Last update: Oct 2026

Cost of Living Comparison Between Mexico City and Centurion

For one person, living is cheaper in Centurion: $1,367 a month against $1,608 in Mexico City, rent and utilities included – about $2,900 less a year. Higher rent and utilities in Mexico City outweigh lower spending on other living expenses.

78

Cost of Living Index in Mexico City
Learn more

Mexico City Living Index
66

Cost of Living Index in Centurion
Learn more

Centurion Living Index

Jump to prices

Mexico City

🇲🇽 Mexico

$1,608

/mo nomad

Centurion

🇿🇦 South Africa

$1,367

/mo nomad

Monthly Cost of Living

How much you'll spend in Mexico City and in Centurion

Real prices from locals and on-the-ground checks – rent, groceries, transit and the daily extras. Here's what a month in Mexico City and in Centurion actually costs, broken down by who's living it.

Monthly costs for one person with rent: $1,608 in Mexico City versus $1,367 in Centurion.

Mexico City $1,608
Centurion $1,367

Estimated couple costs with rent: $2,549 in Mexico City versus $2,206 in Centurion.

Mexico City $2,549
Centurion $2,206

Monthly costs for a family of three with rent: $3,490 in Mexico City versus $3,045 in Centurion.

Mexico City $3,490
Centurion $3,045

Living in Mexico City is roughly 18% more expensive than in Centurion, and outside of rent the biggest gap is in groceries.

Meal at Budget Restaurant

$10.62 MX$198

$21.75 R 361

-51.17%

Three-Course Dinner for Two, Mid-Range

$48.35 MX$901

$40.00 R 664

20.88%

Fast Food Meal (McDonalds, etc)

$10.35 MX$193

$5.75 R 95.5

80.00%

Cappuccino

$3.69 MX$68.7

$2.67 R 44.30

38.20%

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

$1.67 MX$31.05

$0.97 R 16.05

72.16%

Water (0.33 liter bottle)

$1.27 MX$23.58

$0.87 R 14.41

45.98%

Local Beer (0.5 liter draught)

$3.19 MX$59.5

$2.04 R 33.90

56.37%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$5.31 MX$98.9

$2.42 R 40.14

119.42%

Milk (1 liter)

$1.72 MX$32.13

$1.17 R 19.35

47.01%

White Bread (500g)

$3.04 MX$56.6

$1.21 R 20.13

151.24%

Rice (white) (1kg)

$1.94 MX$36.17

$2.11 R 35.07

-8.06%

Eggs

$2.89 MX$53.8

$2.93 R 48.73

-1.37%

Local Cheese (1kg)

$10.97 MX$204

$10.09 R 168

8.72%

Chicken Fillets (1kg)

$9.25 MX$172

$6.63 R 110

39.52%

Beef Round Steak (1kg)

$15.13 MX$282

$7.26 R 121

108.40%

Apples (1kg)

$3.05 MX$56.8

$1.86 R 30.91

63.98%

Banana (1kg)

$1.94 MX$36.17

$1.86 R 30.93

4.30%

Oranges (1kg)

$2.03 MX$37.73

$2.14 R 35.49

-5.14%

Tomato (1kg)

$2.31 MX$43.12

$2.05 R 34.08

12.68%

Potato (1kg)

$2.04 MX$37.91

$1.59 R 26.34

28.30%

Onion (1kg)

$1.80 MX$33.53

$1.78 R 29.58

1.12%

Lettuce (1 head)

$1.48 MX$27.56

$1.36 R 22.52

8.82%

Water (1.5 liter bottle)

$1.27 MX$23.62

$1.39 R 23.06

-8.63%

Cigarettes 20 Pack (Marlboro, Camel)

$5.30 MX$98.8

$3.70 R 61.4

43.24%

Wine (Bottle)

$16.10 MX$300

$5.94 R 98.7

171.04%

Local Beer (0.5 liter bottle)

$1.98 MX$36.95

$1.58 R 26.26

25.32%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$4.25 MX$79.2

$2.09 R 34.68

103.35%

One-way Ticket (Public Transport)

$0.31 MX$5.68

$2.36 R 39.18

-86.86%

Public Transport Monthly Pass (Regular Price)

$19.73 MX$368

$97.4 R 1,617

-79.74%

Taxi Start (Normal Tariff)

$1.84 MX$34.23

$1.22 R 20.30

50.82%

Taxi (Normal Tariff) (1km)

$0.53 MX$9.94

$1.18 R 19.61

-55.08%

Taxi 1hour Waiting (Normal Tariff)

$5.30 MX$98.7

$9.04 R 150

-41.37%

Gasoline (1 liter)

$1.51 MX$28.14

$1.44 R 23.93

4.86%

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

$21.8K MX$405.3K

$35.7K R 593.0K

-39.07%

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

$24.0K MX$446.9K

$32.9K R 545.8K

-27.00%

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

$63.0 MX$1,173

$136 R 2,263

-53.77%

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

$27.39 MX$510

$29.89 R 497

-8.36%

Internet (50+ Mbps, Unlimited Data)

$35.67 MX$664

$40.20 R 668

-11.27%

Gym Membership (Monthly)

