Last update: Oct 2026

Cost of Living Comparison Between Lima and Tampico

For one person, living is cheaper in Lima: $996 a month against $1,347 in Tampico, rent and utilities included – about $4,200 less a year. Other living expenses account for most of the difference.

49

Cost of Living Index in Lima
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Lima Living Index
65

Cost of Living Index in Tampico
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Tampico Living Index

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Lima

🇵🇪 Peru

$996

/mo nomad

Tampico

🇲🇽 Mexico

$1,347

/mo nomad

Monthly Cost of Living

How much you'll spend in Lima 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 Lima and in Tampico actually costs, broken down by who's living it.

Monthly costs for one person with rent: $996 in Lima versus $1,347 in Tampico.

Lima $996
Tampico $1,347

Estimated couple costs with rent: $1,594 in Lima versus $2,120 in Tampico.

Lima $1,594
Tampico $2,120

Monthly costs for a family of three with rent: $2,191 in Lima versus $2,894 in Tampico.

Lima $2,191
Tampico $2,894

Living in Lima costs roughly 26% less than in Tampico, and outside of rent the biggest gap is in clothing.

The two cities straddle the global median: Lima is 26% below, Tampico is 1% above.

Meal at Budget Restaurant

$4.42 PEN 15.16

$8.12 MX$149

-45.57%

Three-Course Dinner for Two, Mid-Range

$35.04 PEN 120

$55.1 MX$1,012

-36.41%

Fast Food Meal (McDonalds, etc)

$6.84 PEN 23.44

$9.60 MX$176

-28.75%

Cappuccino

$3.27 PEN 11.22

$3.11 MX$57.0

5.14%

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

$1.10 PEN 3.78

$1.22 MX$22.33

-9.84%

Water (0.33 liter bottle)

$0.65 PEN 2.22

$0.80 MX$14.64

-18.75%

Local Beer (0.5 liter draught)

$2.58 PEN 8.85

$4.48 MX$82.2

-42.41%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$4.47 PEN 15.34

$4.77 MX$87.5

-6.29%

Milk (1 liter)

$1.59 PEN 5.46

$1.44 MX$26.45

10.42%

White Bread (500g)

$2.58 PEN 8.86

$4.20 MX$77.1

-38.57%

Rice (white) (1kg)

$1.36 PEN 4.65

$1.36 MX$25.06

Eggs

$2.95 PEN 10.11

$4.20 MX$77.1

-29.76%

Local Cheese (1kg)

$9.10 PEN 31.19

$4.84 MX$89.0

88.02%

Chicken Fillets (1kg)

$5.81 PEN 19.91

$10.29 MX$189

-43.54%

Beef Round Steak (1kg)

$9.83 PEN 33.68

$13.41 MX$246

-26.70%

Apples (1kg)

$2.01 PEN 6.89

$3.50 MX$64.2

-42.57%

Banana (1kg)

$1.08 PEN 3.69

$1.18 MX$21.66

-8.47%

Oranges (1kg)

$1.37 PEN 4.70

$2.07 MX$38.05

-33.82%

Tomato (1kg)

$1.48 PEN 5.06

$2.28 MX$41.78

-35.09%

Potato (1kg)

$0.96 PEN 3.30

$2.19 MX$40.13

-56.16%

Onion (1kg)

$0.85 PEN 2.92

$2.79 MX$51.2

-69.53%

Lettuce (1 head)

$0.88 PEN 3.02

$2.09 MX$38.29

-57.89%

Water (1.5 liter bottle)

$0.87 PEN 2.97

$0.95 MX$17.45

-8.42%

Cigarettes 20 Pack (Marlboro, Camel)

$5.90 PEN 20.24

$4.79 MX$88.0

23.17%

Wine (Bottle)

$8.81 PEN 30.21

Local Beer (0.5 liter bottle)

$1.92 PEN 6.57

$1.56 MX$28.71

23.08%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$3.20 PEN 10.98

One-way Ticket (Public Transport)

$0.68 PEN 2.33

$0.78 MX$14.38

-12.82%

Public Transport Monthly Pass (Regular Price)

$26.74 PEN 91.7

$27.28 MX$501

-1.98%

Taxi Start (Normal Tariff)

$3.81 PEN 13.06

$2.84 MX$52.1

34.15%

Taxi (Normal Tariff) (1km)

$2.04 PEN 7.00

$2.71 MX$49.82

-24.72%

Taxi 1hour Waiting (Normal Tariff)

$7.14 PEN 24.49

$5.24 MX$96.2

36.26%

Gasoline (1 liter)

$1.65 PEN 5.65

$1.42 MX$26.05

16.20%

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

$22.2K PEN 76.0K

$33.1K MX$608.2K

-33.06%

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

$25.7K PEN 88.0K

$23.7K MX$436.0K

8.08%

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

$73.0 PEN 250

$106 MX$1,940

-30.88%

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

$16.26 PEN 55.7

$28.01 MX$514

-41.95%

Internet (50+ Mbps, Unlimited Data)

$27.60 PEN 94.6

$24.40 MX$448

13.11%

Gym Membership (Monthly)

