Last update: Oct 2026

Cost of Living Comparison Between Mexico City and Masterton

For one person, living is cheaper in Masterton: $841 a month against $1,608 in Mexico City, rent and utilities included – about $9,200 less a year. Rent and utilities account for most of the difference.

78

Cost of Living Index in Mexico City
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Mexico City Living Index
41

Cost of Living Index in Masterton
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Masterton Living Index

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Mexico City

🇲🇽 Mexico

$1,608

/mo nomad

Masterton

🇳🇿 New Zealand

$841

/mo nomad

Monthly Cost of Living

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

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

Monthly costs for one person with rent: $1,608 in Mexico City versus $841 in Masterton.

Mexico City $1,608
Masterton $841

Estimated couple costs with rent: $2,549 in Mexico City versus $1,446 in Masterton.

Mexico City $2,549
Masterton $1,446

Monthly costs for a family of three with rent: $3,490 in Mexico City versus $2,051 in Masterton.

Mexico City $3,490
Masterton $2,051

Living in Mexico City is roughly 91% more expensive than in Masterton, and outside of rent the biggest gap is in groceries.

The two cities straddle the global median: Mexico City is 18% above, Masterton is 38% below.

Meal at Budget Restaurant

$10.62 MX$199

$9.26 NZ$16.44

14.69%

Three-Course Dinner for Two, Mid-Range

$48.35 MX$908

$65.0 NZ$115

-25.56%

Fast Food Meal (McDonalds, etc)

$10.35 MX$194

$8.77 NZ$15.58

18.02%

Cappuccino

$3.69 MX$69.3

$3.35 NZ$5.95

10.15%

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

$1.67 MX$31.29

$1.95 NZ$3.46

-14.36%

Water (0.33 liter bottle)

$1.27 MX$23.76

$1.11 NZ$1.97

14.41%

Local Beer (0.5 liter draught)

$3.19 MX$59.9

$3.96 NZ$7.04

-19.44%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$5.31 MX$99.6

$3.40 NZ$6.04

56.18%

Milk (1 liter)

$1.72 MX$32.38

$1.46 NZ$2.59

17.81%

White Bread (500g)

$3.04 MX$57.1

$2.13 NZ$3.77

42.72%

Rice (white) (1kg)

$1.94 MX$36.44

$1.10 NZ$1.95

76.36%

Eggs

$2.89 MX$54.2

$6.49 NZ$11.51

-55.47%

Local Cheese (1kg)

$10.97 MX$206

$8.59 NZ$15.25

27.71%

Chicken Fillets (1kg)

$9.25 MX$174

$9.94 NZ$17.65

-6.94%

Beef Round Steak (1kg)

$15.13 MX$284

$15.03 NZ$26.69

0.67%

Apples (1kg)

$3.05 MX$57.2

$2.22 NZ$3.93

37.39%

Banana (1kg)

$1.94 MX$36.45

$1.81 NZ$3.21

7.18%

Oranges (1kg)

$2.03 MX$38.02

$3.04 NZ$5.40

-33.22%

Tomato (1kg)

$2.31 MX$43.46

$4.48 NZ$7.95

-48.44%

Potato (1kg)

$2.04 MX$38.21

$1.51 NZ$2.69

35.10%

Onion (1kg)

$1.80 MX$33.79

$1.09 NZ$1.94

65.14%

Lettuce (1 head)

$1.48 MX$27.77

$1.71 NZ$3.04

-13.45%

Water (1.5 liter bottle)

$1.27 MX$23.80

$0.52 NZ$0.93

144.23%

Cigarettes 20 Pack (Marlboro, Camel)

$5.30 MX$99.6

$19.90 NZ$35.33

-73.37%

Wine (Bottle)

$16.10 MX$302

$11.48 NZ$20.39

40.24%

Local Beer (0.5 liter bottle)

$1.98 MX$37.23

$0.88 NZ$1.56

125.00%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$4.25 MX$79.8

$1.22 NZ$2.17

248.36%

One-way Ticket (Public Transport)

$0.31 MX$5.73

$2.23 NZ$3.97

-86.10%

Public Transport Monthly Pass (Regular Price)

$19.73 MX$371

Taxi Start (Normal Tariff)

$1.84 MX$34.50

$1.89 NZ$3.36

-2.65%

Taxi (Normal Tariff) (1km)

