Last update: Oct 2026

Cost of Living Comparison Between Cahul and Mexico City

For one person, living is cheaper in Cahul: $627 a month against $1,608 in Mexico City, rent and utilities included – about $11,800 less a year. Rent and utilities account for most of the difference.

30

Cost of Living Index in Cahul
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Cahul Living Index
78

Cost of Living Index in Mexico City
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Mexico City Living Index

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Cahul

🇲🇩 Moldova

$627

/mo nomad

Mexico City

🇲🇽 Mexico

$1,608

/mo nomad

Monthly Cost of Living

How much you'll spend in Cahul and in Mexico City

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

Monthly costs for one person with rent: $627 in Cahul versus $1,608 in Mexico City.

Cahul $627
Mexico City $1,608

Estimated couple costs with rent: $917 in Cahul versus $2,549 in Mexico City.

Cahul $917
Mexico City $2,549

Monthly costs for a family of three with rent: $1,207 in Cahul versus $3,490 in Mexico City.

Cahul $1,207
Mexico City $3,490

Living in Cahul costs roughly 61% less than in Mexico City, and outside of rent the biggest gap is in groceries.

The two cities straddle the global median: Cahul is 54% below, Mexico City is 18% above.

Meal at Budget Restaurant

$8.19 MDL 146

$10.62 MX$198

-22.88%

Three-Course Dinner for Two, Mid-Range

$23.41 MDL 417

$48.35 MX$901

-51.58%

Fast Food Meal (McDonalds, etc)

$10.36 MDL 185

$10.35 MX$193

0.10%

Cappuccino

$1.69 MDL 30.11

$3.69 MX$68.7

-54.20%

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

$1.11 MDL 19.82

$1.67 MX$31.05

-33.53%

Water (0.33 liter bottle)

$0.53 MDL 9.53

$1.27 MX$23.58

-58.27%

Local Beer (0.5 liter draught)

$2.01 MDL 35.81

$3.19 MX$59.5

-36.99%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$1.76 MDL 31.45

$5.31 MX$98.9

-66.85%

Milk (1 liter)

$1.20 MDL 21.36

$1.72 MX$32.13

-30.23%

White Bread (500g)

$0.49 MDL 8.72

$3.04 MX$56.6

-83.88%

Rice (white) (1kg)

$1.60 MDL 28.45

$1.94 MX$36.17

-17.53%

Eggs

$2.24 MDL 39.89

$2.89 MX$53.8

-22.49%

Local Cheese (1kg)

$6.51 MDL 116

$10.97 MX$204

-40.66%

Chicken Fillets (1kg)

$4.54 MDL 80.9

$9.25 MX$172

-50.92%

Beef Round Steak (1kg)

$6.17 MDL 110

$15.13 MX$282

-59.22%

Apples (1kg)

$0.98 MDL 17.39

$3.05 MX$56.8

-67.87%

Banana (1kg)

$2.19 MDL 39.09

$1.94 MX$36.17

12.89%

Oranges (1kg)

$1.81 MDL 32.25

$2.03 MX$37.73

-10.84%

Tomato (1kg)

$2.37 MDL 42.33

$2.31 MX$43.12

2.60%

Potato (1kg)

$0.76 MDL 13.54

$2.04 MX$37.91

-62.75%

Onion (1kg)

$0.52 MDL 9.22

$1.80 MX$33.53

-71.11%

Lettuce (1 head)

$0.43 MDL 7.74

$1.48 MX$27.56

-70.95%

Water (1.5 liter bottle)

$0.53 MDL 9.50

$1.27 MX$23.62

-58.27%

Cigarettes 20 Pack (Marlboro, Camel)

$3.39 MDL 60.5

$5.30 MX$98.8

-36.04%

Wine (Bottle)

$4.38 MDL 78.1

$16.10 MX$300

-72.80%

Local Beer (0.5 liter bottle)

$1.41 MDL 25.19

$1.98 MX$36.95

-28.79%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$1.97 MDL 35.06

$4.25 MX$79.2

-53.65%

One-way Ticket (Public Transport)

$0.27 MDL 4.81

$0.31 MX$5.68

-12.90%

Public Transport Monthly Pass (Regular Price)

$19.73 MX$368

Taxi Start (Normal Tariff)

$2.87 MDL 51.1

$1.84 MX$34.23

55.98%

Taxi (Normal Tariff) (1km)

$0.24 MDL 4.27

$0.53 MX$9.94

-54.72%

Taxi 1hour Waiting (Normal Tariff)

$5.44 MDL 97.0

$5.30 MX$98.7

2.64%

Gasoline (1 liter)

$1.56 MDL 27.74

$1.51 MX$28.14

3.31%

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

$33.3K MDL 593.4K

$21.8K MX$405.3K

53.00%

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

$24.4K MDL 435.5K

$24.0K MX$446.9K

1.83%

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

$221 MDL 3,948

$63.0 MX$1,173

251.60%

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

$7.65 MDL 136

$27.39 MX$510

-72.07%

Internet (50+ Mbps, Unlimited Data)