$33.07 PEN 113

$43.32 MX$795

-23.66%

Tennis Court (1 Hour on Weekend)

$19.49 PEN 66.8

$16.83 MX$309

15.81%

Cinema Ticket

$7.39 PEN 25.33

$5.58 MX$102

32.44%

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

$182 PEN 624

$282 MX$5,179

-35.48%

International Primary School, 1 Child (Yearly)

$13.3K PEN 45.7K

$8,172 MX$150.0K

62.99%

Jeans (Levis 501 Or Similar)

$52.6 PEN 180

$74.7 MX$1,371

-29.61%

Summer Dress (H&M, Zara, etc)

$34.23 PEN 117

$66.9 MX$1,228

-48.82%

Sport Shoes (Adidas, Nike)

$83.8 PEN 287

$164 MX$3,016

-49.00%

Men's Leather Business Shoes

$79.0 PEN 271

$253 MX$4,642

-68.75%

1-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$723 PEN 2,479

$531 MX$9,755

36.12%

1-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$340 PEN 1,166

$385 MX$7,066

-11.63%

3-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$1,184 PEN 4,060

$946 MX$17.4K

25.26%

3-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$635 PEN 2,176

$678 MX$12.5K

-6.43%

Buy Apartment in City Center (m2)

$2,449 PEN 8,394

Buy Apartment Outside City Center (m2)

$1,372 PEN 4,702

Average Monthly Net Salary (After Tax)

$653 PEN 2,237

$571 MX$10.5K

14.30%

20-Year Fixed Mortgage Interest Rate (Annual %)

8.94

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

Last update for Lima: October 4, 2026

Last update for Tampico: October 5, 2026

Monthly budget structure

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

Accommodation & Living

Lima

$340 33.6%

Tampico

$385 28.8% 13.2% $45

Groceries & Markets

Lima

$226 22.4%

Tampico

$269 * 20.1% 18.7% $42

Eating Out

Lima

$124 12.3%

Tampico

$171 12.8% 37.9% $47

Monthly Utilities & Internet

Lima

$117 11.6%

Tampico

$158 11.8% 35.2% $41

Clothing & Footwear

Lima

$112 11.1%

Tampico

$251 18.8% 124% $139

Sport & Entertainment

Lima

$48 4.7%

Tampico

$54 4.1% 13.8% $6.6

Getting Around

Lima

$43 4.3%

Tampico

$47 3.5% 7.7% $3.3

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 $723 in Lima and $531 in Tampico. Housing cost is often the main lever when comparing two cities.

Lima pays 14% more on average while also being the cheaper of the two. The combined effect is a noticeably stronger local purchasing power.

Dining out: $35.00 in Lima vs $55.0 in Tampico for a mid-range dinner for two. Groceries echo the gap at $226 vs $269 per month, with Lima cheaper across the board.

Good to know

🇵🇪 Lima

🇲🇽 Tampico

🕒 Local time

03:23 3:23 AM

02:23 2:23 AM

1 h behind Lima

🌤 Weather

👥 Population

9,989,369 Capital

297,562

💱 Currency

Peruvian Sol PEN S/

Mexican Peso MXN $

📈 Exchange rate

1 PEN = 0.292 USD

1 PEN = 0.26 EUR

100 MXN = 5.45 USD

100 MXN = 4.86 EUR

Exchange rates and currency converter

MXN, USD, EUR to PEN – Peruvian Sol Converter

🇺🇸 United States Dollar ($)

🇵🇪 Peruvian Sol (S/)

Peruvian Sol exchange rates as of October 10, 2026: 1 USD = 3.43 PEN (1 PEN = 0.292 USD). 1 EUR = 3.84 PEN (1 PEN = 0.26 EUR).

Mexican Peso exchange rates as of October 10, 2026: 1 USD = 18.36 MXN (100 MXN = 5.45 USD). 1 EUR = 20.59 MXN (100 MXN = 4.86 EUR).

USD to PEN in detail →

On the map

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Between locations

Lima Tampico 4,440 km ≈ 6 h nonstop flight

From you

Lima
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

Lima vs Tampico: Cost of Living - Frequently Asked Questions

Lima and Tampico differ by about 35% in total monthly costs ($996 vs $1,347 including rent). Lima is meaningfully more affordable – a gap that matters a lot on a fixed or modest income.

Average pay runs 14% higher in Lima, 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: $723 in Lima versus $531 in Tampico. Housing is usually the single largest factor when comparing overall living costs between the two.

Childcare runs $182 in Lima versus $282 in Tampico. Over years of preschool, even a modest monthly gap compounds into a major financial factor for families.

Supermarket bills run roughly 19% higher in Tampico. For households that cook at home regularly, that difference adds up over a month.

At $996 in Lima versus $1,347 in Tampico, a $2,000 budget is realistic in Lima but tight or insufficient in Tampico. The gap between the two cities makes Lima 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.

Expats usually find Lima gentler on the wallet – expenses run 35% less than in Tampico. Beyond cost, consider language, visa policies, and how big the international community is in each city.