Last update: Oct 2026

Cost of Living Comparison Between Buenos Aires and Miguel Hidalgo

For one person, living is cheaper in Miguel Hidalgo: $1,149 a month against $1,656 in Buenos Aires, rent and utilities included – about $6,100 less a year. Rent and utilities account for most of the difference.

80

Cost of Living Index in Buenos Aires
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Buenos Aires Living Index
55

Cost of Living Index in Miguel Hidalgo
Learn more

Miguel Hidalgo Living Index

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Buenos Aires

🇦🇷 Argentina

$1,656

/mo nomad

Miguel Hidalgo

🇲🇽 Mexico

$1,149

/mo nomad

Monthly Cost of Living

How much you'll spend in Buenos Aires and in Miguel Hidalgo

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

Monthly costs for one person with rent: $1,656 in Buenos Aires versus $1,149 in Miguel Hidalgo.

Buenos Aires $1,656
Miguel Hidalgo $1,149

Estimated couple costs with rent: $2,697 in Buenos Aires versus $1,960 in Miguel Hidalgo.

Buenos Aires $2,697
Miguel Hidalgo $1,960

Monthly costs for a family of three with rent: $3,737 in Buenos Aires versus $2,771 in Miguel Hidalgo.

Buenos Aires $3,737
Miguel Hidalgo $2,771

Living in Buenos Aires is roughly 44% more expensive than in Miguel Hidalgo, and outside of rent the biggest gap is in eating out.

The two cities straddle the global median: Buenos Aires is 23% above, Miguel Hidalgo is 15% below.

Meal at Budget Restaurant

$19.09 ARS 29.0K

$10.97 MX$203

74.02%

Three-Course Dinner for Two, Mid-Range

$65.8 ARS 99.9K

$86.1 MX$1,590

-23.54%

Fast Food Meal (McDonalds, etc)

$13.20 ARS 20.0K

$8.69 MX$161

51.90%

Cappuccino

$3.85 ARS 5,841

$3.58 MX$66.1

7.54%

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

$1.99 ARS 3,020

$1.33 MX$24.51

49.62%

Water (0.33 liter bottle)

$1.60 ARS 2,430

$1.06 MX$19.54

50.94%

Local Beer (0.5 liter draught)

$3.93 ARS 5,959

$2.39 MX$44.15

64.44%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$4.61 ARS 7,003

$6.15 MX$114

-25.04%

Milk (1 liter)

$1.50 ARS 2,272

$1.67 MX$30.83

-10.18%

White Bread (500g)

$2.53 ARS 3,837

$2.58 MX$47.72

-1.94%

Rice (white) (1kg)

$1.61 ARS 2,445

$1.71 MX$31.51

-5.85%

Eggs

$2.84 ARS 4,316

$2.41 MX$44.61

17.84%

Local Cheese (1kg)

$10.30 ARS 15.6K

$8.30 MX$153

24.10%

Chicken Fillets (1kg)

$10.00 ARS 15.2K

$9.23 MX$171

8.34%

Beef Round Steak (1kg)

$13.30 ARS 20.2K

$11.37 MX$210

16.97%

Apples (1kg)

$2.88 ARS 4,366

$2.81 MX$51.9

2.49%

Banana (1kg)

$2.20 ARS 3,334

$1.51 MX$27.94

45.70%

Oranges (1kg)

$1.40 ARS 2,120

$1.88 MX$34.83

-25.53%

Tomato (1kg)

$1.98 ARS 3,004

$1.84 MX$34.00

7.61%

Potato (1kg)

$1.21 ARS 1,835

$2.03 MX$37.55

-40.39%

Onion (1kg)

$1.26 ARS 1,910

$1.89 MX$34.99

-33.33%

Lettuce (1 head)

$1.71 ARS 2,592

$1.42 MX$26.33

20.42%

Water (1.5 liter bottle)

$1.72 ARS 2,603

$1.14 MX$21.12

50.88%

Cigarettes 20 Pack (Marlboro, Camel)

$4.29 ARS 6,505

$4.28 MX$79.2

0.23%

Wine (Bottle)

$5.70 ARS 8,645

$10.69 MX$198

-46.68%

Local Beer (0.5 liter bottle)

$2.17 ARS 3,288

$1.80 MX$33.23

20.56%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$2.76 ARS 4,188

$3.20 MX$59.0

-13.75%

One-way Ticket (Public Transport)

$0.75 ARS 1,141

$0.64 MX$11.75

17.19%

Public Transport Monthly Pass (Regular Price)

$27.27 ARS 41.4K

Taxi Start (Normal Tariff)

$1.57 ARS 2,375

$2.73 MX$50.4

-42.49%

Taxi (Normal Tariff) (1km)

$1.03 ARS 1,558

$2.01 MX$37.22

-48.76%

Taxi 1hour Waiting (Normal Tariff)

$7.90 ARS 12.0K

$11.79 MX$218

-32.99%

Gasoline (1 liter)

$1.42 ARS 2,160

$1.50 MX$27.66

-5.33%

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

$27.9K ARS 42.4M

$20.8K MX$384.6K

34.28%

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

$35.0K ARS 53.1M

$24.4K MX$450.7K

43.38%

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

$195 ARS 296.2K

$30.58 MX$565

538.33%

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

$25.16 ARS 38.2K

$22.81 MX$421

10.30%

Internet (50+ Mbps, Unlimited Data)

$31.54 ARS 47.9K

$31.86 MX$589

-1.00%

Gym Membership (Monthly)

$50.9 ARS 77.3K

$46.90 MX$867

8.57%

Tennis Court (1 Hour on Weekend)

$16.73 ARS 25.4K

$20.10 MX$371

-16.77%

Cinema Ticket

$10.34 ARS 15.7K

$5.13 MX$94.8

101.56%

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

$463 ARS 703.2K

$215 MX$3,975

115.44%

International Primary School, 1 Child (Yearly)

