Short answer: as of 2026, one person can live in Asunción on roughly Gs. 4.8–9 million a month (about $800–1,500), rent included. The low end is a one-bedroom in a modest barrio, cooking at home and riding the bus; the high end is a good one-bedroom in Recoleta or an older Villa Morra building, air conditioning on, Bolt every day, dinner out a few nights a week. A generous setup (a new tower in Villa Morra or Carmelitas, building fees, the AC running all summer, a coworking desk, restaurants) lands closer to Gs. 18 million (around $3,000) for one or two people. Every figure below is approximate, as of 2026, and given in guaraníes first, because that is the currency prices actually live in; the dollar column is soft, and that is the first thing to understand.

Why the dollar figure is soft this year

The guaraní has had a strong 2026. In late August a dollar buys roughly Gs. 6,000, down from about Gs. 6,230 in January and from well over Gs. 7,000 a year earlier; the local press puts the year-to-date move near 10%. Practical consequence: a rent of Gs. 3,000,000 cost about $410 a year ago and costs about $500 today, and the landlord changed nothing. Cost-of-living pages that still convert at Gs. 7,500–7,800 (several did in early 2026) understate your dollar spend by 20–25%.

So budget in guaraníes, convert at the day’s rate, and keep a cushion: if you earn in dollars or euros, your Asunción budget breathes with the exchange rate.

Rent: what the neighborhood tiers actually cost

Asunción rents sort into three rough tiers. The one-bedroom ranges below come from local listings and 2026 rental guides, and they overlap on purpose: a dated flat in Villa Morra can cost less than a new one in Recoleta.

Tier	Neighborhoods	One-bedroom, per month (approx., 2026)
Upscale	Villa Morra, Carmelitas, Manorá: new towers, walk to the malls and restaurants	Gs. 4–6 million ($670–1,000); older or smaller units from about Gs. 3 million
Middle	Recoleta, Las Mercedes, Mburucuyá, Los Laureles, Ycuá Satí	Gs. 2.5–4.5 million ($420–750)
Modest	Sajonia, San Vicente, Trinidad, the Microcentro; Fernando de la Mora, Luque and San Lorenzo just past the city line	Gs. 1.8–3 million ($300–500)

A few things the table can’t show:

New builds dominate the top tier. In August 2026 the one-bedroom listings in Villa Morra on the main portals mostly sit between Gs. 4.4 and Gs. 5.65 million, nearly all recently built, with pool, gym and 24-hour security, and many advertised with IVA and building fees included. That “included” matters: in buildings with amenities the expensas run roughly Gs. 400,000–1,500,000 a month on their own, so ask before you sign.
Two bedrooms and up. A modern two-bedroom in Villa Morra or Carmelitas is about Gs. 6–9 million ($1,000–1,500); in Recoleta more like Gs. 4.5–6.5 million. Family-sized three-bedrooms range from around Gs. 4 million to well past Gs. 10 million in the city, and drop noticeably outside it.
Move-in costs. Twelve-month contracts are the norm. Expect a deposit of one to three months (a foreigner without a Paraguayan guarantor is often asked for two or three plus bank statements), roughly half a month’s rent as agency commission plus IVA, and the first month up front. Furnished units in the expat neighborhoods offer shorter terms and simpler paperwork at a higher monthly rate, which is why most people start there. Local guides note that rents rose 10–15% in guaraní terms over 2025, on top of the exchange-rate move.

One practical note: if a bank asks you for proof of address, what holds up is a real residential address, meaning a lease in your name backed by the property’s utility bills. Utility bills in Paraguay always stay in the owner’s name, so the lease is what carries your name. We set this up for clients privately, case by case, through the account.

