Last update: Oct 2026

Cost of Living Comparison Between Lima and Tepic

For one person, living is cheaper in Lima: $1,012 a month against $1,100 in Tepic, rent and utilities included – about $1,100 less a year. The total is higher in Tepic despite lower rent and utilities.

49

Cost of Living Index in Lima
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Lima Living Index
55

Cost of Living Index in Tepic
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Tepic Living Index

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Lima

🇵🇪 Peru

$1,012

/mo nomad

Tepic

🇲🇽 Mexico

$1,100

/mo nomad

Monthly Cost of Living

How much you'll spend in Lima and in Tepic

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 Tepic actually costs, broken down by who's living it.

Monthly costs for one person with rent: $1,012 in Lima versus $1,100 in Tepic.

Lima $1,012
Tepic $1,100

Estimated couple costs with rent: $1,589 in Lima versus $1,808 in Tepic.

Lima $1,589
Tepic $1,808

Monthly costs for a family of three with rent: $2,167 in Lima versus $2,516 in Tepic.

Lima $2,167
Tepic $2,516

Living in Lima costs roughly 8% less than in Tepic, and outside of rent the biggest gap is in eating out.

Both cities sit below the global median: Lima 25% lower, Tepic 18% lower.

Meal at Budget Restaurant

$4.40 PEN 15.10

$13.45 MX$249

-67.29%

Three-Course Dinner for Two, Mid-Range

$35.17 PEN 121

$44.40 MX$820

-20.79%

Fast Food Meal (McDonalds, etc)

$6.89 PEN 23.65

$9.21 MX$170

-25.19%

Cappuccino

$3.26 PEN 11.20

$3.24 MX$59.9

0.62%

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

$1.12 PEN 3.84

$1.73 MX$31.90

-35.26%

Water (0.33 liter bottle)

$0.62 PEN 2.11

$1.23 MX$22.64

-49.59%

Local Beer (0.5 liter draught)

$2.65 PEN 9.09

$2.81 MX$51.9

-5.69%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$4.41 PEN 15.15

$5.02 MX$92.8

-12.15%

Milk (1 liter)

$1.63 PEN 5.61

$1.51 MX$27.89

7.95%

White Bread (500g)

$2.56 PEN 8.78

$2.45 MX$45.20

4.49%

Rice (white) (1kg)

$1.35 PEN 4.65

$1.69 MX$31.24

-20.12%

Eggs

$2.90 PEN 9.96

$2.11 MX$38.94

37.44%

Local Cheese (1kg)

$8.85 PEN 30.38

$4.90 MX$90.5

80.61%

Chicken Fillets (1kg)

$5.98 PEN 20.52

$9.48 MX$175

-36.92%

Beef Round Steak (1kg)

$9.78 PEN 33.59

$11.69 MX$216

-16.34%

Apples (1kg)

$2.05 PEN 7.02

$2.81 MX$52.0

-27.05%

Banana (1kg)

$1.06 PEN 3.66

$1.58 MX$29.26

-32.91%

Oranges (1kg)

$1.35 PEN 4.64

$1.98 MX$36.53

-31.82%

Tomato (1kg)

$1.50 PEN 5.15

$1.82 MX$33.72

-17.58%

Potato (1kg)

$0.88 PEN 3.03

$2.02 MX$37.37

-56.44%

Onion (1kg)

$0.92 PEN 3.15

$1.83 MX$33.77

-49.73%

Lettuce (1 head)

$0.89 PEN 3.07

$1.46 MX$26.98

-39.04%

Water (1.5 liter bottle)

$0.90 PEN 3.10

$1.07 MX$19.83

-15.89%

Cigarettes 20 Pack (Marlboro, Camel)

$5.90 PEN 20.27

$4.26 MX$78.8

38.50%

Wine (Bottle)

$8.52 PEN 29.26

$10.56 MX$195

-19.32%

Local Beer (0.5 liter bottle)

$1.88 PEN 6.45

$0.78 MX$14.44

141.03%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$3.22 PEN 11.05

$3.36 MX$62.1

-4.17%

One-way Ticket (Public Transport)

$0.68 PEN 2.33

$0.83 MX$15.42

-18.07%

Public Transport Monthly Pass (Regular Price)

$26.86 PEN 92.2

Taxi Start (Normal Tariff)

$3.81 PEN 13.09

$2.24 MX$41.34

70.09%

Taxi (Normal Tariff) (1km)

$2.02 PEN 6.93

$1.33 MX$24.65

51.88%

Taxi 1hour Waiting (Normal Tariff)

$7.11 PEN 24.41

$12.03 MX$222

-40.90%

Gasoline (1 liter)

$1.72 PEN 5.91

$1.43 MX$26.37

20.28%

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

$22.3K PEN 76.6K

$21.2K MX$392.2K

5.12%

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

$25.5K PEN 87.6K

$23.9K MX$441.4K

6.78%

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

$73.1 PEN 251

$44.05 MX$814

65.88%

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

$16.35 PEN 56.2

$12.13 MX$224

34.79%

Internet (50+ Mbps, Unlimited Data)

