Last update: Oct 2026

Cost of Living Comparison Between Centurion and Mexico City

For one person, living is cheaper in Centurion: $1,367 a month against $1,608 in Mexico City, rent and utilities included – about $2,900 less a year. Higher rent and utilities in Mexico City outweigh lower spending on other living expenses.

66

Cost of Living Index in Centurion
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Centurion Living Index
78

Cost of Living Index in Mexico City
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Mexico City Living Index

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Centurion

🇿🇦 South Africa

$1,367

/mo nomad

Mexico City

🇲🇽 Mexico

$1,608

/mo nomad

Monthly Cost of Living

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

Monthly costs for one person with rent: $1,367 in Centurion versus $1,608 in Mexico City.

Centurion $1,367
Mexico City $1,608

Estimated couple costs with rent: $2,206 in Centurion versus $2,549 in Mexico City.

Centurion $2,206
Mexico City $2,549

Monthly costs for a family of three with rent: $3,045 in Centurion versus $3,490 in Mexico City.

Centurion $3,045
Mexico City $3,490

Living in Centurion costs roughly 15% less than in Mexico City, and outside of rent the biggest gap is in groceries.

Meal at Budget Restaurant

$21.75 R 362

$10.62 MX$198

104.80%

Three-Course Dinner for Two, Mid-Range

$40.00 R 667

$48.35 MX$901

-17.27%

Fast Food Meal (McDonalds, etc)

$5.75 R 95.9

$10.35 MX$193

-44.44%

Cappuccino

$2.67 R 44.44

$3.69 MX$68.8

-27.64%

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

$0.97 R 16.10

$1.67 MX$31.07

-41.92%

Water (0.33 liter bottle)

$0.87 R 14.45

$1.27 MX$23.59

-31.50%

Local Beer (0.5 liter draught)

$2.04 R 34.01

$3.19 MX$59.5

-36.05%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$2.42 R 40.26

$5.31 MX$98.9

-54.43%

Milk (1 liter)

$1.17 R 19.41

$1.72 MX$32.15

-31.98%

White Bread (500g)

$1.21 R 20.20

$3.04 MX$56.7

-60.20%

Rice (white) (1kg)

$2.11 R 35.18

$1.94 MX$36.19

8.76%

Eggs

$2.93 R 48.88

$2.89 MX$53.8

1.38%

Local Cheese (1kg)

$10.09 R 168

$10.97 MX$205

-8.02%

Chicken Fillets (1kg)

$6.63 R 110

$9.25 MX$172

-28.32%

Beef Round Steak (1kg)

$7.26 R 121

$15.13 MX$282

-52.02%

Apples (1kg)

$1.86 R 31.01

$3.05 MX$56.8

-39.02%

Banana (1kg)

$1.86 R 31.03

$1.94 MX$36.19

-4.12%

Oranges (1kg)

$2.14 R 35.60

$2.03 MX$37.75

5.42%

Tomato (1kg)

$2.05 R 34.19

$2.31 MX$43.15

-11.26%

Potato (1kg)

$1.59 R 26.43

$2.04 MX$37.94

-22.06%

Onion (1kg)

$1.78 R 29.68

$1.80 MX$33.55

-1.11%

Lettuce (1 head)

$1.36 R 22.59

$1.48 MX$27.58

-8.11%

Water (1.5 liter bottle)

$1.39 R 23.14

$1.27 MX$23.63

9.45%

Cigarettes 20 Pack (Marlboro, Camel)

$3.70 R 61.6

$5.30 MX$98.9

-30.19%

Wine (Bottle)

$5.94 R 99.1

$16.10 MX$300

-63.11%

Local Beer (0.5 liter bottle)

$1.58 R 26.35

$1.98 MX$36.97

-20.20%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$2.09 R 34.79

$4.25 MX$79.3

-50.82%

One-way Ticket (Public Transport)

$2.36 R 39.30

$0.31 MX$5.69

661.29%

Public Transport Monthly Pass (Regular Price)

$97.4 R 1,623

$19.73 MX$368

393.56%

Taxi Start (Normal Tariff)

$1.22 R 20.37

$1.84 MX$34.25

-33.70%

Taxi (Normal Tariff) (1km)

$1.18 R 19.67

$0.53 MX$9.94

122.64%

Taxi 1hour Waiting (Normal Tariff)

$9.04 R 151

$5.30 MX$98.7

70.57%

Gasoline (1 liter)

$1.44 R 24.00

$1.51 MX$28.16

-4.64%

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

$35.7K R 594.9K

$21.8K MX$405.5K

64.11%

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

$32.9K R 547.6K

$24.0K MX$447.1K

36.99%

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

$136 R 2,270

$63.0 MX$1,174

116.29%

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

$29.89 R 498

$27.39 MX$511

9.13%

Internet (50+ Mbps, Unlimited Data)

$40.20 R 670

$35.67 MX$665

12.70%

Gym Membership (Monthly)

$43.78 R 730

$58.9 MX$1,099

-25.72%

Tennis Court (1 Hour on Weekend)