$8,793 ARS 13.3M

$4,122 MX$76.2K

113.32%

Jeans (Levis 501 Or Similar)

$120 ARS 181.8K

$73.8 MX$1,363

62.46%

Summer Dress (H&M, Zara, etc)

$95.5 ARS 144.9K

$41.32 MX$763

131.07%

Sport Shoes (Adidas, Nike)

$114 ARS 173.1K

$94.8 MX$1,752

20.37%

Men's Leather Business Shoes

$139 ARS 211.4K

$89.5 MX$1,653

55.71%

1-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$756 ARS 1.1M

$603 MX$11.1K

25.36%

1-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$520 ARS 788.8K

$396 MX$7,309

31.43%

3-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$1,590 ARS 2.4M

$1,034 MX$19.1K

53.74%

3-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$1,198 ARS 1.8M

$763 MX$14.1K

56.99%

Buy Apartment in City Center (m2)

$2,713 ARS 4.1M

$1,950 MX$36.0K

39.17%

Buy Apartment Outside City Center (m2)

$1,901 ARS 2.9M

$1,157 MX$21.4K

64.29%

Average Monthly Net Salary (After Tax)

$938 ARS 1.4M

$541 MX$9,994

73.39%

20-Year Fixed Mortgage Interest Rate (Annual %)

57.25

11.3

406.64%

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

Last update for Buenos Aires: October 11, 2026

Last update for Miguel Hidalgo: October 12, 2026

Monthly budget structure

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

Accommodation & Living

Buenos Aires

$520 31.4%

Miguel Hidalgo

$396 34.4% 23.9% $124

Groceries & Markets

Buenos Aires

$283 17.1%

Miguel Hidalgo

$270 23.5% 4.7% $13

Eating Out

Buenos Aires

$282 17%

Miguel Hidalgo

$191 16.6% 32.4% $91

Monthly Utilities & Internet

Buenos Aires

$252 15.2%

Miguel Hidalgo

$85 7.4% 66.2% $167

Clothing & Footwear

Buenos Aires

$211 12.7%

Miguel Hidalgo

$135 11.7% 36.1% $76

Sport & Entertainment

Buenos Aires

$72 4.3%

Miguel Hidalgo

$57 5% 20.2% $14

Getting Around

Buenos Aires

$37 2.2%

Miguel Hidalgo

$15 * 1.3% 58.5% $22

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 $756 in Buenos Aires and $603 in Miguel Hidalgo. Housing cost is often the main lever when comparing two cities.

Buenos Aires pays 73% more on average. The extra income cushions the higher costs, though housing choices and lifestyle decide how much of the gap is truly closed.

Dining out: $66.0 in Buenos Aires vs $86.0 in Miguel Hidalgo. Groceries flip the comparison at $283 vs $270, with Miguel Hidalgo cheaper for home cooking.

Good to know

🇦🇷 Buenos Aires

🇲🇽 Miguel Hidalgo

🕒 Local time

08:51 8:51 AM

05:51 5:51 AM

3 h behind Buenos Aires

🌤 Weather

👥 Population

2,891,082 Capital

414,470

💱 Currency

Argentine Peso ARS $

Mexican Peso MXN $

📈 Exchange rate

10,000 ARS = 6.59 USD

10,000 ARS = 5.86 EUR

100 MXN = 5.41 USD

100 MXN = 4.81 EUR

Exchange rates and currency converter

MXN, USD, EUR to ARS – Argentine Peso Converter

🇺🇸 United States Dollar ($)

🇦🇷 Argentine Peso ($)

Argentine Peso exchange rates as of October 18, 2026: 1 USD = 1,517 ARS (10,000 ARS = 6.59 USD). 1 EUR = 1,706 ARS (10,000 ARS = 5.86 EUR).

Mexican Peso exchange rates as of October 18, 2026: 1 USD = 18.48 MXN (100 MXN = 5.41 USD). 1 EUR = 20.77 MXN (100 MXN = 4.81 EUR).

USD to ARS in detail →

On the map

Lowest

Highest

Between locations

Buenos Aires Miguel Hidalgo 7,390 km ≈ 10 h nonstop flight

From you

Buenos Aires
Miguel Hidalgo

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

Buenos Aires vs Miguel Hidalgo: Cost of Living - Frequently Asked Questions

Buenos Aires and Miguel Hidalgo differ by about 44% in total monthly costs ($1,656 vs $1,149 including rent). Miguel Hidalgo is meaningfully more affordable – a gap that matters a lot on a fixed or modest income.

Average pay runs 73% higher in Buenos Aires, 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: $756 in Buenos Aires versus $603 in Miguel Hidalgo. Housing is usually the single largest factor when comparing overall living costs between the two.

Childcare runs $463 in Buenos Aires versus $215 in Miguel Hidalgo. Over years of preschool, even a modest monthly gap compounds into a major financial factor for families.

Dining out is cheaper in Miguel Hidalgo – a meal for two runs $86.0 versus $66.0 in Buenos Aires. If you eat out regularly, this makes a real dent in your monthly spending.

At $1,149 in Miguel Hidalgo versus $1,656 in Buenos Aires, a $1,500 budget is realistic in Miguel Hidalgo but tight or insufficient in Buenos Aires. The gap between the two cities makes Miguel Hidalgo 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.

Safety-wise, Buenos Aires and Miguel Hidalgo are on par. Petty crime is typical for cities this size, and most residents feel comfortable going about their daily routines in either place.

Expats usually find Miguel Hidalgo gentler on the wallet – expenses run 44% less than in Buenos Aires. Beyond cost, consider language, visa policies, and how big the international community is in each city.