In Bolivia, you’ll find a wide range of prices for rentals, these different prices are meant for different incomes that Bolivians normally have. For example, a lower-class Bolivian can get a 1-bedroom apartment for just $120 a month, but it will lack a lot of functionality when compared to a 1st world 1-bedroom apartment. If you want to, in Bolivia, get the same comfort as if you were in a first-world country, you’ll need to rent the best real estate units available in the country.
Renting the best real estate units in Bolivia is way cheaper than in first-tier countries. With $350 a month, you’ll get the best 1-bedroom apartments in this country, and with $600 a month the best 3-bedroom apartments. Airbnb renting is from 30% to 50% more expensive than normal renting in Bolivia.
We are real estate Bolivian experts and normally help many people here to achieve their real estate goals (you can see our Bolivian real estate website). So, we’ll give you all the details and a complete picture of how much it really costs to rent real estate in Bolivia, including Airbnb and normal rentals. Also, we’ll give you some tips about how to save money when renting here.
The real cost of rent in Bolivia
When you are coming to Bolivia, either to live in or visit the country for a matter of days or weeks, you’ll find that there are 2 main options to rent a house here:
- Using Airbnb
- Renting the normal way
The 1st option is mostly for tourists, but also very suitable for people coming to live in the country. The 2nd option is almost only for expats that will live here for a long time, for several months or even years.
But, the most important thing you need to know is that no matter if you rent a house in Bolivia by either Airbnb or the normal way, you will face almost the same pricing with both options. Contrary to what happens in the first world, where an Airbnb can be a lot more expensive than renting a house in the normal way, you’ll find that here an Airbnb can be almost as cheap as a normal renting.
You’ll realize that renting a house for days, weeks, or months with Airbnb it’s going to be only 20% to 50% more expensive than renting a house in the normal way, with a realtor, and dealing with the future landlord. Then, when you are renting a 2-bedroom apartment in Bolivia, the price will normally be around $450 per month and with Airbnb, it will be around $600 per month.
| Type of cost | Avg. spending in Bolivia/month |
| Renting (1 ppl.) | $150 |
| Airbnb 2-bedroom unit | $600 |
| Normal 2-bedroom unit | $450 |
| Airbnb single-family house | $1,800 |
| Normal single-family house | $1,400 |
| Utilities | $50 |
| Renting Tax | $0 |
| Administrative fees | $40 |
Cpt: General rental costs and expenses in Bolivia.
Regarding standalone houses, the prices are even closer ($1,400 for normal renting and $1,800 for Airbnb renting), also remember that Airbnb will give you homes that are completely furnished, also units that have all the utilities, amenities, safety, and support that you need to just start living in them.
So, when renting a house in Bolivia, just use Airbnb in almost all cases. We only advise you to use normal renting when you’re going to live in the house for a long time, for at least 6 months, as in this case, the normal renting will be cheaper.
Pricing list for renting different homes in Bolivia
Next, we’re going to show you the detailed real estate rental prices in Bolivia, for both Airbnb renting and normal renting. As you can see, commonly there is a 30% to 50% overpricing in Airbnb renting over classic renting. See the average prices for different apartments and units in the following chart.
You need to know that the apartments we are using in the following chart as examples of normal renting are the high-quality ones that you may expect to get in decent neighborhoods and zones of Bolivia.
| Type of home or apartment | Avg. cost (per month) |
| Airbnb | |
| 1-bedroom Airbnb unit | $450 |
| 2-bedroom Airbnb unit | $600 |
| 3-bedroom Airbnb unit | $900 |
| Single-family Airbnb house | $1,800 |
| Modest 2-bedroom Airbnb unit | $350 |
| Expensive 3-bedroom Airbnb unit | $1,800 |
| Expensive Single family Airbnb house | $3,500 |
| Normal real estate | |
| 1-bedroom apartment | $250 |
| 2-bedroom apartment | $450 |
| 3-bedroom apartment | $600 |
| Single-family house | $1,400 |
| Modest 2-bedroom apartment | $250 |
| Luxury 3-bedroom apartment | $1,200 |
| Luxury single-family house | $2,500 |
Apartments that are low quality or located in bad or red neighborhoods of the country will be way cheaper (a 1-bedroom unit in those places can be as low as $100 and a 3-bedroom at $250 per month), but by any means, you shouldn’t live in these apartments, you will face a lot of troubles, inefficiency and threats to your safety. Also, no expat or foreigner normally lives in those places, as they know they’ll face a lot of dangers in those areas.
So, in the chart above, we’re comparing high-quality units you can find for rent in Bolivia vs Airbnb renting (which by the way has almost only high-quality rentals in our country).
As you can see, renting a 1-bedroom apartment in the normal way in Bolivia located in a decent neighborhood can cost as low as $250 a month, while the same apartment fully furnished and ready to use can cost around $450 per month with Airbnb. A 3-bedroom apartment with normal renting will be about $600 a month, but with Airbnb, this same unit will be about $900 per month.
So, in the vast majority of cases, you should consider renting an apartment or house just by using Airbnb, as you’ll get almost the same prices as a normal apartment or house. If you are going to live here for a long time, maybe more than a year, then, normal renting will be your best option.
Different incomes and the cost of rent
As we just said before, people that are poor or from the lower class will rent apartments in bad, red, and poor neighborhoods of Bolivia. So, they’ll rent on average a 1-bedroom unit for just $120 a month and the total renting expenses will be around $150. But this unit will be a nightmare for a person from a first-world country coming to live in Bolivia.
