discussing cost of living for any city can be difficult, and for a city as large and diverse as rio de janeiro can be even more difficult.

if, for example, cost of living is defined as overall cost of housing, food and entertainment, the difference between a zona sul district and a zona oeste district could be 500% or more - in fact, densely populated neighborhoods near the famous touristic beaches such as copacabana or botafogo normally are much more expensive than remote, scarcely populated districts such as santa cruz or campo grande.

in recent years the overall cost of living across rio de janeiro has risen substantially, due in part to a strong economy and a much larger middle class with access to disposable income and credit - as demand for goods and services rises, so do costs and prices.