$11.03 MDL 197

$35.67 MX$664

-69.08%

Gym Membership (Monthly)

$58.9 MX$1,098

Tennis Court (1 Hour on Weekend)

$23.64 MX$441

Cinema Ticket

$7.62 MDL 136

$6.40 MX$119

19.06%

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

$110 MDL 1,964

$432 MX$8,041

-74.48%

International Primary School, 1 Child (Yearly)

$5,249 MDL 93.6K

$11.4K MX$212.8K

-54.05%

Jeans (Levis 501 Or Similar)

$45.08 MDL 804

$68.2 MX$1,271

-33.92%

Summer Dress (H&M, Zara, etc)

$53.1 MX$990

Sport Shoes (Adidas, Nike)

$56.4 MDL 1,005

$108 MX$2,008

-47.71%

Men's Leather Business Shoes

$51.0 MDL 909

$117 MX$2,185

-56.54%

1-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$1,113 MX$20.7K

1-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$710 MX$13.2K

3-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$2,588 MX$48.2K

3-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$1,406 MX$26.2K

Buy Apartment in City Center (m2)

$3,631 MX$67.6K

Buy Apartment Outside City Center (m2)

$2,135 MX$39.8K

Average Monthly Net Salary (After Tax)

$507 MDL 9,048

$946 MX$17.6K

-46.36%

20-Year Fixed Mortgage Interest Rate (Annual %)

11.35

-29.52%

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

Last update for Cahul: October 26, 2026

Last update for Mexico City: October 25, 2026

Monthly budget structure

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

Monthly Utilities & Internet

Cahul

$240 38.3%

Mexico City

$126 7.8% 47.5% $114

Groceries & Markets

Cahul

$161 25.7%

Mexico City

$320 19.9% 98.2% $158

Eating Out

Cahul

$137 21.8%

Mexico City

$199 12.4% 45% $62

Clothing & Footwear

Cahul

$69 * 10.9%

Mexico City

$156 9.7% 127% $87

Sport & Entertainment

Cahul

$15 * 2.4%

Mexico City

$72 4.5% 371% $56

Getting Around

Cahul

$5.1 * 0.8%

Mexico City

$25 1.6% 395% $20

Accommodation & Living

Cahul

- * 0%

Mexico City

$710 44.2%

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

Cost Breakdown

Mexico City pays 86% 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: $23 in Cahul vs $48 in Mexico City for a mid-range dinner for two. Groceries echo the gap at $161 vs $320 per month, with Cahul cheaper across the board.

Good to know

🇲🇩 Cahul

🇲🇽 Mexico City

🕒 Local time

08:28 8:28 AM

00:28 12:28 AM

8 h behind Cahul

🌤 Weather

👥 Population

39,500

9,209,944 Capital

💱 Currency

Moldovan Leu MDL L

Mexican Peso MXN $

📈 Exchange rate

100 MDL = 5.61 USD

100 MDL = 5.04 EUR

100 MXN = 5.37 USD

100 MXN = 4.82 EUR

Exchange rates and currency converter

MXN, USD, EUR to MDL – Moldovan Leu Converter

🇺🇸 United States Dollar ($)

🇲🇩 Moldovan Leu (L)

Moldovan Leu exchange rates as of October 29, 2026: 1 USD = 17.83 MDL (100 MDL = 5.61 USD). 1 EUR = 19.85 MDL (100 MDL = 5.04 EUR).

Mexican Peso exchange rates as of October 29, 2026: 1 USD = 18.63 MXN (100 MXN = 5.37 USD). 1 EUR = 20.74 MXN (100 MXN = 4.82 EUR).

USD to MDL in detail →

On the map

Lowest

Highest

Between locations

Cahul Mexico City 11,020 km ≈ 14 h nonstop flight

From you

Cahul
Mexico City

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

Cahul vs Mexico City: Cost of Living - Frequently Asked Questions

Cahul wins on cost – living expenses run 61% lower than in Mexico City. Housing and daily spending are where you’ll feel the difference most, making Cahul the obvious pick if budget is a priority.

On paper, salaries run 46% lower in Cahul. That’s worth factoring in alongside costs, though remote workers earning in a stronger currency may not notice the difference at all.

Supermarket bills run roughly 98% higher in Mexico City. For households that cook at home regularly, that difference adds up over a month.

All in, you’ll spend $627 per month in Cahul versus $1,608 in Mexico City – Cahul is about 61% cheaper, which adds up to real savings over time.

At $627 in Cahul versus $1,608 in Mexico City, a $800 budget is realistic in Cahul but tight or insufficient in Mexico City. The gap between the two cities makes Cahul 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 – Cahul wins on affordability, Mexico City on earning potential. Factor in climate, language, visa rules, and proximity to places that matter to you before deciding.