$27.47 PEN 94.3

$30.94 MX$572

-11.22%

Gym Membership (Monthly)

$31.90 PEN 110

$34.03 MX$629

-6.26%

Tennis Court (1 Hour on Weekend)

$19.41 PEN 66.7

$20.32 MX$376

-4.48%

Cinema Ticket

$7.05 PEN 24.23

$6.62 MX$122

6.50%

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

$182 PEN 627

$253 MX$4,676

-27.88%

International Primary School, 1 Child (Yearly)

$13.0K PEN 44.8K

$10.7K MX$198.2K

21.55%

Jeans (Levis 501 Or Similar)

$53.8 PEN 185

$59.8 MX$1,105

-10.05%

Summer Dress (H&M, Zara, etc)

$34.32 PEN 118

$39.45 MX$729

-13.00%

Sport Shoes (Adidas, Nike)

$82.8 PEN 284

$108 MX$1,998

-23.40%

Men's Leather Business Shoes

$78.2 PEN 269

$83.4 MX$1,542

-6.21%

1-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$721 PEN 2,476

$518 MX$9,568

39.28%

1-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$343 PEN 1,179

$360 MX$6,658

-4.68%

3-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$1,219 PEN 4,186

$1,027 MX$19.0K

18.71%

3-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$651 PEN 2,235

$752 MX$13.9K

-13.51%

Buy Apartment in City Center (m2)

$2,414 PEN 8,292

$1,837 MX$33.9K

31.45%

Buy Apartment Outside City Center (m2)

$1,357 PEN 4,660

$1,128 MX$20.8K

20.34%

Average Monthly Net Salary (After Tax)

$648 PEN 2,226

$657 MX$12.1K

-1.35%

20-Year Fixed Mortgage Interest Rate (Annual %)

8.94

11.68

-23.46%

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

Last update for Lima: October 11, 2026

Last update for Tepic: October 11, 2026

Monthly budget structure

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

Accommodation & Living

Lima

$343 33.9%

Tepic

$360 32.7% 4.9% $17

Groceries & Markets

Lima

$226 22.3%

Tepic

$253 23% 11.8% $27

Eating Out

Lima

$124 12.3%

Tepic

$210 19.1% 69.4% $86

Monthly Utilities & Internet

Lima

$117 11.6%

Tepic

$87 7.9% 25.5% $30

Clothing & Footwear

Lima

$112 11.1%

Tepic

$131 11.9% 16.7% $19

Sport & Entertainment

Lima

$46 4.6%

Tepic

$47 4.3% 2.7% $1.3

Getting Around

Lima

$43 4.3%

Tepic

$12 * 1.1% 71.8% $31

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 $721 in Lima and $518 in Tepic. Housing cost is often the main lever when comparing two cities.

Tepic pays 1% 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: $35.00 in Lima vs $44.00 in Tepic for a mid-range dinner for two. Groceries echo the gap at $226 vs $253 per month, with Lima cheaper across the board.

Good to know

🇵🇪 Lima

🇲🇽 Tepic

🕒 Local time

23:56 11:56 PM

21:56 9:56 PM

2 h behind Lima

🌤 Weather

👥 Population

9,989,369 Capital

371,387

💱 Currency

Peruvian Sol PEN S/

Mexican Peso MXN $

📈 Exchange rate

1 PEN = 0.291 USD

1 PEN = 0.259 EUR

100 MXN = 5.41 USD

100 MXN = 4.81 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 19, 2026: 1 USD = 3.43 PEN (1 PEN = 0.291 USD). 1 EUR = 3.86 PEN (1 PEN = 0.259 EUR).

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 PEN in detail →

On the map

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Highest

Between locations

Lima Tepic 4,810 km ≈ 7 h nonstop flight

From you

Lima
Tepic

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 Tepic: Cost of Living - Frequently Asked Questions

Lima and Tepic differ by about 9% in total monthly costs ($1,012 vs $1,100 including rent). Lima is meaningfully more affordable – a gap that matters a lot on a fixed or modest income.

On paper, salaries run 1% lower in Tepic. That's worth factoring in alongside costs, though remote workers earning in a stronger currency may not notice the difference at all.

Rent for a central apartment: $721 in Lima versus $518 in Tepic. Housing is usually the single largest factor when comparing overall living costs between the two.

Supermarket bills run roughly 12% higher in Tepic. For households that cook at home regularly, that difference adds up over a month.

All in, you'll spend $1,012 per month in Lima versus $1,100 in Tepic – a 9% gap that adds up to real savings over time for anyone picking the cheaper option.

At $1,012 in Lima versus $1,100 in Tepic, a $2,000 budget is realistic in Lima but tight or insufficient in Tepic. 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.

Safety-wise, Lima and Tepic 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 Lima gentler on the wallet – expenses run 9% less than in Tepic. Beyond cost, consider language, visa policies, and how big the international community is in each city.