Last update: Oct 2026

Cost of Living Comparison Between Castelo Branco and Mexico City

For one person, living is cheaper in Castelo Branco: $1,100 a month against $1,567 in Mexico City, rent and utilities included – about $5,600 less a year. Rent and utilities account for about half of the difference.

53

Cost of Living Index in Castelo Branco
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Castelo Branco Living Index
76

Cost of Living Index in Mexico City
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Mexico City Living Index

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Castelo Branco

🇵🇹 Portugal

$1,100

/mo nomad

Mexico City

🇲🇽 Mexico

$1,567

/mo nomad

Monthly Cost of Living

How much you'll spend in Castelo Branco 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 Castelo Branco and in Mexico City actually costs, broken down by who's living it.

Monthly costs for one person with rent: $1,100 in Castelo Branco versus $1,567 in Mexico City.

Castelo Branco $1,100
Mexico City $1,567

Estimated couple costs with rent: $1,666 in Castelo Branco versus $2,450 in Mexico City.

Castelo Branco $1,666
Mexico City $2,450

Monthly costs for a family of three with rent: $2,233 in Castelo Branco versus $3,333 in Mexico City.

Castelo Branco $2,233
Mexico City $3,333

Living in Castelo Branco costs roughly 30% less than in Mexico City, and outside of rent the biggest gap is in groceries.

The two cities straddle the global median: Castelo Branco is 19% below, Mexico City is 16% above.

Meal at Budget Restaurant

$11.29 €10.05

$10.75 MX$199

5.02%

Three-Course Dinner for Two, Mid-Range

$39.12 €34.80

$50.3 MX$929

-22.15%

Fast Food Meal (McDonalds, etc)

$9.62 €8.56

$11.10 MX$205

-13.33%

Cappuccino

$1.25 €1.11

$3.68 MX$68.1

-66.03%

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

$1.41 €1.25

$1.65 MX$30.42

-14.55%

Water (0.33 liter bottle)

$1.26 €1.12

$1.30 MX$24.08

-3.08%

Local Beer (0.5 liter draught)

$1.09 €0.97

$3.32 MX$61.3

-67.17%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$2.20 €1.96

$5.54 MX$102

-60.29%

Milk (1 liter)

$1.17 €1.04

$1.77 MX$32.68

-33.90%

White Bread (500g)

$1.30 €1.16

$3.05 MX$56.4

-57.38%

Rice (white) (1kg)

$1.45 €1.29

$2.01 MX$37.20

-27.86%

Eggs

$3.87 €3.44

$2.77 MX$51.1

39.71%

Local Cheese (1kg)

$8.76 €7.79

$11.91 MX$220

-26.45%

Chicken Fillets (1kg)

$5.80 €5.16

$9.33 MX$172

-37.83%

Beef Round Steak (1kg)

$8.58 €7.63

$15.02 MX$278

-42.88%

Apples (1kg)

$2.11 €1.88

$3.08 MX$56.8

-31.49%

Banana (1kg)

$1.31 €1.17

$1.95 MX$35.97

-32.82%

Oranges (1kg)

$1.75 €1.56

$2.03 MX$37.54

-13.79%

Tomato (1kg)

$2.30 €2.05

$2.21 MX$40.92

4.07%

Potato (1kg)

$1.65 €1.47

$2.02 MX$37.41

-18.32%

Onion (1kg)

$1.45 €1.29

$1.82 MX$33.67

-20.33%

Lettuce (1 head)

$1.14 €1.02

$1.52 MX$28.07

-25.00%

Water (1.5 liter bottle)

$0.81 €0.72

$1.28 MX$23.65

-36.72%

Cigarettes 20 Pack (Marlboro, Camel)

$5.97 €5.31

$5.27 MX$97.4

13.28%

Wine (Bottle)

$3.39 €3.01

$16.12 MX$298

-78.97%

Local Beer (0.5 liter bottle)

$1.17 €1.04

$1.95 MX$36.05

-40.00%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$1.95 €1.73

$4.25 MX$78.6

-54.12%

One-way Ticket (Public Transport)

$1.25 €1.11

$0.31 MX$5.82

303.23%

Public Transport Monthly Pass (Regular Price)

$22.20 €19.75

$19.85 MX$367

11.84%

Taxi Start (Normal Tariff)

$2.25 €2.00

$2.00 MX$36.93

12.50%

Taxi (Normal Tariff) (1km)

$0.74 €0.66

$0.53 MX$9.86

39.62%

Taxi 1hour Waiting (Normal Tariff)

$16.67 €14.83

$5.62 MX$104

196.62%

Gasoline (1 liter)

$2.04 €1.82

$1.52 MX$28.07

34.21%

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

$33.5K €29.8K

$21.0K MX$388.7K

59.32%

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

$40.5K €36.0K

$25.2K MX$465.3K

60.77%

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

$120 €106

$62.5 MX$1,155

91.47%

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

$19.03 €16.92

$28.77 MX$532

-33.85%

Internet (50+ Mbps, Unlimited Data)

$31.99 €28.45

$34.45 MX$637

-7.14%

Gym Membership (Monthly)

$39.32 €34.97

$57.1 MX$1,055

-31.14%

Tennis Court (1 Hour on Weekend)

