Last update: Oct 2026

Cost of Living Comparison Between Barcelona and Tampico

For one person, living is cheaper in Tampico: $1,304 a month against $2,453 in Barcelona, rent and utilities included – about $13,800 less a year. Rent and utilities account for most of the difference.

117

Cost of Living Index in Barcelona
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Barcelona Living Index
63

Cost of Living Index in Tampico
Learn more

Tampico Living Index

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Barcelona

🇪🇸 Spain

$2,453

/mo nomad

Tampico

🇲🇽 Mexico

$1,304

/mo nomad

Monthly Cost of Living

How much you'll spend in Barcelona and in Tampico

Real prices from locals and on-the-ground checks – rent, groceries, transit and the daily extras. Here's what a month in Barcelona and in Tampico actually costs, broken down by who's living it.

Monthly costs for one person with rent: $2,453 in Barcelona versus $1,304 in Tampico.

Barcelona $2,453
Tampico $1,304

Estimated couple costs with rent: $3,509 in Barcelona versus $2,065 in Tampico.

Barcelona $3,509
Tampico $2,065

Monthly costs for a family of three with rent: $4,564 in Barcelona versus $2,825 in Tampico.

Barcelona $4,564
Tampico $2,825

Living in Barcelona is roughly 88% more expensive than in Tampico, and outside of rent the biggest gap is in eating out.

The two cities straddle the global median: Barcelona is 80% above, Tampico is 4% below.

Meal at Budget Restaurant

$17.59 €15.76

$8.28 MX$156

112.44%

Three-Course Dinner for Two, Mid-Range

$67.5 €60.5

$54.0 MX$1,015

25.00%

Fast Food Meal (McDonalds, etc)

$13.53 €12.12

$9.58 MX$180

41.23%

Cappuccino

$3.19 €2.86

$2.97 MX$55.8

7.41%

Coke/Pepsi/Fanta/Sprite (0.33 liter bottle)

$2.91 €2.61

$1.19 MX$22.43

144.54%

Water (0.33 liter bottle)

$1.89 €1.70

$0.84 MX$15.83

125.00%

Local Beer (0.5 liter draught)

$4.01 €3.59

$4.43 MX$83.3

-9.48%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$4.53 €4.06

$4.79 MX$90.1

-5.43%

Milk (1 liter)

$1.31 €1.17

$1.45 MX$27.29

-9.66%

White Bread (500g)

$2.02 €1.81

$3.98 MX$74.9

-49.25%

Rice (white) (1kg)

$1.85 €1.66

$1.37 MX$25.84

35.04%

Eggs

$4.83 €4.33

$3.98 MX$74.8

21.36%

Local Cheese (1kg)

$16.74 €15.00

$4.94 MX$92.9

238.87%

Chicken Fillets (1kg)

$9.12 €8.17

$9.76 MX$183

-6.56%

Beef Round Steak (1kg)

$19.64 €17.60

$12.90 MX$242

52.25%

Apples (1kg)

$2.98 €2.67

$3.41 MX$64.0

-12.61%

Banana (1kg)

$2.02 €1.81

$1.10 MX$20.60

83.64%

Oranges (1kg)

$2.70 €2.42

$2.01 MX$37.72

34.33%

Tomato (1kg)

$2.80 €2.51

$2.18 MX$40.96

28.44%

Potato (1kg)

$2.09 €1.87

$2.04 MX$38.31

2.45%

Onion (1kg)

$2.07 €1.85

$2.69 MX$50.5

-23.05%

Lettuce (1 head)

$1.46 €1.31

$2.08 MX$39.16

-29.81%

Water (1.5 liter bottle)

$0.94 €0.84

$0.87 MX$16.29

8.05%

Cigarettes 20 Pack (Marlboro, Camel)

$6.87 €6.16

$4.68 MX$87.9

46.79%

Wine (Bottle)

$7.89 €7.07

Local Beer (0.5 liter bottle)

$1.41 €1.26

$1.53 MX$28.72

-7.84%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$2.54 €2.27

One-way Ticket (Public Transport)

$3.14 €2.82

$0.75 MX$14.06

318.67%

Public Transport Monthly Pass (Regular Price)

$25.45 €22.80

$27.24 MX$512

-6.57%

Taxi Start (Normal Tariff)

$2.99 €2.68

$2.65 MX$49.76

12.83%

Taxi (Normal Tariff) (1km)

$1.49 €1.34

$2.68 MX$50.3

-44.40%

Taxi 1hour Waiting (Normal Tariff)

$33.37 €29.91

$5.10 MX$95.8

554.31%

Gasoline (1 liter)

$1.80 €1.61

$1.38 MX$25.97

30.43%

Midsize Hatchback 1.4l (Volkswagen Golf, Toyota Prius, Honda Civic, etc)

$33.2K €29.7K

$32.1K MX$602.9K

3.47%

Compact Sedan 1.6l (Toyota Corolla, Mazda3, Kia K4, Hyundai Elantra, etc)

$31.7K €28.4K

$23.9K MX$449.4K

32.56%

Utilities for 2 People in 2-bedroom Apartment (Heating, Electricity, Gas, Water, Garbage) (85m2)

$180 €162

$102 MX$1,916

76.94%

SIM Card Monthly Plan (Calls and 10GB+ Data)

$13.84 €12.40

$27.25 MX$512

-49.21%

Internet (50+ Mbps, Unlimited Data)

$33.70 €30.20

$23.53 MX$442

43.22%

Gym Membership (Monthly)

$51.5 €46.16

$43.28 MX$813

19.02%

Tennis Court (1 Hour on Weekend)

