GringoTree Survey: Cost of Living
January 2013
We received 282 responses and hundreds of specific and general comments. Thanks, as always, to everyone who took the time.
Not all respondents answered all questions, which skews the percentages a little.
Of the 282, 240 respondents are from Cuenca. Vilcabamba and the coast logged 6 each, Quito 5, Salinas 4, Loja 3, Cotacachi 2, and the rest miscellaneous.
279 people answered the rent/own question, with 203 renters (73%) and 76 (27%) owners.
Exactly 100 (just under 50%) renters pay $300-$499 per month. Another 32 (15%) pay $500-$599, while 16 (8%) pay $600-$699, 13 (6%) pay $700-$799, 12 (7%) pay $800-$999; and 6 (3%) pay $1,000 and up. At the other extreme, 27 renters (12%) pay $100-$299.
Of properties owners, 29 (35%) pay no building or neighborhood fees, while another 20 (24%) pay up to $75 per month. Ten (12%) pay $76-$99, 15 (the largest percentage at 18%) pay $100-$149, and 9 (10%) pay $150 or more.
For utilities (electricity, gas, water, and landline) the vast majority, 173 (76%) pay $50-$74. Another 45 (20%) pay $75-$149. And the rest pay $150 and up.
For Internet, 14 respondents (6%) get away for less than $20, while 137 (60%) pay between $20 and $49, and 57 (25%) pay $50-$74. The rest pay $75 and up.
Not quite half of the respondents (61/41%) pay more than $50 per month for cable/satellite TV. The rest are as follows: 29 (19%) pay $40-$49; 21 (14%) pay $30-$39; 17 (12%) pay $20-$29; and 20 (14%) pay $10-$19.
For cell phones, fully 67% of respondents, 174 people, pay between $10 and $29 per month. Another 38 (15%) pay $30-$49 and 16 (6%) pay $50-$74. 7 people, just under 3%, pay $75 or more per month. 24 people (9%) don’t own cell phones.
As for food and groceries, not surprisingly, 103 shoppers always shop at SuperMaxi, with another 136 shopping there sometimes and 17 rarely. Only 34 people always shop at Coral, though 111 shop there sometimes and 36 rarely. 3 people always shop at GranAki, 23 sometimes, and 62 rarely. 50 shop at mercados always, while 134, the largest block of responders to this question, shop at them sometimes, and 27 rarely. Finally, it’s 23 people always, 86 sometimes, and 50 rarely at the tiendas.
The shopping question had an “Other” box, which received 59 responses. Also not surprisingly, 34 people (58%) cited the Coopera. Other “Others” included: Comisariato (3), SuperStock (2), and Tia, Feria Libre, MegaTienda, and street vendors. One goes all the way to shop at the “local stores in Lansing, Michigan.”
For food and groceries, 134 respondents (just under 50%) spend between $50 and $99 per week. 78 shoppers (just under 25%) spend more, while 37 (not quite 14%) shell out $20-$39 and 8 (3%) pay $10-$19.
The following question, on dining out, also surveyed expenses per week: 76 people (28%) spend $19 or less; 120 (45%) spend $20-$49; and 71 (almost 27%) spend more than $50 per week at restaurants and bars.
Transportation expenses are generally low. Per month, 187 people (nearly 72%) spend less than $50; 43 people spend $50-$99; and the other 31 pay $100 and up.
57 people (roughly 20% of total respondents) own their own cars. 27 of them, just under 50%, pay between $50 and $99 per month on gas, repairs, insurance. 12 (21%) pay less than $50, while 13 pay $100-$199, and 5 pay more than $200.
For helpers (housekeepers, gardeners, and cooks), just under half of respondents (117) pay nothing. The other half are pretty equally divided between $1-$49 and $50-plus.
