Claro 100 Mbit/s symmetric for PYG 95k, Personal 400 Mbit/s for 150k ($16–25). Coverage is built block by block.
SpecialistClaro Paraguay: 100 Mbit/s symmetric internet, 95,000 guaraníes · checked 30 Sep 2026
La Paz
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
Services
Encarnación
Electricity is on an ANDE tariff that varies by hour: at peak hours (12–16 and 18–22) it is PYG 669 per kilowatt-hour, against the previous 404. There is no separate tariff for the city.
SpecialistABC Color: new ANDE tariff scheme, peak-hour rates 65% higher · checked 30 Sep 2026
Cooking is done on cylinder gas: a 10 kg cylinder costs PYG 110–125k ($19–21) nationwide. 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
Water is supplied by ESSAP: PYG 1,767 per m³ up to 15 m³ plus a fixed charge of 8,236 (the general 2018 tariff). About 60% of the city is covered by water; sewerage is run by EBY, not ESSAP.
SpecialistABC Color: ESSAP head on the Encarnación municipality's lawsuit: water coverage about 60%, sewerage handled by EBY · checked 29 Sep 2026
La Paz
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
The average residential tariff of DELAPAZ in 2024 was 10.9 US cents per kWh without VAT, about 0.76 Bs. 300 kWh a month is about 227 Bs before tax.
OfficialAETN: statistical yearbook 2024, average tariff for the final consumer by category (DELAPAZ) · checked 6 Oct 2026
According to EPSAS (May 2024), the water tariff in La Paz and El Alto has not changed since 2009. The subsidized tariff is 1.78 Bs per m³ for use below 15 m³.
OfficialEPSAS: “The process is supervised by AAPS, EPSAS assures there is no water tariff hike” · checked 6 Oct 2026

