Last update: Oct 2026

Cost of Living Comparison Between Lisbon and San Cristobal de las Casas

For one person, living is cheaper in San Cristobal de las Casas: $897 a month against $2,210 in Lisbon, rent and utilities included – about $15,800 less a year. Rent and utilities account for most of the difference.

107

Cost of Living Index in Lisbon
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Lisbon Living Index
43

Cost of Living Index in San Cristobal de las Casas
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San Cristobal de las Casas Living Index

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Lisbon

🇵🇹 Portugal

$2,210

/mo nomad

San Cristobal de las Casas

🇲🇽 Mexico

$897

/mo nomad

Monthly Cost of Living

How much you'll spend in Lisbon and in San Cristobal de las Casas

Real prices from locals and on-the-ground checks – rent, groceries, transit and the daily extras. Here's what a month in Lisbon and in San Cristobal de las Casas actually costs, broken down by who's living it.

Monthly costs for one person with rent: $2,210 in Lisbon versus $897 in San Cristobal de las Casas.

Lisbon $2,210
San Cristobal de las Casas $897

Estimated couple costs with rent: $3,275 in Lisbon versus $1,399 in San Cristobal de las Casas.

Lisbon $3,275
San Cristobal de las Casas $1,399

Monthly costs for a family of three with rent: $4,341 in Lisbon versus $1,900 in San Cristobal de las Casas.

Lisbon $4,341
San Cristobal de las Casas $1,900

Living in Lisbon is roughly 146% more expensive than in San Cristobal de las Casas, and outside of rent the biggest gap is in eating out.

The two cities straddle the global median: Lisbon is 62% above, San Cristobal de las Casas is 34% below.

Meal at Budget Restaurant

$16.65 €14.91

$5.30 MX$99.5

214.15%

Three-Course Dinner for Two, Mid-Range

$61.7 €55.3

$27.46 MX$516

124.84%

Fast Food Meal (McDonalds, etc)

$11.36 €10.17

$5.84 MX$110

94.52%

Cappuccino

$2.97 €2.66

$2.56 MX$48.04

16.02%

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

$2.29 €2.05

$1.59 MX$29.91

44.03%

Water (0.33 liter bottle)

$1.74 €1.56

$0.98 MX$18.46

77.55%

Local Beer (0.5 liter draught)

$3.40 €3.05

$2.72 MX$51.1

25.00%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$3.31 €2.96

$3.22 MX$60.4

2.80%

Milk (1 liter)

$1.16 €1.04

$1.45 MX$27.19

-20.00%

White Bread (500g)

$1.91 €1.71

$3.45 MX$64.8

-44.64%

Rice (white) (1kg)

$1.51 €1.35

$1.50 MX$28.24

0.67%

Eggs

$4.02 €3.60

$2.23 MX$41.80

80.27%

Local Cheese (1kg)

$12.94 €11.59

$6.39 MX$120

102.50%

Chicken Fillets (1kg)

$7.77 €6.96

$4.19 MX$78.7

85.44%

Beef Round Steak (1kg)

$17.76 €15.91

$6.14 MX$115

189.25%

Apples (1kg)

$2.30 €2.06

$3.28 MX$61.6

-29.88%

Banana (1kg)

$1.73 €1.55

$2.04 MX$38.30

-15.20%

Oranges (1kg)

$1.86 €1.66

$2.14 MX$40.12

-13.08%

Tomato (1kg)

$2.59 €2.32

$1.41 MX$26.49

83.69%

Potato (1kg)

$1.82 €1.63

$1.64 MX$30.85

10.98%

Onion (1kg)

$1.97 €1.76

$1.78 MX$33.43

10.67%

Lettuce (1 head)

$1.47 €1.32

$1.80 MX$33.73

-18.33%

Water (1.5 liter bottle)

$0.72 €0.65

$1.53 MX$28.69

-52.94%

Cigarettes 20 Pack (Marlboro, Camel)

$6.58 €5.90

$1.83 MX$34.43

259.56%

Wine (Bottle)

$5.61 €5.02

$10.26 MX$193

-45.32%

Local Beer (0.5 liter bottle)

$1.36 €1.22

$2.39 MX$44.87

-43.10%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$2.14 €1.91

$1.85 MX$34.76

15.68%

One-way Ticket (Public Transport)

$2.33 €2.09

$0.56 MX$10.50

316.07%

Public Transport Monthly Pass (Regular Price)

$44.68 €40.01

$26.64 MX$500

67.72%

Taxi Start (Normal Tariff)

$3.85 €3.45

$2.71 MX$50.8

42.07%

Taxi (Normal Tariff) (1km)

$1.07 €0.96

$2.72 MX$51.0

-60.66%

Taxi 1hour Waiting (Normal Tariff)

$16.46 €14.74

Gasoline (1 liter)

$2.20 €1.97

$1.35 MX$25.38

62.96%

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

$34.2K €30.6K

$18.7K MX$351.8K

82.45%

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

$38.7K €34.7K

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

$161 €144

$31.80 MX$597

406.98%

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

$18.41 €16.49

$14.22 MX$267

29.47%

Internet (50+ Mbps, Unlimited Data)

$32.74 €29.32

$19.82 MX$372

65.19%

Gym Membership (Monthly)

