Last update: Oct 2026

Cost of Living Comparison Between Mar del Plata and Mexico City

For one person, living is cheaper in Mar del Plata: $1,038 a month against $1,561 in Mexico City, rent and utilities included – about $6,300 less a year. Rent and utilities account for most of the difference.

42

Cost of Living Index in Mar del Plata
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Mar del Plata Living Index
77

Cost of Living Index in Mexico City
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Mexico City Living Index

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Mar del Plata

🇦🇷 Argentina

$1,038

/mo nomad

Mexico City

🇲🇽 Mexico

$1,561

/mo nomad

Monthly Cost of Living

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

Monthly costs for one person with rent: $1,038 in Mar del Plata versus $1,561 in Mexico City.

Mar del Plata $1,038
Mexico City $1,561

Estimated couple costs with rent: $1,787 in Mar del Plata versus $2,440 in Mexico City.

Mar del Plata $1,787
Mexico City $2,440

Monthly costs for a family of three with rent: $2,536 in Mar del Plata versus $3,319 in Mexico City.

Mar del Plata $2,536
Mexico City $3,319

Living in Mar del Plata costs roughly 33% less than in Mexico City, and outside of rent the biggest gap is in groceries.

The two cities straddle the global median: Mar del Plata is 23% below, Mexico City is 16% above.

Meal at Budget Restaurant

$19.74 ARS 29.9K

$11.12 MX$204

77.52%

Three-Course Dinner for Two, Mid-Range

$60.3 ARS 91.4K

$48.99 MX$900

23.07%

Fast Food Meal (McDonalds, etc)

$12.52 ARS 19.0K

$11.23 MX$206

11.49%

Cappuccino

$3.13 ARS 4,743

$3.76 MX$69.0

-16.76%

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

$2.51 ARS 3,813

$1.65 MX$30.34

52.12%

Water (0.33 liter bottle)

$2.03 ARS 3,071

$1.28 MX$23.48

58.59%

Local Beer (0.5 liter draught)

$4.06 ARS 6,151

$3.26 MX$59.8

24.54%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$3.02 ARS 4,585

$5.66 MX$104

-46.64%

Milk (1 liter)

$1.08 ARS 1,634

$1.81 MX$33.23

-40.33%

White Bread (500g)

$2.20 ARS 3,330

$2.94 MX$54.0

-25.17%

Rice (white) (1kg)

$3.16 ARS 4,785

$2.05 MX$37.62

54.15%

Eggs

$2.36 ARS 3,575

$2.93 MX$53.7

-19.45%

Local Cheese (1kg)

$5.86 ARS 8,885

$11.95 MX$219

-50.96%

Chicken Fillets (1kg)

$6.65 ARS 10.1K

$9.51 MX$175

-30.07%

Beef Round Steak (1kg)

$12.52 ARS 19.0K

$14.84 MX$273

-15.63%

Apples (1kg)

$3.32 ARS 5,030

$3.14 MX$57.7

5.73%

Banana (1kg)

$2.43 ARS 3,687

$2.01 MX$36.99

20.90%

Oranges (1kg)

$1.48 ARS 2,242

$2.08 MX$38.10

-28.85%

Tomato (1kg)

$2.05 ARS 3,115

$2.22 MX$40.72

-7.66%

Potato (1kg)

$2.06 MX$37.82

Onion (1kg)

$1.01 ARS 1,532

$1.88 MX$34.46

-46.28%

Lettuce (1 head)

$1.48 MX$27.18

Water (1.5 liter bottle)

$1.35 MX$24.70

Cigarettes 20 Pack (Marlboro, Camel)

$3.60 ARS 5,463

$5.41 MX$99.3

-33.46%

Wine (Bottle)

$2.94 ARS 4,457

$16.86 MX$310

-82.56%

Local Beer (0.5 liter bottle)

$1.98 MX$36.43

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$4.32 MX$79.4

One-way Ticket (Public Transport)

$1.29 ARS 1,954

$0.34 MX$6.33

279.41%

Public Transport Monthly Pass (Regular Price)

$20.23 MX$371

Taxi Start (Normal Tariff)

$1.63 ARS 2,468

$2.10 MX$38.47

-22.38%

Taxi (Normal Tariff) (1km)

$0.64 ARS 967

$0.53 MX$9.74

20.75%

Taxi 1hour Waiting (Normal Tariff)

$6.40 ARS 9,707

$5.41 MX$99.3

18.30%

Gasoline (1 liter)

$1.36 ARS 2,064

$1.52 MX$27.91

-10.53%

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

$21.7K MX$399.0K

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

$24.8K MX$455.6K

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

$79.0 ARS 119.8K

$63.0 MX$1,156

25.47%

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

$8.23 ARS 12.5K

$28.88 MX$530

-71.50%

Internet (50+ Mbps, Unlimited Data)

$30.10 ARS 45.6K

$33.93 MX$623

-11.29%

Gym Membership (Monthly)

$31.31 ARS 47.5K

$55.8 MX$1,024

-43.87%

Tennis Court (1 Hour on Weekend)