$24.81 MX$458

Cinema Ticket

$6.70 €5.96

$6.67 MX$123

0.45%

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

$678 €603

$431 MX$7,964

57.22%

International Primary School, 1 Child (Yearly)

$16.9K €15.1K

$11.7K MX$216.9K

44.26%

Jeans (Levis 501 Or Similar)

$78.7 €70.0

$70.8 MX$1,308

11.20%

Summer Dress (H&M, Zara, etc)

$44.71 €39.77

$51.8 MX$958

-13.74%

Sport Shoes (Adidas, Nike)

$82.1 €73.0

$109 MX$2,011

-24.57%

Men's Leather Business Shoes

$67.6 €60.2

$112 MX$2,076

-39.79%

1-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$458 €407

$1,051 MX$19.4K

-56.44%

1-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$363 €323

$665 MX$12.3K

-45.42%

3-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$796 €708

$2,346 MX$43.3K

-66.09%

3-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$605 €538

$1,227 MX$22.7K

-50.66%

Buy Apartment in City Center (m2)

$1,574 €1,400

$3,554 MX$65.7K

-55.70%

Buy Apartment Outside City Center (m2)

$1,322 €1,176

$1,977 MX$36.5K

-33.13%

Average Monthly Net Salary (After Tax)

$1,617 €1,438

$975 MX$18.0K

65.86%

20-Year Fixed Mortgage Interest Rate (Annual %)

3.85

11.3

-65.93%

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

Last update for Castelo Branco: October 13, 2026

Last update for Mexico City: October 11, 2026

Monthly budget structure

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

Accommodation & Living

Castelo Branco

$363 33%

Mexico City

$665 42.4% 83.2% $302

Groceries & Markets

Castelo Branco

$203 18.4%

Mexico City

$323 20.6% 59.2% $120

Monthly Utilities & Internet

Castelo Branco

$171 15.5%

Mexico City

$126 8% 26.3% $45

Eating Out

Castelo Branco

$155 14.1%

Mexico City

$203 13% 31.2% $48

Clothing & Footwear

Castelo Branco

$123 11.2%

Mexico City

$155 9.9% 25.9% $32

Sport & Entertainment

Castelo Branco

$53 4.8%

Mexico City

$70 4.5% 33.6% $18

Getting Around

Castelo Branco

$33 3%

Mexico City

$26 1.6% 22.3% $7.4

Cost Breakdown

A one-bedroom apartment in the center runs $458 in Castelo Branco and $1,051 in Mexico City. Housing cost is often the main lever when comparing two cities.

Castelo Branco pays 66% more on average while also being the cheaper of the two. The combined effect is a noticeably stronger local purchasing power.

Dining out: $39.00 in Castelo Branco vs $50.0 in Mexico City for a mid-range dinner for two. Groceries echo the gap at $203 vs $323 per month, with Castelo Branco cheaper across the board.

Good to know

🇵🇹 Castelo Branco

🇲🇽 Mexico City

🕒 Local time

14:21 2:21 PM

07:21 7:21 AM

7 h behind Castelo Branco

🌤 Weather

👥 Population

52,291

9,209,944 Capital

💱 Currency

Euro EUR €

Mexican Peso MXN $

📈 Exchange rate

1 EUR = 1.12 USD

100 MXN = 5.41 USD

100 MXN = 4.81 EUR

Exchange rates and currency converter

MXN, USD to EUR – Euro Converter

🇺🇸 United States Dollar ($)

🇪🇺 Euro (€)

Euro exchange rates as of October 19, 2026: 1 USD = 0.889 EUR (1 EUR = 1.12 USD).

Mexican Peso exchange rates as of October 19, 2026: 1 USD = 18.48 MXN (100 MXN = 5.41 USD). 1 EUR = 20.77 MXN (100 MXN = 4.81 EUR).

USD to EUR in detail →

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Castelo Branco Mexico City 8,770 km ≈ 11 h nonstop flight

From you

Castelo Branco
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

Castelo Branco vs Mexico City: Cost of Living - Frequently Asked Questions

Castelo Branco is cheaper overall, especially in groceries, eating out, and clothing. The 42% gap adds up to real monthly savings that compound significantly over time.

Average pay runs 66% higher in Castelo Branco, 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: $458 in Castelo Branco versus $1,051 in Mexico City. Housing is usually the single largest factor when comparing overall living costs between the two.

All in, you'll spend $1,100 per month in Castelo Branco versus $1,567 in Mexico City – a 42% gap that adds up to real savings over time for anyone picking the cheaper option.

A monthly transit pass in Castelo Branco runs roughly 12% less than in Mexico City. Both cities have functional networks, but the price difference matters if you're watching your budget.

At $1,100 in Castelo Branco versus $1,567 in Mexico City, a $1,500 budget is realistic in Castelo Branco but tight or insufficient in Mexico City. The gap between the two cities makes Castelo Branco the clear choice for anyone on this budget.

For families, Castelo Branco is more practical. Housing and childcare are both notably cheaper than in Mexico City, and the savings on those two alone free up budget for education, activities, and family trips.

Safety-wise, Castelo Branco and Mexico City 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 Castelo Branco gentler on the wallet – expenses run 42% less than in Mexico City. Beyond cost, consider language, visa policies, and how big the international community is in each city.