Arequipavs
CebuArequipa vs Cebu: cost, size & quality of life compared
Arequipa (composite 6.0) vs Cebu (composite 5.3). Side-by-side on cost of living, population & size, affordability, quality of life, remote-work friendliness and healthcare — with the calculation behind each score.
Composite scores
Overall: Arequipa wins by 0.7 points
Population & size
Is Arequipa bigger than Cebu?
Arequipa is the bigger city: about 1.1M people versus Cebu's 1.0M — roughly 1.1× larger.
City-proper / metro population estimates. Size is one input — scroll on for cost of living, salary equivalence and quality-of-life scoring.
Arequipa edges out Cebu on the Mundevo composite, 6.0 to 5.3 out of 10 — a decisive 0.7-point margin across safety, healthcare, air quality and cost.
A 0.7-point composite gap is large enough that the result holds across most reasonable axis re-weightings. Still worth scanning the per-axis breakdown if you have a non-default priority (e.g. air quality matters more to you than the default 25% weight).
Run the salary calculator for both cities at your target lifestyle before deciding — Arequipa winning on quality doesn't mean the gross-salary requirement also lands in your favor. If you're on a balanced tier, the cost-of-living pages for each city carry the full monthly basket and the gross-salary figure.
Data signals
What separates Arequipa and Cebu
How decisive
Arequipa comes out ahead by 0.7 composite points — a clear edge.
Biggest difference
The widest gap is healthcare, where Arequipa leads by 2.1 points.
Where they match
They're most evenly matched on affordability — within 0.0 points of each other.
Overall cost gap
Total monthly costs in Cebu run about 10% lower than in Arequipa.
Where budgets split most
Healthcare is the line item that diverges most: roughly 61% cheaper in Cebu than Arequipa.
Score-by-score, side-by-side
Each axis is scored independently with disclosed weights and a calculation string.
| Axis | Arequipa | Cebu | Winner |
|---|---|---|---|
| Affordability | 7.7 | 7.7 | Arequipa +0.0 |
| Quality of life | 5.4 | 4.8 | Arequipa +0.6 |
| Remote-work friendliness | 5.4 | 5.3 | Arequipa +0.1 |
| Healthcare | 5.6 | 3.5 | Arequipa +2.1 |
Each axis is a weighted aggregate of underlying indicators normalized to a 0–10 scale. Weights are explicit and disclosed per axis. The composite is the unweighted mean of the four axes — axes are not collapsed further because the underlying trade-offs (e.g. low cost vs poor air quality) are user-dependent.
Affordability
- Cost-of-living index (weight 60%)32
- Rent index (weight 40%)10
How this is calculated
Affordability = ((100 − costIndex)/100 × 0.6 + (100 − rentIndex)/100 × 0.4) × 10. For Arequipa: ((100 − 32)/100 × 0.6 + (100 − 10)/100 × 0.4) × 10 = 7.7.
Arequipa sits well below the New York baseline on both cost-of-living and rent. Budgets stretch further here than in benchmark Tier-1 cities.
Quality of life
- Safety index (weight 40%)45
- Healthcare index (weight 35%)55
- Air quality index (weight 25%)65
How this is calculated
QoL = (safety/100 × 0.4 + healthcare/100 × 0.35 + airQuality/100 × 0.25) × 10. For Arequipa: (45/100 × 0.4 + 55/100 × 0.35 + 65/100 × 0.25) × 10 = 5.4.
Arequipa has a mixed quality profile. Safety: fair; healthcare: good; air: good. Weigh the weakest axis against your personal priorities.
Remote-work friendliness
- Internet (median Mbps) (weight 45%)70 Mbps
- Effective income tax (lower = better) (weight 30%)12.0%
- Cost-of-living (lower = better) (weight 25%)32
How this is calculated
RemoteWork = (min(Mbps/300, 1) × 0.45 + (1 − incomeTax) × 0.3 + (100 − costIndex)/100 × 0.25) × 10. For Arequipa: (min(70/300, 1) × 0.45 + (1 − 0.12) × 0.3 + (100 − 32)/100 × 0.25) × 10 = 5.4.
