Last update: Oct 2026

Cost of Living Comparison Between Mecca and Mexico City

For one person, living is cheaper in Mecca: $936 a month against $1,567 in Mexico City, rent and utilities included – about $7,600 less a year. Rent and utilities account for most of the difference.

45

Cost of Living Index in Mecca
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Mecca Living Index
76

Cost of Living Index in Mexico City
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Mexico City Living Index

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Mecca

🇸🇦 Saudi Arabia

$936

/mo nomad

Mexico City

🇲🇽 Mexico

$1,567

/mo nomad

Monthly Cost of Living

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

Monthly costs for one person with rent: $936 in Mecca versus $1,567 in Mexico City.

Mecca $936
Mexico City $1,567

Estimated couple costs with rent: $1,453 in Mecca versus $2,450 in Mexico City.

Mecca $1,453
Mexico City $2,450

Monthly costs for a family of three with rent: $1,970 in Mecca versus $3,333 in Mexico City.

Mecca $1,970
Mexico City $3,333

Living in Mecca costs roughly 40% less than in Mexico City, and outside of rent the biggest gap is in groceries.

The two cities straddle the global median: Mecca is 31% below, Mexico City is 16% above.

Meal at Budget Restaurant

$4.57 SAR 17.14

$10.75 MX$199

-57.49%

Three-Course Dinner for Two, Mid-Range

$26.89 SAR 101

$50.3 MX$929

-46.49%

Fast Food Meal (McDonalds, etc)

$7.07 SAR 26.52

$11.10 MX$205

-36.31%

Local Non-Alcoholic Beer (0.5 liter draught)

$1.55 SAR 5.81

Imported Non-Alcoholic Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$1.49 SAR 5.61

Cappuccino

$2.61 SAR 9.79

$3.68 MX$68.1

-29.08%

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

$0.67 SAR 2.51

$1.65 MX$30.42

-59.39%

Water (0.33 liter bottle)

$0.23 SAR 0.86

$1.30 MX$24.08

-82.31%

Local Beer (0.5 liter draught)

$3.32 MX$61.3

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$5.54 MX$102

Milk (1 liter)

$1.75 SAR 6.57

$1.77 MX$32.68

-1.13%

White Bread (500g)

$1.03 SAR 3.85

$3.05 MX$56.4

-66.23%

Rice (white) (1kg)

$2.11 SAR 7.91

$2.01 MX$37.20

4.98%

Eggs

$2.52 SAR 9.46

$2.77 MX$51.1

-9.03%

Local Cheese (1kg)

$5.92 SAR 22.20

$11.91 MX$220

-50.29%

Chicken Fillets (1kg)

$8.08 SAR 30.33

$9.33 MX$172

-13.40%

Beef Round Steak (1kg)

$12.95 SAR 48.59

$15.02 MX$278

-13.78%

Apples (1kg)

$2.09 SAR 7.84

$3.08 MX$56.8

-32.14%

Banana (1kg)

$1.58 SAR 5.94

$1.95 MX$35.97

-18.97%

Oranges (1kg)

$1.61 SAR 6.05

$2.03 MX$37.54

-20.69%

Tomato (1kg)

$1.47 SAR 5.52

$2.21 MX$40.92

-33.48%

Potato (1kg)

$1.12 SAR 4.21

$2.02 MX$37.41

-44.55%

Onion (1kg)

$1.30 SAR 4.87

$1.82 MX$33.67

-28.57%

Lettuce (1 head)

$1.05 SAR 3.94

$1.52 MX$28.07

-30.92%

Water (1.5 liter bottle)

$0.50 SAR 1.86

$1.28 MX$23.65

-60.94%

Bottle of Non-Alcoholic Wine (Mid-Range)

$4.06 SAR 15.24

Local Non-Alcoholic Beer (0.5 liter bottle)

$1.85 SAR 6.95

Imported Non-Alcoholic Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$1.59 SAR 5.97

Cigarettes 20 Pack (Marlboro, Camel)

$6.81 SAR 25.56

$5.27 MX$97.4

29.22%

Wine (Bottle)

$16.12 MX$298

Local Beer (0.5 liter bottle)

$1.95 MX$36.05

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$4.25 MX$78.6

One-way Ticket (Public Transport)

$1.34 SAR 5.03

$0.31 MX$5.82

332.26%

Public Transport Monthly Pass (Regular Price)

$19.85 MX$367

Taxi Start (Normal Tariff)

$2.43 SAR 9.11

$2.00 MX$36.93

21.50%

Taxi (Normal Tariff) (1km)

$1.75 SAR 6.57

$0.53 MX$9.86

230.19%

Taxi 1hour Waiting (Normal Tariff)

$13.15 SAR 49.33

$5.62 MX$104

133.99%

Gasoline (1 liter)

$0.63 SAR 2.38

$1.52 MX$28.07

-58.55%

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

$47.5K SAR 178.2K

$21.0K MX$388.7K

125.77%

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

$21.1K SAR 79.3K

$25.2K MX$465.3K

-16.10%

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

$66.9 SAR 251

$62.5 MX$1,155

6.99%

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

$35.35 SAR 133

$28.77 MX$532

22.87%

Internet (50+ Mbps, Unlimited Data)

$63.2 SAR 237

$34.45 MX$637

83.43%

Gym Membership (Monthly)

