Cost of Living in Lima

I was born in Chiclayo (a city in the north coast of Perú) and then moved to Lima and i have visited many cities in my beautiful country, in all regions. So let me tell you a few things about Peru... if you want to visit us and you want to know how expensive it is, well it's not that easy.
First off, prices vary from city to city, as well as food or hotels,etc. Things in Lima are hella expensive compared to other cities in Peru.
Lima is very chaotic and there's a lot of pollution, public transport is A MESS!, finding a place to eat (lunch) it's very easy since there are menus that can go from 7 soles (a bit more than 2$) to 16 soles (almost 5$) depending on the place, but they usually serve you an entrée,a meal, a beverage (And sometimes even dessert!).
Overall i'd say that Lima can be very confused and troubling, but if you know someone from here, you can save a lot of money and time!. Now about other cities, everything is very cheap, a meal can go from 5 soles to 10 soles( more than 3$), public transport is probably still a mess but not so much since there's not much people in other cities (Lima is the one that has the biggest population : 11 MILLION!).
People in Perú are kind and very helpful, but take precautions anyway cause just like in any other part of the world, some of them can be dangerous.
if you need a guide (kinda) i'd be happy to help :) write a comment mentioning me and add your email i guess(? haha bye! have a nice staying

First off : Lima isnt Peru.
Yes the pollution is sometimes unbarable and on contrary what most people wrote before, the city is not only defined by Miraflores, San Isidro and Barranco...these are the tourist areas and have barely anything to do with Limeño life.
Around this 11million habitant city there are all kind of areas to find of course.The north has pretty coastline but is scetchy for Tourists and the south is a bit expensive . The prices so far are pretty accurate.
I live in the town now for 5 years and I never got to the point to like it. The country, on the other hand , is beautiful and worthwhile to visit.

Hi everybody!
I´m from Spain and have been living in Lima (San Isidro) for the past 20 years.
It is true, Lima is a dirty city
- "smells"... yes (especially if you take public transportation, but in summer Warsow, Bogota and Berlin are worse.
Water is expensive in Lima, and it is because it doesn´t rain at all and people (foreigners/tourists) just don´t realize that... (few drops now and then) and the city just do what it can to fight it (dust everywhere)... (I spend more in water than in electricity and I am a huge fan of electricity, US$ 485 in water and US$390 in electricity

Lima today have more than ELEVEN MILLION people...!!!!
Traffic...horrific (As well in Rome, Madrid, Tokyo, New York, Bogota, Milan, Caracas, etc. in rush hours)

-"vagabond dogs"?... have not seen any in San Isidro, Monterrico, Miraflores and San Borja districts in the last 10 years! (of course there must be vagabond dogs I just haven´t seen them).

-"dog shit everywhere" no, maybe elsewhere (Magdalena, Lince, Jesus María, Pueblo Libre, San Juan de Miraflores, etc.)...

-vagabond cats?... a lot in Miraflores in "Parque Kennedy" (a good place to visit... thursday, friday, saturday, sunday) and the cats are are fantastic, clean without any disease.
(I have 2 dogs and 2 cats, the good thing is that they are friends and get along, I love animals).

The thing is:
Is Lima a beautifull city?
No it is not.
Does Lima have beautifull districts?
Yes!!!
In general, how are the peruvian peolple with tourists?
They are warmful caring people (some will take advantage and do some profits like everybody else in other countries, ("if it is too good to be true, maybe it is because it is not true"!)

Is Lima expensive for a tourist?
Maybe not, but it is expensive for a native.

1 US dollar is 3.39 soles (dicember 2016)

Minimun cost for a cab: 7 soles (3 to 5 blocks) average cost 15/18 soles ( from one district to another), add 5/7 soles if you phone for one (taxi satelital, uber, etc.)

Food, Exquisite
-meals: from US 2.50 to 90 (no alcohol) it depends on where you eat (1 person).

Hostel/Hotel per day: from 25 to 600 per day 2 people (average tourist, it can be more). Do your homework look in booking.com, trivago.com, etc.

What youy must realize is that Peru is not only Lima...
These are some cities i´ve been to; all of them are beautifull

In US dollars: Arequipa - average, Trujillo - cheap, Mancora, beach in Piura - expensive, Cuzco - very expensive, Tarapoto - cheap (jungle), Iquitos - cheap (jungle), Madre de Dios - cheap (jungle), Puno - average.
The most expensive city in Peru is Cuzco.