$24.90 MX$457

Cinema Ticket

$10.07 ARS 15.3K

$6.77 MX$124

48.74%

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

$304 ARS 460.4K

$428 MX$7,854

-29.02%

International Primary School, 1 Child (Yearly)

$11.9K MX$218.0K

Jeans (Levis 501 Or Similar)

$87.7 ARS 133.1K

$70.0 MX$1,286

25.29%

Summer Dress (H&M, Zara, etc)

$53.7 MX$986

Sport Shoes (Adidas, Nike)

$121 ARS 184.2K

$110 MX$2,016

10.66%

Men's Leather Business Shoes

$54.8 ARS 83.1K

$115 MX$2,115

-52.44%

1-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$328 ARS 497.2K

$1,062 MX$19.5K

-69.14%

1-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$253 ARS 383.9K

$671 MX$12.3K

-62.26%

3-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$801 ARS 1.2M

$2,379 MX$43.7K

-66.33%

3-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$654 ARS 992.3K

$1,260 MX$23.1K

-48.08%

Buy Apartment in City Center (m2)

$3,716 MX$68.2K

Buy Apartment Outside City Center (m2)

$1,976 MX$36.3K

Average Monthly Net Salary (After Tax)

$610 ARS 925.5K

$997 MX$18.3K

-38.78%

20-Year Fixed Mortgage Interest Rate (Annual %)

11.3

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

Last update for Mar del Plata: October 4, 2026

Last update for Mexico City: October 6, 2026

Monthly budget structure

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

Eating Out

Mar del Plata

$278 27%

Mexico City

$207 13.1% 25.4% $70

Accommodation & Living

Mar del Plata

$253 24.7%

Mexico City

$671 42.4% 165% $418

Groceries & Markets

Mar del Plata

$198 * 19.3%

Mexico City

$327 20.7% 64.7% $128

Clothing & Footwear

Mar del Plata

$119 * 11.6%

Mexico City

$157 9.9% 32.1% $38

Monthly Utilities & Internet

Mar del Plata

$117 11.4%

Mexico City

$126 8% 7.2% $8.5

Sport & Entertainment

Mar del Plata

$51 5%

Mexico City

$69 4.4% 34.8% $18

Getting Around

Mar del Plata

$10 * 1%

Mexico City

$26 1.7% 164% $16

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 $328 in Mar del Plata and $1,062 in Mexico City. Housing cost is often the main lever when comparing two cities.

Mexico City pays 63% 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: $60.0 in Mar del Plata vs $49.00 in Mexico City. Groceries flip the comparison at $198 vs $327, with Mar del Plata cheaper for home cooking.

Good to know

🇦🇷 Mar del Plata

🇲🇽 Mexico City

🕒 Local time

11:22 11:22 AM

08:22 8:22 AM

3 h behind Mar del Plata

🌤 Weather

👥 Population

593,337

9,209,944 Capital

💱 Currency

Argentine Peso ARS $

Mexican Peso MXN $

📈 Exchange rate

10,000 ARS = 6.59 USD

10,000 ARS = 5.88 EUR

100 MXN = 5.45 USD

100 MXN = 4.86 EUR

Exchange rates and currency converter

MXN, USD, EUR to ARS – Argentine Peso Converter

🇺🇸 United States Dollar ($)

🇦🇷 Argentine Peso ($)

Argentine Peso exchange rates as of October 10, 2026: 1 USD = 1,517 ARS (10,000 ARS = 6.59 USD). 1 EUR = 1,699 ARS (10,000 ARS = 5.88 EUR).

Mexican Peso exchange rates as of October 10, 2026: 1 USD = 18.36 MXN (100 MXN = 5.45 USD). 1 EUR = 20.57 MXN (100 MXN = 4.86 EUR).

USD to ARS in detail →

On the map

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Highest

Between locations

Mar del Plata Mexico City 7,720 km ≈ 10 h nonstop flight

From you

Mar del Plata
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

Mar del Plata vs Mexico City: Cost of Living - Frequently Asked Questions

Mar del Plata wins on cost – living expenses run 50% lower than in Mexico City. Housing and daily spending are where you'll feel the difference most, making Mar del Plata the obvious pick if budget is a priority.

On paper, salaries run 63% lower in Mexico City. 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: $328 in Mar del Plata versus $1,062 in Mexico City. Housing is usually the single largest factor when comparing overall living costs between the two.

Supermarket bills run roughly 65% higher in Mexico City. For households that cook at home regularly, that difference adds up over a month.

All in, you'll spend $1,038 per month in Mar del Plata versus $1,561 in Mexico City – a 50% gap that adds up to real savings over time for anyone picking the cheaper option.

At $1,038 in Mar del Plata versus $1,561 in Mexico City, a $1,000 budget is realistic in Mar del Plata but tight or insufficient in Mexico City. The gap between the two cities makes Mar del Plata the clear choice for anyone on this budget.

Both work as nomad bases, but Mar del Plata delivers better value – similar infrastructure at $1,038 monthly. If stretching your runway or maximizing savings is the goal, the price difference makes Mar del Plata hard to pass up.

Safety-wise, Mar del Plata 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 Mar del Plata gentler on the wallet – expenses run 50% less than in Mexico City. Beyond cost, consider language, visa policies, and how big the international community is in each city.