Arequipa works for remote work but isn't optimized for it: internet 70 Mbps, income tax 12%, cost index 32.
Healthcare
- Healthcare quality index (weight 70%)55
- Healthcare out-of-pocket / month (lower = better) (weight 30%)200
How this is calculated
Healthcare = (qualityIndex/100 × 0.7 + max(0, 1 − OOP/500) × 0.3) × 10. For Arequipa: (55/100 × 0.7 + max(0, 1 − 200/500) × 0.3) × 10 = 5.6.
Arequipa has trade-offs in healthcare: quality is good, typical out-of-pocket cost is ~200 PEN/month. Cross-border insurance closes the gap.
Each axis is a weighted aggregate of underlying indicators normalized to a 0–10 scale. Weights are explicit and disclosed per axis. The composite is the unweighted mean of the four axes — axes are not collapsed further because the underlying trade-offs (e.g. low cost vs poor air quality) are user-dependent.
Affordability
- Cost-of-living index (weight 60%)31
- Rent index (weight 40%)11
How this is calculated
Affordability = ((100 − costIndex)/100 × 0.6 + (100 − rentIndex)/100 × 0.4) × 10. For Cebu: ((100 − 31)/100 × 0.6 + (100 − 11)/100 × 0.4) × 10 = 7.7.
Cebu sits well below the New York baseline on both cost-of-living and rent. Budgets stretch further here than in benchmark Tier-1 cities.
Quality of life
- Safety index (weight 40%)42
- Healthcare index (weight 35%)50
- Air quality index (weight 25%)55
How this is calculated
QoL = (safety/100 × 0.4 + healthcare/100 × 0.35 + airQuality/100 × 0.25) × 10. For Cebu: (42/100 × 0.4 + 50/100 × 0.35 + 55/100 × 0.25) × 10 = 4.8.
Cebu has a mixed quality profile. Safety: fair; healthcare: fair; air: good. Weigh the weakest axis against your personal priorities.
Remote-work friendliness
- Internet (median Mbps) (weight 45%)60 Mbps
- Effective income tax (lower = better) (weight 30%)12.0%
- Cost-of-living (lower = better) (weight 25%)31
How this is calculated
RemoteWork = (min(Mbps/300, 1) × 0.45 + (1 − incomeTax) × 0.3 + (100 − costIndex)/100 × 0.25) × 10. For Cebu: (min(60/300, 1) × 0.45 + (1 − 0.12) × 0.3 + (100 − 31)/100 × 0.25) × 10 = 5.3.
Cebu works for remote work but isn't optimized for it: internet 60 Mbps, income tax 12%, cost index 31.
Healthcare
- Healthcare quality index (weight 70%)50
- Healthcare out-of-pocket / month (lower = better) (weight 30%)1200
How this is calculated
Healthcare = (qualityIndex/100 × 0.7 + max(0, 1 − OOP/500) × 0.3) × 10. For Cebu: (50/100 × 0.7 + max(0, 1 − 1200/500) × 0.3) × 10 = 3.5.
Cebu has trade-offs in healthcare: quality is fair, typical out-of-pocket cost is ~1200 PHP/month. Cross-border insurance closes the gap.
Monthly cost delta: Arequipa vs Cebu
Normalized to PEN at 1 PHP = 0.0645 PEN.
| Category | Arequipa | Cebu | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| housing | PEN 1,100 | ₱16,000 | -6% |
| food | PEN 700 | ₱9,500 | -12% |
| transport | PEN 100 | ₱1,000 | -35% |
| utilities | PEN 240 | ₱4,500 | +21% |
| leisure | PEN 600 | ₱9,000 | -3% |
| healthcare | PEN 200 | ₱1,200 | -61% |
Where each city's money goes
Two cities can have the same monthly total but very different shapes — one might burn 50% on housing while the other splits more evenly. The composition matters as much as the headline.
The biggest shape difference is healthcare: Arequipa spends 3.9 percentage points more of its budget on it (7% vs. 3%). If you're sensitive to that category, weight the per-axis scores accordingly.