$23.64 MX$441

Cinema Ticket

$10.59 R 176

$6.40 MX$119

65.47%

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

$315 R 5,243

$432 MX$8,045

-27.10%

International Primary School, 1 Child (Yearly)

$4,416 R 73.6K

$11.4K MX$212.9K

-61.34%

Jeans (Levis 501 Or Similar)

$58.5 R 975

$68.2 MX$1,272

-14.26%

Summer Dress (H&M, Zara, etc)

$43.25 R 721

$53.1 MX$990

-18.60%

Sport Shoes (Adidas, Nike)

$117 R 1,950

$108 MX$2,009

8.60%

Men's Leather Business Shoes

$102 R 1,701

$117 MX$2,186

-12.95%

1-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$335 R 5,589

$1,113 MX$20.8K

-69.88%

1-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$369 R 6,144

$710 MX$13.2K

-48.10%

3-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$581 R 9,674

$2,588 MX$48.2K

-77.57%

3-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$891 R 14.8K

$1,406 MX$26.2K

-36.65%

Buy Apartment in City Center (m2)

$527 R 8,785

$3,631 MX$67.7K

-85.48%

Buy Apartment Outside City Center (m2)

$605 R 10.1K

$2,135 MX$39.8K

-71.67%

Average Monthly Net Salary (After Tax)

$2,364 R 39.4K

$946 MX$17.6K

149.89%

20-Year Fixed Mortgage Interest Rate (Annual %)

10.5

11.35

-7.49%

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

Last update for Centurion: October 24, 2026

Last update for Mexico City: October 25, 2026

Monthly budget structure

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

Accommodation & Living

Centurion

$369 27%

Mexico City

$710 44.2% 92.7% $342

Eating Out

Centurion

$246 18%

Mexico City

$199 12.4% 19.1% $47

Groceries & Markets

Centurion

$223 16.3%

Mexico City

$320 19.9% 43.4% $97

Monthly Utilities & Internet

Centurion

$206 15.1%

Mexico City

$126 7.8% 38.9% $80

Clothing & Footwear

Centurion

$144 10.6%

Mexico City

$156 9.7% 8% $11

Getting Around

Centurion

$114 8.3%

Mexico City

$25 1.6% 77.7% $88

Sport & Entertainment

Centurion

$65 4.8%

Mexico City

$72 4.5% 10.5% $6.8

Cost Breakdown

A one-bedroom apartment in the center runs $335 in Centurion and $1,113 in Mexico City. Housing cost is often the main lever when comparing two cities.

Centurion pays about 2.5 times more on average while also being the cheaper of the two. The combined effect is a noticeably stronger local purchasing power.

Dining out: $40 in Centurion vs $48 in Mexico City for a mid-range dinner for two. Groceries echo the gap at $223 vs $320 per month, with Centurion cheaper across the board.

Good to know

🇿🇦 Centurion

🇲🇽 Mexico City

🕒 Local time

00:30 12:30 AM

16:30 4:30 PM

8 h behind Centurion

🌤 Weather

👥 Population

236,580

9,209,944 Capital

💱 Currency

South African Rand ZAR R

Mexican Peso MXN $

📈 Exchange rate

100 ZAR = 6 USD

100 ZAR = 5.39 EUR

100 MXN = 5.36 USD

100 MXN = 4.82 EUR

Exchange rates and currency converter

MXN, USD, EUR to ZAR – South African Rand Converter

🇺🇸 United States Dollar ($)

🇿🇦 South African Rand (R)

South African Rand exchange rates as of October 28, 2026: 1 USD = 16.66 ZAR (100 ZAR = 6 USD). 1 EUR = 18.55 ZAR (100 ZAR = 5.39 EUR).

Mexican Peso exchange rates as of October 28, 2026: 1 USD = 18.64 MXN (100 MXN = 5.36 USD). 1 EUR = 20.75 MXN (100 MXN = 4.82 EUR).

USD to ZAR in detail →

On the map

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Centurion Mexico City 14,600 km ≈ 19 h nonstop flight

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Centurion
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

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

Centurion wins on cost – living expenses run 15% lower than in Mexico City. Housing and daily spending are where you’ll feel the difference most, making Centurion the obvious pick if budget is a priority.

Average pay in Centurion is about 2.5 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: $335 in Centurion versus $1,113 in Mexico City. Housing is usually the single largest factor when comparing overall living costs between the two.

A monthly transit pass in Mexico City runs roughly 80% less than in Centurion. The price difference matters if you commute daily and watch your budget.

Childcare runs $315 in Centurion versus $432 in Mexico City. Over years of preschool, even a modest monthly gap compounds into a major financial factor for families.

Both cities are expensive relative to $1,000. Centurion is the more realistic option, but even there you’ll need to be disciplined with housing, food, and fun money.

Both work as nomad bases, but Centurion delivers better value at $1,367 monthly. If stretching your runway or maximizing savings is the goal, the price difference makes Centurion hard to pass up.