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One page of sourced numbers per city: what a day costs, what the travel advisory says, and which months score best on the weather.

Data: GeoNames, Open-Meteo, World Bank, US State Department, UK FCDO.

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© 2026 Travel City Index. Every number on this site comes from a dataset named on the page that shows it.
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Brazil · Brazil

Rio de Janeiro vs São Paulo: cost, safety and weather compared (2026)

Every figure below comes from the same datasets for both cities, so the two columns are comparable.

Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo compared on cost, safety, weather and size
Rio de JaneiroBrazilSão PauloBrazil
Daily cost, per personestimate
Budget$50$50
Mid-range$120$120
Luxury$255$255
Price level0.46× US (2025)0.46× US (2025)
US advisoryLevel 2Level 2
Best monthsApr, May, Jun and SepMay, Jun, Aug and Sep
Annual rain901 mm1,291 mm
Average high27.7 °C25.8 °C
Population6.7M12.4M
Time zoneAmerica/Sao_PauloAmerica/Sao_Paulo

The short answer

Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo cost roughly the same per day, $120 against $120 (mid-range estimate). Both carry a US Level 2 advisory. In September, the daily average is 24 °C in Rio de Janeiro and 22 °C in São Paulo.

Keep reading

City overviews

  • Rio de Janeiro overview
  • São Paulo overview

Cost and safety in detail

  • Rio de Janeiro trip cost
  • Is Rio de Janeiro safe?
  • São Paulo trip cost
  • Is São Paulo safe?

Where they rank

  • Cheapest cities in South America
  • Safest cities in South America

Countries

  • All cities in Brazil

Sources

  • GeoNames city database — CC BY 4.0, fetched September 14, 2026
  • Open-Meteo climate archive — CC BY 4.0, fetched September 21, 2026
  • World Bank price level and exchange rate — CC BY 4.0, data year 2025
  • US State Department travel advisories — public domain, fetched September 21, 2026

Dates are the most recent fetch across the cities on this page. Every sentence here is generated from the data by rule, with no AI writing; the formulas are public.