$58.9 MX$1,098

$43.78 R 727

34.63%

Tennis Court (1 Hour on Weekend)

$23.64 MX$441

Cinema Ticket

$6.40 MX$119

$10.59 R 176

-39.57%

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

$432 MX$8,041

$315 R 5,226

37.17%

International Primary School, 1 Child (Yearly)

$11.4K MX$212.8K

$4,416 R 73.4K

158.68%

Jeans (Levis 501 Or Similar)

$68.2 MX$1,271

$58.5 R 972

16.64%

Summer Dress (H&M, Zara, etc)

$53.1 MX$990

$43.25 R 718

22.84%

Sport Shoes (Adidas, Nike)

$108 MX$2,008

$117 R 1,944

-7.92%

Men's Leather Business Shoes

$117 MX$2,185

$102 R 1,696

14.88%

1-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$1,113 MX$20.7K

$335 R 5,571

231.98%

1-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$710 MX$13.2K

$369 R 6,124

92.69%

3-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$2,588 MX$48.2K

$581 R 9,643

345.80%

3-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$1,406 MX$26.2K

$891 R 14.8K

57.87%

Buy Apartment in City Center (m2)

$3,631 MX$67.6K

$527 R 8,757

588.74%

Buy Apartment Outside City Center (m2)

$2,135 MX$39.8K

$605 R 10.0K

252.97%

Average Monthly Net Salary (After Tax)

$946 MX$17.6K

$2,364 R 39.3K

-59.98%

20-Year Fixed Mortgage Interest Rate (Annual %)

11.35

10.5

8.10%

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

Last update for Mexico City: October 25, 2026

Last update for Centurion: October 24, 2026

Monthly budget structure

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

Accommodation & Living

Mexico City

$710 44.2%

Centurion

$369 27% 48.1% $342

Groceries & Markets

Mexico City

$320 19.9%

Centurion

$223 16.3% 30.3% $97

Eating Out

Mexico City

$199 12.4%

Centurion

$246 18% 23.7% $47

Clothing & Footwear

Mexico City

$156 9.7%

Centurion

$144 10.6% 7.4% $11

Monthly Utilities & Internet

Mexico City

$126 7.8%

Centurion

$206 15.1% 63.7% $80

Sport & Entertainment

Mexico City

$72 4.5%

Centurion

$65 4.8% 9.5% $6.8

Getting Around

Mexico City

$25 1.6%

Centurion

$114 8.3% 348% $88

Cost Breakdown

A one-bedroom apartment in the center runs $1,113 in Mexico City and $335 in Centurion. Housing cost is often the main lever when comparing two cities.

Centurion pays about 2.5 times more on average while also being the cheaper of the two. The combined effect is a noticeably stronger local purchasing power.

Dining out: $48 in Mexico City vs $40 in Centurion for a mid-range dinner for two. Groceries echo the gap at $320 vs $223 per month, with Centurion cheaper across the board.

Good to know

🇲🇽 Mexico City

🇿🇦 Centurion

🕒 Local time

03:39 3:39 AM

11:39 11:39 AM

8 h ahead of Mexico City

🌤 Weather

👥 Population

9,209,944 Capital

236,580

💱 Currency

Mexican Peso MXN $

South African Rand ZAR R

📈 Exchange rate

100 MXN = 5.37 USD

100 MXN = 4.81 EUR

100 ZAR = 6.02 USD

100 ZAR = 5.39 EUR

Exchange rates and currency converter

ZAR, USD, EUR to MXN – Mexican Peso Converter

🇺🇸 United States Dollar ($)

🇲🇽 Mexican Peso ($)

Mexican Peso exchange rates as of October 29, 2026: 1 USD = 18.63 MXN (100 MXN = 5.37 USD). 1 EUR = 20.79 MXN (100 MXN = 4.81 EUR).

South African Rand exchange rates as of October 29, 2026: 1 USD = 16.61 ZAR (100 ZAR = 6.02 USD). 1 EUR = 18.54 ZAR (100 ZAR = 5.39 EUR).

USD to MXN in detail →

On the map

Lowest

Highest

Between locations

Mexico City Centurion 14,600 km ≈ 19 h nonstop flight

From you

Mexico City
Centurion

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

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

Centurion wins on cost – living expenses run 15% lower than in Mexico City. Housing and daily spending are where you’ll feel the difference most, making Centurion the obvious pick if budget is a priority.

On paper, salaries run 60% 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: $1,113 in Mexico City versus $335 in Centurion. Housing is usually the single largest factor when comparing overall living costs between the two.

A monthly transit pass in Mexico City runs roughly 80% less than in Centurion. The price difference matters if you commute daily and watch your budget.

Childcare runs $432 in Mexico City versus $315 in Centurion. Over years of preschool, even a modest monthly gap compounds into a major financial factor for families.

Both cities are expensive relative to $1,000. Centurion is the more realistic option, but even there you’ll need to be disciplined with housing, food, and fun money.

Both work as nomad bases, but Centurion delivers better value at $1,367 monthly. If stretching your runway or maximizing savings is the goal, the price difference makes Centurion hard to pass up.