$15.96 €14.30

$16.27 MX$306

-1.91%

Cinema Ticket

$10.99 €9.85

$5.41 MX$102

103.14%

Preschool or Kindergarten, Full Day, Private, 1 Child (Monthly)

$917 €821

$269 MX$5,060

240.44%

International Primary School, 1 Child (Yearly)

$16.5K €14.8K

$7,934 MX$149.1K

107.71%

Jeans (Levis 501 Or Similar)

$87.0 €78.0

$73.5 MX$1,380

18.49%

Summer Dress (H&M, Zara, etc)

$38.51 €34.51

$65.9 MX$1,238

-41.53%

Sport Shoes (Adidas, Nike)

$106 €94.8

$161 MX$3,017

-34.10%

Men's Leather Business Shoes

$120 €107

$239 MX$4,493

-49.93%

1-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$1,699 €1,523

$508 MX$9,546

234.56%

1-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$1,355 €1,214

$380 MX$7,136

256.92%

3-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$2,603 €2,332

$932 MX$17.5K

179.35%

3-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$2,062 €1,848

$662 MX$12.4K

211.46%

Buy Apartment in City Center (m2)

$6,915 €6,196

Buy Apartment Outside City Center (m2)

$5,128 €4,595

Average Monthly Net Salary (After Tax)

$2,211 €1,981

$539 MX$10.1K

309.97%

20-Year Fixed Mortgage Interest Rate (Annual %)

3.28

CityCost data is based on AI and user input – minor inaccuracies may occur.

Last update for Barcelona: October 25, 2026

Last update for Tampico: October 26, 2026

Monthly budget structure

Share of the monthly basket for one person, rent included.

Accommodation & Living

Barcelona

$1.4K 55.3%

Tampico

$380 29.1% 72% $976

Groceries & Markets

Barcelona

$322 13.1%

Tampico

$258 * 19.8% 19.7% $63

Eating Out

Barcelona

$268 10.9%

Tampico

$171 13.1% 36.4% $97

Monthly Utilities & Internet

Barcelona

$228 9.3%

Tampico

$153 11.7% 33% $75

Clothing & Footwear

Barcelona

$158 6.4%

Tampico

$243 18.6% 53.5% $85

Sport & Entertainment

Barcelona

$74 3%

Tampico

$54 4.2% 26.4% $19

Getting Around

Barcelona

$48 2%

Tampico

$46 3.6% 4.6% $2.2

Categories marked with * are only partly priced – their share counts the items that do have prices.

Cost Breakdown

A one-bedroom apartment in the center runs $1,699 in Barcelona and $508 in Tampico. Housing cost is often the main lever when comparing two cities.

Barcelona pays about 4.1 times more on average. How far that income stretches comes down to housing choices and lifestyle.

Dining out: $67 in Barcelona vs $54 in Tampico for a mid-range dinner for two. Groceries echo the gap at $322 vs $258 per month, with Tampico cheaper across the board.

Good to know

🇪🇸 Barcelona

🇲🇽 Tampico

🕒 Local time

09:49 9:49 AM

02:49 2:49 AM

7 h behind Barcelona

🌤 Weather

👥 Population

1,660,122

297,562

💱 Currency

Euro EUR €

Mexican Peso MXN $

📈 Exchange rate

1 EUR = 1.12 USD

100 MXN = 5.32 USD

100 MXN = 4.77 EUR

Exchange rates and currency converter

MXN, USD to EUR – Euro Converter

🇺🇸 United States Dollar ($)

🇪🇺 Euro (€)

Euro exchange rates as of November 2, 2026: 1 USD = 0.896 EUR (1 EUR = 1.12 USD).

Mexican Peso exchange rates as of November 2, 2026: 1 USD = 18.79 MXN (100 MXN = 5.32 USD). 1 EUR = 20.97 MXN (100 MXN = 4.77 EUR).

USD to EUR in detail →

On the map

Lowest

Highest

Between locations

Barcelona Tampico 9,180 km ≈ 12 h nonstop flight

From you

Barcelona
Tampico

Distances are measured in a straight line. Your location is detected approximately.

City Median Internet Speeds Comparison (Updated April 2026)

The chart highlights the Precision Threshold for mobile and fixed broadband internet speeds, updated quarterly.

Digital Nomad Cost of Living Index

Barcelona vs Tampico: Cost of Living - Frequently Asked Questions

Total monthly costs including rent come to $2,453 in Barcelona and $1,304 in Tampico, so Tampico is about 47% cheaper – a gap that matters a lot on a fixed or modest income.

Average pay in Barcelona is about 4.1 times higher, which matters when comparing affordability. Whether that higher income actually nets you more depends on your spending habits and housing choices.

Rent for a central apartment: $1,699 in Barcelona versus $508 in Tampico. Housing is usually the single largest factor when comparing overall living costs between the two.

Childcare runs $917 in Barcelona versus $269 in Tampico. Over years of preschool, even a modest monthly gap compounds into a major financial factor for families.

Supermarket bills run roughly 25% higher in Barcelona. For households that cook at home regularly, that difference adds up over a month.

At $1,304 in Tampico versus $2,453 in Barcelona, a $2,000 budget is realistic in Tampico but tight or insufficient in Barcelona. The gap between the two cities makes Tampico the clear choice for anyone on this budget.

Both cities offer a good standard of living with different trade-offs. Neither is objectively better – the right pick depends on what matters most: affordability, career, cultural scene, or climate.

It comes down to priorities – Tampico wins on affordability, Barcelona on earning potential. Factor in climate, language, visa rules, and proximity to places that matter to you before deciding.