$44.55 €39.90

$22.13 MX$415

101.31%

Tennis Court (1 Hour on Weekend)

$19.10 €17.10

$22.94 MX$431

-16.74%

Cinema Ticket

$9.60 €8.60

$6.92 MX$130

38.73%

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

$668 €598

$198 MX$3,725

236.55%

International Primary School, 1 Child (Yearly)

$17.6K €15.8K

$2,631 MX$49.4K

569.43%

Jeans (Levis 501 Or Similar)

$102 €91.4

$18.93 MX$355

438.93%

Summer Dress (H&M, Zara, etc)

$44.46 €39.82

$27.46 MX$516

61.91%

Sport Shoes (Adidas, Nike)

$98.5 €88.2

$96.0 MX$1,802

2.61%

Men's Leather Business Shoes

$124 €111

$54.0 MX$1,014

128.98%

1-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$1,608 €1,440

$424 MX$7,955

279.55%

1-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$1,190 €1,066

$304 MX$5,710

291.25%

3-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$2,812 €2,519

$847 MX$15.9K

231.95%

3-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$2,013 €1,803

$534 MX$10.0K

277.34%

Buy Apartment in City Center (m2)

$7,839 €7,021

$799 MX$15.0K

880.93%

Buy Apartment Outside City Center (m2)

$4,576 €4,098

$658 MX$12.4K

594.94%

Average Monthly Net Salary (After Tax)

$1,575 €1,411

$403 MX$7,570

290.63%

20-Year Fixed Mortgage Interest Rate (Annual %)

3.85

9.8

-60.71%

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

Last update for Lisbon: October 27, 2026

Last update for San Cristobal de las Casas: October 27, 2026

Monthly budget structure

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

Accommodation & Living

Lisbon

$1.2K 53.8%

San Cristobal de las Casas

$304 33.9% 74.4% $886

Groceries & Markets

Lisbon

$272 12.3%

San Cristobal de las Casas

$237 26.4% 13% $35

Eating Out

Lisbon

$243 11%

San Cristobal de las Casas

$121 13.5% 50.1% $122

Monthly Utilities & Internet

Lisbon

$212 9.6%

San Cristobal de las Casas

$66 7.3% 69% $147

Clothing & Footwear

Lisbon

$166 7.5%

San Cristobal de las Casas

$88 9.9% 46.7% $78

Sport & Entertainment

Lisbon

$64 2.9%

San Cristobal de las Casas

$36 4% 43.6% $28

Getting Around

Lisbon

$63 2.9%

San Cristobal de las Casas

$45 5% 28.5% $18

Cost Breakdown

A one-bedroom apartment in the center runs $1,608 in Lisbon and $424 in San Cristobal de las Casas. Housing cost is often the main lever when comparing two cities.

Lisbon pays about 3.9 times more on average. How far that income stretches comes down to housing choices and lifestyle.

Dining out: $62 in Lisbon vs $27 in San Cristobal de las Casas for a mid-range dinner for two. Groceries echo the gap at $272 vs $237 per month, with San Cristobal de las Casas cheaper across the board.

Good to know

🇵🇹 Lisbon

🇲🇽 San Cristobal de las Casas

🕒 Local time

11:14 11:14 AM

05:14 5:14 AM

6 h behind Lisbon

🌤 Weather

👥 Population

545,923 Capital

183,509

💱 Currency

Euro EUR €

Mexican Peso MXN $

📈 Exchange rate

1 EUR = 1.12 USD

100 MXN = 5.33 USD

100 MXN = 4.77 EUR

Exchange rates and currency converter

MXN, USD to EUR – Euro Converter

🇺🇸 United States Dollar ($)

🇪🇺 Euro (€)

Euro exchange rates as of October 31, 2026: 1 USD = 0.896 EUR (1 EUR = 1.12 USD).

Mexican Peso exchange rates as of October 31, 2026: 1 USD = 18.77 MXN (100 MXN = 5.33 USD). 1 EUR = 20.96 MXN (100 MXN = 4.77 EUR).

USD to EUR in detail →

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Between locations

Lisbon San Cristobal de las Casas 8,300 km ≈ 11 h nonstop flight

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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

Lisbon vs San Cristobal de las Casas: Cost of Living - Frequently Asked Questions

Total monthly costs including rent come to $2,210 in Lisbon and $897 in San Cristobal de las Casas, so San Cristobal de las Casas is about 59% cheaper – a gap that matters a lot on a fixed or modest income.

Average pay in Lisbon is about 3.9 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: $1,608 in Lisbon versus $424 in San Cristobal de las Casas. Housing is usually the single largest factor when comparing overall living costs between the two.

Childcare runs $668 in Lisbon versus $198 in San Cristobal de las Casas. Over years of preschool, even a modest monthly gap compounds into a major financial factor for families.

Supermarket bills run roughly 15% higher in Lisbon. For households that cook at home regularly, that difference adds up over a month.

Both cities are expensive relative to $800. San Cristobal de las Casas is the more realistic option, but even there you’ll need to be disciplined with housing, food, and fun money.

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, Lisbon and San Cristobal de las Casas are both considered safe, so it’s unlikely to be the deciding factor between them.

Expats usually find San Cristobal de las Casas gentler on the wallet – expenses run 59% less than in Lisbon. Beyond cost, consider language, visa policies, and how big the international community is in each city.