Utilities: ANDE, water, internet, mobile

Electricity (ANDE). Paraguay’s power is cheap by world standards, and the bill is predictable once you know the mechanism. ANDE bills residential customers a single price per kilowatt-hour for the whole month, set by the bracket your total consumption lands in; under the tariff sheet in force that runs from about Gs. 312 per kWh for the smallest users up to Gs. 436 per kWh above 1,000 kWh. Some arithmetic from that sheet:

A one-bedroom in winter, 200–300 kWh: roughly Gs. 70,000–110,000.
The same apartment in January with a split unit running most of the day, 500–900 kWh: roughly Gs. 210,000–380,000.
A house with several units going, 1,200–2,000 kWh: Gs. 520,000–870,000, and more is not unusual.

That summer jump is not a billing error. ANDE itself says national demand runs about 40% higher in summer than in winter because of air conditioning. Asunción summers are long and hot; budget for the AC line and you will not be surprised. For reference, basic utilities for an 85 m² apartment average about Gs. 200,000–500,000 a month across the year. A revised residential tariff has been discussed since late 2025 but was not in force as of mid-2026, and ANDE has said roughly 90% of residential customers would be left out of any first phase.

Two things that catch newcomers: the ANDE account stays in the owner’s name (bills never transfer to a tenant here), and the bill does not care where you are. Neither does Personal or Claro. The cell line gets cut the day after the due date. If you keep a Sweet Home Paraguay Mailbox, we pay ANDE, Personal, Claro and the rest locally and send proof; here is how bill pay from abroad works.

Water (ESSAP). A small line for an apartment, typically somewhere between Gs. 60,000 and Gs. 150,000 a month. Cooking gas, where the kitchen is not electric, comes in 10 kg canisters at roughly Gs. 60,000–85,000.

Home internet. Fiber is good and widely available in the city. Plans run about Gs. 100,000–260,000 a month; as of August 2026 Personal advertises 400 Mbps fiber from Gs. 150,000 with installation waived, and Claro and Tigo compete in the same band.

Mobile. Three carriers: Tigo, Personal, Claro. A SIM costs about Gs. 15,000. Prepaid data packs run roughly Gs. 40,000 for 10 GB and Gs. 80,000 for 30 GB; postpaid plans with 24–50 GB sit around Gs. 85,000–120,000 a month.

Groceries and eating out

Supermarket prices in Asunción, as of August 2026, look like this: a litre of milk about Gs. 7,400, a dozen eggs about Gs. 14,000, chicken breast about Gs. 30,000 a kilo, rice about Gs. 7,800 a kilo, local cheese about Gs. 59,000 a kilo, tomatoes about Gs. 14,000 a kilo, bananas about Gs. 7,400. Good beef, the thing Paraguay is quietly excellent at, is roughly Gs. 42,000–60,000 a kilo for a first cut. Produce from the markets is cheaper still. A single person cooking most meals spends roughly Gs. 1.2–2.4 million a month ($200–400); the swing is almost entirely how much imported stuff ends up in the cart.

Eating out is where Asunción rewards you. The menú ejecutivo, a weekday set lunch, runs about Gs. 35,000–95,000 depending on the restaurant, and a simple meal at an inexpensive place is Gs. 30,000–55,000. A mid-range dinner for two is around Gs. 200,000–360,000. A cappuccino is about Gs. 20,000 and a draft beer about Gs. 13,000. Villa Morra has the densest restaurant scene in Asunción, and a good chunk of it is reachable on foot from the towers.

Getting around

Most expats in Villa Morra and Carmelitas live without a car. A city bus ride costs Gs. 3,400 on Asunción’s internal lines (since January 2026), paid with the electronic card that now covers the whole metropolitan area. Bolt, Uber and the local app MUV compete hard, so a typical cross-town ride is about Gs. 12,000–36,000 ($2–6) with a two- to five-minute wait in the central neighborhoods; surge pricing can double or triple that on rainy evenings. Metered taxis start around Gs. 8,600 plus roughly Gs. 9,000 per kilometre. If you do bring or buy a car, petrol is about Gs. 7,000 a litre.

Health: prepaid plans and private clinics

Paraguay runs on medicina prepaga: a monthly plan from a private provider that gives you access to the private sanatorios. Individual plans start around Gs. 240,000 a month for basic use and commonly sit between Gs. 350,000 and Gs. 700,000 for an adult on a solid plan; a family of four is roughly Gs. 1.2–2.4 million. Paying out of pocket is also normal: a doctor’s visit runs from about Gs. 100,000 at a neighborhood clinic to several hundred thousand for a specialist in Villa Morra.