About the tap water, I've never drunk it (to my knowledge) always boiled, filtered or bottled water. I do that in every country I go to (I travel a lot!)

Do I like Lima?
Yes!
Hope it helped

I am looking for someone wants to come to know lima. I am peruvian. I have lived here since i was a child. she or he can teach to me English in their free time, that is why the rent is low: $ 100 monthly, which includes Internet line.

This page is very acurate. The living cost by person sugested by the INEI (Instituno nacional de Estadistica e Informatica) is S/.1500. And S/.1,656.23 sugested by this page.

But we have one problema, the minimal wage or salary by mont is S/.750. Yes is the Half of the necesary to live. Thats wy to many peruvians live in house of ur parents and cant be easily become independent. Or they end up working all their lives to pay off your house. If they can afford it.

Then, if you want to come to Peru to live and work, i sugest you doit only if you have a work with a superior wage of S/.1500. Otherwise you will have a life of slave

The prices for housing in "City Center" is relative, since here in Lima, downtown is the Old city center, now more of a commercial center for cheap stuff, but not the real financial district of the city, hence not where anyone wants to live due to high crime and old rundown buildings. The financial district here is in San Isidro, which is like what the "city center" would be in other major cities, and even some areas of Miraflores district. These districts are where the highest costs for rent and property are, just like any other major city's "city center" would be. The prices in these areas for a 1br apt (60sq m) is about $600 to rent, and for a small 3br (100sq m) would be about $1,200+, if you want a nice size apt 150sq m you can expect to pay over $1,500.

I spent four days in Lima, mainly in Miraflores, San Isidore and Barrancas. I walked ~ 45 miles through the city (did not use any transportation except to and fro the airport). It is a safe city, not expensive and not cheap cheap either. I will come back in 8 weeks and will have more insight from people who live here foe a while. So far,the food is great and Pisco sour is too; my biggest expense was for sunscreen so far...

I am Peruvian and I have lived in Lima for almost 20 years.

Some of the prices mentioned in the charts above are not 100% accurate.

For example, a meal at an inexpensive restaurant at lunchtime generally costs S/9.00 PEN ($ 3.00 USD), even in overrated districts such as Miraflores or San Isidro.

Then, a taxi ride (even a short ride) can cost S/. 7.00, not S/ 5.00 as stated in the chart.

Finally, if for any reason you go to Lima, Peru, it is advisable to be accompanied by a Peruvian so as to avoid being robbed or tricked by unscrupulous people.

And don't forget that there are a hell of a lot better cities than Lima to visit in Peru.

I was there two months ago and Lima is becoming a dump of shit. I saw street dogs, drunks, vandalism, and bad police. As soon you get closed to San Isidro or Miraflores start filling more secure about yourself.

With all the much nicer and much cheaper places to live in Peru, why live in Lima, anyway? :)

If you live like a gringo....that's the price you will pay! you need to get out of Miraflores, San Isidro, Barranco, San Borja and Surco....at least to buy your food and clothing, most owners who owns big Lima properties shopping malls are foreigners and they will charge you the highest because gringo wants comfort and they know we'll pay without making a complaint! A Peruvian will never pay the amount of money we pay, the will haggle for anything and will go to different stores to compare prices. I learn to buy my food, mercado mayorista ( Santa Anita) you can buy anything and is cheaper than most supermarkets, in Callao they have plenty fish markets, I'll buy different see foods and put it on the freezer, Fruits I usually go to mercado mayorista de frutas (buy lots and put it in small bags and in the freezer, you can make plenty milkshakes and cakes! clothing get to Gamarra, better quality 100% Peruvian algodon, the one you buy in Sagafalabella, Ripley and so on , are made in China, sometimes is cheap to buy but won't last long, Gamarra has everything for clothing and household, you can always bargain at the end of the day! Buying toys go to Mesa redonda ( centro de Lima) go early because in the afternoon is get crowded, want to buy books and cheap, go to Feria de libros Amazonas ( Centro de Lima) Going to the cinema, If you go weekends is always expensive, not just Peru, but every other country, try going to Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, is between 7-10 soles 2D been a few times in la Molina and Plaza mall Santa Anita, property prices, I found Magdalena, Pueblo Libre, San Miguel, Brena and Jesus Maria reasonable in prices depending what you looking for you can find a good bargain. But if you want to live like a gringo then stick to Miraflores, San Borja, San Isidro and Barranco, what you pay is because you want to live like home or better than home, but living in another country meeting the local people and challenging yourself to new things you need to move on!