
There is a lot of poverty in Nicaragua. Nonetheless, the middle class is growing and the upper class also exists. Almost anywhere you go you could find poverty, middle class people, and upper class people.
You could have the same standard of living here that you would have at home. For example, if you would like to have a house built just as your house was built back in the US, you could do it. The materials are here, and we have people who can build it here.
In order to give an example for expats, let’s compare how a couple would live in Indianapolis (which is where I’m from), with Nicaragua, on US$2,500 per month. In Indianapolis $2,500 a month be a very tight budget, but here in Nicaragua that’s actually a very reasonable, a very good salary. On $2,500 a month in Nicaragua, you would have money left over to be able to freely travel, live on the beach or stay where you wanted to and you would have the amenities that you would have in your home country.
Your life in Nicaragua would be easier. For example, food cost less and housing cost less. If you want somebody to work for you, to be a maid – to cook and clean for you – that would definitely cost a whole lot less in Nicaragua than what it would in the US. Also, certain utilities cost less. Electricity is expensive, gas is expensive, but everything else is very reasonable.
(Pool overlooking the Pacific ocean in San Juan del Sur, Nicaragua, pictured.)