The digital-nomad extras

Working from Asunción adds little to the basics above. A dedicated desk at the international coworking chains is about $150–210 a month (Gs. 900,000–1,250,000); the café-and-fiber approach costs whatever you drink. Gyms run Gs. 150,000–280,000 a month.

Three sample monthly budgets

Approximate, as of 2026, converted at Gs. 6,000 to the dollar. Build your own from the sections above; these are shapes, not quotes.

Line	Frugal (one person, modest barrio)	Comfortable (one person, middle tier)	Generous (one or two people, new tower)
Rent	Gs. 2,200,000	Gs. 3,800,000	Gs. 7,500,000
Building fees	included	Gs. 500,000	Gs. 1,000,000
Electricity + water	Gs. 200,000	Gs. 350,000	Gs. 700,000
Internet + mobile	Gs. 200,000	Gs. 250,000	Gs. 350,000
Groceries	Gs. 1,300,000	Gs. 1,800,000	Gs. 2,500,000
Eating out, coffee	Gs. 400,000	Gs. 1,000,000	Gs. 2,500,000
Transport	Gs. 250,000	Gs. 600,000	Gs. 1,200,000
Health plan	Gs. 250,000	Gs. 400,000	Gs. 1,000,000
Gym, coworking, fun	–	Gs. 500,000	Gs. 1,500,000
Total	≈ Gs. 4.8 million (~$800)	≈ Gs. 9.2 million (~$1,530)	≈ Gs. 18.3 million (~$3,040)

These line up with what the 2026 expat write-ups report independently: modest single budgets of $800–1,400 and comfortable ones of $1,200–1,500, with the ceiling set by how new your building is and how often you eat out.

What the numbers don’t tell you

Two things sit underneath every budget above.

The first is residency. A tourist can rent a furnished flat and buy a SIM, but the lease in your name, the health plan, the postpaid line, the bank account: those become routine rather than a negotiation once you hold a cédula. The residency process, step by step runs roughly four months on the Essential track, and it is the base everything else stands on. We went through it ourselves before we ever did it for a client.

The second is why the arithmetic works at all for people who earn abroad. Paraguay taxes territorially: income from Paraguayan sources is taxed (personal income tax tops out at 10%), and foreign-source income sits outside the Paraguayan tax base. That is not a slogan and not “no taxes”; it is the structure of the system, and we explain it without the sales pitch here. For someone earning abroad it means the budget above is closer to the whole picture than it would be in most countries.

Frequently asked

Can I really live in Asunción on $1,000 a month? Yes, in a modest barrio, cooking at home and using the bus and the occasional Bolt. At today’s exchange rate that is about Gs. 6 million, which is comfortable in the frugal column and tight in the middle one. It was easier a year ago, when the same dollars bought 15–20% more guaraníes.

Do I need a car? Not in Villa Morra, Carmelitas or Recoleta. Ride-hailing is cheap and fast, and a lot of daily life is walkable. A car starts to make sense with kids, a house outside the city, or regular trips to the interior.

How much cash should I have for move-in? Plan on three to four months’ rent up front: deposit, first month, agency commission, plus furniture if the place is unfurnished. Furnished flats in the expat neighborhoods cost more per month but need much less up front, which is why they are the usual first stop.

Are prices going up? In guaraníes, rents rose about 10–15% over 2025 and most other lines moved modestly. In dollars the jump is bigger because the guaraní strengthened. Utilities are stable: ANDE’s residential per-kWh prices have not moved since 2017, and the revision under discussion is aimed at large consumers first.

If you are working out whether Asunción fits your budget, create a free account and tell us your situation: where your income comes from, who is moving with you, how much of the year you plan to be here. You will get a straight answer about what Paraguay does and does not change for you, before you spend anything, and everything you share stays in one place that you control.