$80.7 SAR 303

$57.1 MX$1,055

41.38%

Tennis Court (1 Hour on Weekend)

$42.52 SAR 160

$24.81 MX$458

71.38%

Cinema Ticket

$11.96 SAR 44.88

$6.67 MX$123

79.31%

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

$775 SAR 2,907

$431 MX$7,964

79.74%

International Primary School, 1 Child (Yearly)

$16.2K SAR 60.8K

$11.7K MX$216.9K

38.03%

Jeans (Levis 501 Or Similar)

$13.57 SAR 50.9

$70.8 MX$1,308

-80.83%

Summer Dress (H&M, Zara, etc)

$56.9 SAR 214

$51.8 MX$958

9.82%

Sport Shoes (Adidas, Nike)

$39.67 SAR 149

$109 MX$2,011

-63.55%

Men's Leather Business Shoes

$53.3 SAR 200

$112 MX$2,076

-52.53%

1-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$533 SAR 2,001

$1,051 MX$19.4K

-49.28%

1-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$290 SAR 1,088

$665 MX$12.3K

-56.39%

3-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$830 SAR 3,114

$2,346 MX$43.3K

-64.63%

3-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$523 SAR 1,963

$1,227 MX$22.7K

-57.35%

Buy Apartment in City Center (m2)

$6,375 SAR 23.9K

$3,554 MX$65.7K

79.39%

Buy Apartment Outside City Center (m2)

$2,298 SAR 8,624

$1,977 MX$36.5K

16.25%

Average Monthly Net Salary (After Tax)

$1,083 SAR 4,063

$975 MX$18.0K

11.09%

20-Year Fixed Mortgage Interest Rate (Annual %)

5.25

11.3

-53.54%

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

Last update for Mecca: October 11, 2026

Last update for Mexico City: October 11, 2026

Monthly budget structure

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

Accommodation & Living

Mecca

$290 31%

Mexico City

$665 42.4% 129% $375

Groceries & Markets

Mecca

$193 20.6%

Mexico City

$323 20.6% 67.1% $130

Monthly Utilities & Internet

Mecca

$165 17.7%

Mexico City

$126 8% 24% $40

Sport & Entertainment

Mecca

$105 11.2%

Mexico City

$70 4.5% 32.7% $34

Eating Out

Mecca

$93 9.9%

Mexico City

$203 13% 119% $110

Clothing & Footwear

Mecca

$74 7.9%

Mexico City

$155 9.9% 110% $81

Getting Around

Mecca

$17 * 1.8%

Mexico City

$26 1.6% 55.8% $9.2

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 $533 in Mecca and $1,051 in Mexico City. Housing cost is often the main lever when comparing two cities.

Mecca pays 11% more on average while also being the cheaper of the two. The combined effect is a noticeably stronger local purchasing power.

Dining out: $27.00 in Mecca vs $50.0 in Mexico City for a mid-range dinner for two. Groceries echo the gap at $193 vs $323 per month, with Mecca cheaper across the board.

Good to know

🇸🇦 Mecca

🇲🇽 Mexico City

🕒 Local time

02:26 2:26 AM

17:26 5:26 PM

9 h behind Mecca

🌤 Weather

👥 Population

1,675,368

9,209,944 Capital

💱 Currency

Saudi Riyal SAR ر.س

Mexican Peso MXN $

📈 Exchange rate

1 SAR = 0.266 USD

1 SAR = 0.237 EUR

100 MXN = 5.41 USD

100 MXN = 4.81 EUR

Exchange rates and currency converter

MXN, USD, EUR to SAR – Saudi Riyal Converter

🇺🇸 United States Dollar ($)

🇸🇦 Saudi Riyal (ر.س)

Saudi Riyal exchange rates as of October 18, 2026: 1 USD = 3.75 SAR (1 SAR = 0.266 USD). 1 EUR = 4.22 SAR (1 SAR = 0.237 EUR).

Mexican Peso exchange rates as of October 18, 2026: 1 USD = 18.48 MXN (100 MXN = 5.41 USD). 1 EUR = 20.77 MXN (100 MXN = 4.81 EUR).

USD to SAR in detail →

On the map

Lowest

Highest

Between locations

Mecca Mexico City 13,650 km ≈ 18 h nonstop flight

From you

Mecca
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

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

Mecca is cheaper overall, especially in groceries, eating out, and clothing. The 67% gap adds up to real monthly savings that compound significantly over time.

Average pay runs 11% higher in Mecca, 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: $533 in Mecca versus $1,051 in Mexico City. Housing is usually the single largest factor when comparing overall living costs between the two.

Supermarket bills run roughly 67% higher in Mexico City. For households that cook at home regularly, that difference adds up over a month.

All in, you'll spend $936 per month in Mecca versus $1,567 in Mexico City – a 67% gap that adds up to real savings over time for anyone picking the cheaper option.

At $936 in Mecca versus $1,567 in Mexico City, a $1,500 budget is realistic in Mecca but tight or insufficient in Mexico City. The gap between the two cities makes Mecca the clear choice for anyone on this budget.

For families, Mecca is more practical. Housing and childcare are both notably cheaper than in Mexico City, and the savings on those two alone free up budget for education, activities, and family trips.

Safety-wise, Mecca 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 Mecca gentler on the wallet – expenses run 67% less than in Mexico City. Beyond cost, consider language, visa policies, and how big the international community is in each city.