The question, “What else do you spend money on and how much per month?” received 156 comments, which included, but weren’t limited to (in a rough expense order):
• high school and college students close to $4,000 per semester
• mortgages $1,500
• visa application $750
• school 2 children $600
• travel $100/$5,000
• medication $75-$100/$120/$300-$400/$160/$60
• health insurance $100/$71/$58/$330/$210/$110
• medical $100/$75/$40/$200/$110/$80
• farm caretaker $450; worker Social Security $59
• acupuncture $300
• alcohol $200/$150/$75/$60/$250
• church $150
• homeowners insurance $120
• salon $120
• clothing, shoes $100
• entertaining $100
• music classes $90
• Spanish lessons $75/$32/$28/$85
• elementary school $70
• sponsor school children $70/$45/$25
• e-books and New York Times (Internet) $80
• veterinarian/grooming $60/$20/$50
• pet food $20/$30/$100/$40
• art lessons $75
• horseback riding $60
• entertainment $50/$25
• gym $50/$20
• dance lessons $45
• art $25/$50/$75
• Club Correos $40
• cooking classes $40
• yoga $30• movies $20
• laundry/dry cleaning $15/$20/$10/$30
• DVDs $10/$20
• alarm system $15
• cigarettes $3.20 per pack
• flowers $4/$18/$50-$60
Finally, one wag wrote: “acholic” $30.
To summarize:
• almost 90% of renters pay between $100 and $699 per month.
• 72% of property owners who shell out fees pay no up to $99 a month.
• 76% of respondents pay $50-$74 per month for utilities.
• 91% pay no more than $74 for Internet, with most paying between $20 and $49.
• 59% pay $49 or less for cable/satellite TV, though fully 41% pay more.
• Of 235 cell-phone owners, exactly 3 out of 4 pay $10-$29 per month.
• 67% pay up to $99 a week in groceries, while 73% spend up to $49 per week dining out.
• 72% spend less than $50 per month on transportation.
• Of car owners, 70% pay less than $100 a month.
Taking a rough pass over all the numbers, it looks to us like an average couple that rents ($500 + $60 utilities), has fast Internet ($50), cable ($50), and cell phones ($30), shops at SuperMaxi and the mercados including the Coopera ($350), and doesn’t own a car, spends in the neighborhood of $1,100 per month for these basics.
Which brings us to the question, “How much do you spend every month?” which received 208 responses.
Some people provided a range ($1,200-$1,500, for example), which we averaged. There were also a few extreme highs ($7,000 including tuition for several high school and college attendees; two $5,000, one $4,500) and lows ($200, $300, $350), but we figure they washed.
Sixteen didn’t provide a number, writing things like, “I try not to look,” “I never add it up,” and “Still too much.” So that lowered the total to 192.
Adding it all up and dividing by 192 (with a slight margin for cross-eyed errors), the average — drum roll, please — comes to $1,198. Pretty close to our $1,100, plus $100 in miscellaneous expenses as cited above.
The last general-comments question attracted 74 responses.
A number of you took us to task for fatal flaws in the survey methodology (no accommodation for size of household; week-month differentials; some people own and don’t include rent in the calculations, etc.). We plead guilty as charged. We don’t pretend our surveys are scientific, though they’re certainly instructive (and amusing, at least to us).
A couple people copped to spending way too much on alcohol.
A few planned to move from the (expensive) city to the cheaper (campo).
More than a few railed against the consistently low cost of living promoted by the Internet hypesters.
Here are just a few representative responses.
“Don’t move here to save money. Move to Mexico if money is your concern.”
“Cuenca is beautiful. But it’s not so cheap.”
“Our costs for obtaining visa and cédula are much higher than we expected. To date, we have spent $4,500 and we don’t have the cédula yet.”
“All the reports of Cuenca’s costs are consistently too low, resulting in many expats coming here briefly, then leaving after a few months. Thanks for trying to stop this heart-breaking misinformation!
You’re welcome. We hope these numbers, from more than 250 local households, infuse some measure of reality into outside perceptions of the cost of living in Cuenca.
Finally, thanks to everyone who suggested new surveys. We love suggestions and you’ll probably see future surveys based on them.