Salary equivalence: Arequipa ↔ Cebu
What earning the same purchasing power costs in each city. Cost-adjusted using the local cost-of-living index (Arequipa = 32, Cebu = 31); currency-converted at 1 PHP = 0.0645 PEN. Tax differences are not modeled.
| Arequipa gross | Cebu equivalent |
|---|---|
| PEN 40,000 | ₱600,625 |
| PEN 75,000 | ₱1,126,172 |
| PEN 120,000 | ₱1,801,875 |
| Cebu gross | Arequipa equivalent |
|---|---|
| ₱40,000 | PEN 2,664 |
| ₱75,000 | PEN 4,995 |
| ₱120,000 | PEN 7,992 |
Equivalence here means same cost-of-living purchasing power, not same net take-home. Effective tax rates differ between countries; a salary equivalent on cost can still net more or less depending on the destination's tax regime. Use the calculator for tax-adjusted figures at a specific lifestyle tier.
Pros and cons
Why pick Arequipa
- Wins on quality of life (+0.6 points vs Cebu).
- Wins on healthcare (+2.1 points vs Cebu).
Why pick Cebu
Cebu doesn't have any standout advantages of ≥0.3 points on the scoring model.
Arequipa trade-offs
No material trade-offs versus Cebu on the scored axes.
Cebu trade-offs
- Trails Arequipa on quality of life by 0.6 points.
- Trails Arequipa on healthcare by 2.1 points.
Who should choose which
The composite winner doesn't always match what matters to you. These four reader profiles weigh the axes differently — find the closest fit.
Single, salaried remote worker, 25-40, optimizing for runway + bandwidth.
Axes scored: affordability, remoteWork
Couple with school-age children, prioritizing safety, healthcare, and air quality.
Axes scored: qualityOfLife, healthcare
Fixed income, healthcare-sensitive, prefers low cost and stable infrastructure.
Axes scored: healthcare, qualityOfLife, affordability
Salary stretch matters most. Cuts everything else if it lowers the burn rate.
Axes scored: affordability
Profiles use simple axis averaging — for a deeper read with your own weights, use the per-axis breakdown above.
Tools that work for either choice
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How this page is calculated
Data sources
- Mundevo per-city dataset. Cost basket, rent index, safety, healthcare, air quality and median internet for both cities. Reference date: 2026-06-10 (Arequipa) and 2026-06-10 (Cebu).
- FX rate. 1 PHP = 0.0645 PEN, used to normalize cost baskets.
- CityScoreCalculator. Four axes (Affordability, Quality of life, Remote work, Healthcare) computed with explicit weights and explanations. See per-axis calculation strings rendered on this page.
- ComparisonService. Per-category cost deltas (housing, food, transport, utilities, leisure, healthcare) normalized to the origin currency.
Update cadence
Data as of . Last reviewed .
Calculation
For each of the four axes we compute an independent 0–10 score using the formulas printed beside each axis. The composite is the unweighted mean of the four axes. The overall winner is the city with the higher composite, unless the margin is under 0.05 points — in which case Arequipa is shown first as a tiebreaker to keep results stable.
Limitations
- Climate is not scored — we don't yet hold a maintained climate dataset, so weather-driven preferences are not modeled.
- Tax differences between cities in the same country are not modeled (Spain and Germany don't have material regional differences for this dataset).
- Indices are population-level. Personal cost varies with neighborhood, employer benefits and family status.
- Quality-of-life axis weights (safety 0.4 / healthcare 0.35 / air 0.25) are editorial defaults — readers with strong preferences should re-weight manually.
Frequently asked questions
Arequipa vs Cebu: which is cheaper?
Cebu is roughly 10% cheaper than Arequipa on the monthly cost basket (housing, food, transport, utilities, healthcare). Arequipa has cost index 32 vs Cebu at 31 (both with New York = 100).
Which city has better quality of life?
Arequipa scores 6.0/10 on the Mundevo composite versus Cebu at 5.3/10. The composite weights safety (40%), healthcare (35%) and air quality (25%). Arequipa wins overall by 0.7 points.
Is Arequipa or Cebu better for remote work?
Arequipa has 70 Mbps median internet vs Cebu at 60 Mbps. The four-axis decision rubric on this page (affordability, quality of life, remote work, healthcare) gives a per-dimension breakdown rather than a single answer.