You’ll find that these apartments won’t have even basic services in some cases. Also, they’ll be very inefficient, old, located in too far away places, or in red neighborhoods, where robbers and bad people live (as ghettos in the United States). These real estate units are cheap for a reason, and in most cases are because they lack good functionality and amenities or they are situated in bad, poor, or dangerous places.
In regards to middle-class people in Bolivia, they certainly rent better apartments and homes. They can get a 1-bedroom decent unit located in an average neighborhood for about $200, and their total expenses will be around $250. This unit will have all the basic services, it won’t be too far away and it will be relatively safe to live in. Anyway, this apartment won’t have all the comfort that you may expect in a first-world country.
We think that if you want to get almost the same comfort and functionality as in a first-world country, you should emulate the way upper-class people normally rent in Bolivia. These people will spend around $350 for a 1-bedroom apartment and will have total rental expenses of about $500 each month. Notice that this cost is very near to the price of a 1-bedroom Airbnb.
| Lower-class Bolivian (1 ppl.) | Middle-class Bolivian (1 ppl.) | Upper-class Bolivian (1 ppl.) | |
| Avg. 1-bedroom apartment / Month | $120 | $200 | $350 |
| Avg. renting total expenses / Month | $150 | $250 | $500 |
| Avg. renting total expenses / Day | $5 | $8 | $17 |
As you can see, most of the people here in Bolivia will rent apartments and houses that are below the quality that you may expect in a first-world rental unit. So, if you want to get almost the same comfort and standard of living, you should behave like an upper-class Bolivian and this person will spend around $500 a month in rental costs.
Foreigners and the cost of rent
In the chart below, you can see the details about how much it’ll cost you to rent either a 1-bedroom unit or a single-family house in Bolivia, depending on the location of the real estate unit. This location we think is very important for you, because we suppose you want to live near other expats, or in the commercial areas and downtowns of the most important cities of the country.
So, you can see how much it’ll cost for you to rent a house in those places, where you’ll get a home of almost the same quality that you may expect to get in your source country.
| Type of renting expense | Average cost per month |
| 1-bedroom unit (city downtown) | $300 |
| 1-bedroom unit (city expat’s area) | $350 |
| 1-bedroom unit (city downtown – one day) | $12 |
| Single-family house (city downtown) | $1,500 |
| Single-family house (city expat’s area) | $1,800 |
| Single-family house (city downtown – one day) | $60 |
As you can see, it’ll be easy to find quite cheap, but very comfortable and even luxury apartments inside buildings of any major city of Bolivia, being these units of 1, 2 or 3 bedrooms, for just several hundred dollars each month, no matter if they are available through Airbnb or normal renting.
But stand-alone houses for a single-family are more expensive and can be even as costly as renting a house in the first world. Remember that the example units of the chart above are located in the best neighborhoods and areas of Bolivia.
If you are coming for a matter of days or weeks as a tourist instead of trying to live here, we also have a dedicated guide about the cost of accommodation in Bolivia, in the following direction: How much does accommodation cost in Bolivia? All the details to know.
Comparing the cost of rentals in Bolivia versus other countries
If you compare Bolivia with first-world countries, you’ll find that renting an apartment or house here is significantly cheaper than in these countries:
- For normal renting, the costs are only 25% to $40 what you will spend in the first world (remember that these units are the best real estate available in Bolivia).
- For Airbnb renting, the costs are only 20% to 35% of what you will spend on Airbnb in the first world (remember that Airbnb here in Bolivia offers, in general, high-quality real estate units).
| Real estate type/monthly | Bolivia | Upper-class Bolivian | USA | Canada | UK | India |
| Avg. Airbnb 1-bedroom unit | $350 | – | $2,400 | $1,400 | $1,800 | $400 |
| Avg. normal 1-bedroom unit | $200 | $350 | $1,100 | $1,500 | $800 | $150 |
| Avg. Airbnb single-family house | $1,600 | – | $6,000 | $2,400 | $2,700 | $700 |
| Avg. single-family house | $700 | $1,500 | $1,350 | $2,500 | $1,300 | $350 |
But the costs get closer when you look at full standalone houses. In this case, you’ll find the best homes available for rent in the most exclusive neighborhoods in Bolivia will be around $1,500/month and will have a similar quality as a normal home in the US. That’s why if you’re moving to Bolivia, you should start renting an apartment and not a home, and in this way save significant money on housing expenses.
Conclusions
In this guide about the cost of renting in Bolivia, you have learned that with several hundreds of dollars per month you can get either 1-bedroom, 2-bedrooms, 3-bedrooms, or even full standalone houses in the best places and neighborhoods of our country.
You also have realized that if you rent through Airbnb, you will get an overpricing of between 20% and 50% above normal rentals and that this company offers high-quality units for rent here. You also now know that of course, you can get way cheaper rentals too like lower-class and middle-class Bolivians do, but you will risk your safety, comfort, and functionality with these low-quality real estate units.
Then, you now know that renting like an upper-class Bolivian and spending around $350 for a 1-bedroom apartment, $600 for a 3-bedroom apartment, or $1,500 for a full standalone house in Bolivia will bring you almost the same comfort and functionality that you may expect to get in a first world country. Also, you’ve realized that renting apartments will let you save more money than renting full standalone houses in our country.
We hope this information has helped you, and if you want to have an overall overview of how much it really costs to live in Bolivia, including food, transportation, and other expenses, visit our dedicated guide on this topic: The cost of living in Bolivia, all the details you need to know.
BolivianExperts.com, information about how to live, work, invest, and travel in Bolivia.