$0.53 MX$10.02

$1.80 NZ$3.20

-70.56%

Taxi 1hour Waiting (Normal Tariff)

$5.30 MX$99.4

$33.98 NZ$60.3

-84.40%

Gasoline (1 liter)

$1.51 MX$28.36

$1.73 NZ$3.08

-12.72%

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

$21.8K MX$408.4K

$22.9K NZ$40.6K

-4.86%

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

$24.0K MX$450.3K

$23.9K NZ$42.4K

0.47%

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

$63.0 MX$1,182

$56.0 NZ$99.5

12.40%

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

$27.39 MX$514

$29.91 NZ$53.1

-8.43%

Internet (50+ Mbps, Unlimited Data)

$35.67 MX$670

$53.4 NZ$94.8

-33.18%

Gym Membership (Monthly)

$58.9 MX$1,107

$42.36 NZ$75.2

39.14%

Tennis Court (1 Hour on Weekend)

$23.64 MX$444

$8.22 NZ$14.59

187.59%

Cinema Ticket

$6.40 MX$120

$9.47 NZ$16.81

-32.42%

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

$432 MX$8,103

$1,038 NZ$1,844

-58.44%

International Primary School, 1 Child (Yearly)

$11.4K MX$214.5K

$13.3K NZ$23.6K

-14.19%

Jeans (Levis 501 Or Similar)

$68.2 MX$1,281

$56.7 NZ$101

20.40%

Summer Dress (H&M, Zara, etc)

$53.1 MX$997

$28.47 NZ$50.6

86.62%

Sport Shoes (Adidas, Nike)

$108 MX$2,023

$105 NZ$186

3.07%

Men's Leather Business Shoes

$117 MX$2,202

$141 NZ$250

-16.72%

1-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$1,113 MX$20.9K

1-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$710 MX$13.3K

3-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$2,588 MX$48.6K

$1,019 NZ$1,809

154.03%

3-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$1,406 MX$26.4K

Buy Apartment in City Center (m2)

$3,631 MX$68.2K

Buy Apartment Outside City Center (m2)

$2,135 MX$40.1K

Average Monthly Net Salary (After Tax)

$946 MX$17.8K

$2,339 NZ$4,152

-59.55%

20-Year Fixed Mortgage Interest Rate (Annual %)

11.35

5.39

110.58%

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

Last update for Mexico City: October 25, 2026

Last update for Masterton: October 25, 2026

Monthly budget structure

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

Accommodation & Living

Mexico City

$710 44.2%

Masterton

- * 0% 100%

Groceries & Markets

Mexico City

$320 19.9%

Masterton

$293 34.8% 8.4% $27

Eating Out

Mexico City

$199 12.4%

Masterton

$179 21.3% 9.6% $19

Clothing & Footwear

Mexico City

$156 9.7%

Masterton

$149 17.7% 4.6% $7.2

Monthly Utilities & Internet

Mexico City

$126 7.8%

Masterton

$139 16.6% 10.5% $13

Sport & Entertainment

Mexico City

$72 4.5%

Masterton

$61 7.3% 14.6% $10

Getting Around

Mexico City

$25 1.6%

Masterton

$20 * 2.4% 22.1% $5.6

Categories marked with * are only partly priced – their share counts the items that do have prices.

Cost Breakdown

Masterton 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 $65 in Masterton. Groceries flip the comparison at $320 vs $293, with Masterton cheaper for home cooking.

Good to know

🇲🇽 Mexico City

🇳🇿 Masterton

🕒 Local time

18:06 6:06 PM

13:06 1:06 PM

19 h ahead of Mexico City

🌤 Weather

👥 Population

9,209,944 Capital

26,800

💱 Currency

Mexican Peso MXN $

New Zealand Dollar NZD $

📈 Exchange rate

100 MXN = 5.33 USD

100 MXN = 4.77 EUR

1 NZD = 0.563 USD

1 NZD = 0.504 EUR

Exchange rates and currency converter

NZD, USD, EUR to MXN – Mexican Peso Converter

🇺🇸 United States Dollar ($)

🇲🇽 Mexican Peso ($)

Mexican Peso exchange rates as of November 2, 2026: 1 USD = 18.77 MXN (100 MXN = 5.33 USD). 1 EUR = 20.96 MXN (100 MXN = 4.77 EUR).

New Zealand Dollar exchange rates as of November 2, 2026: 1 USD = 1.78 NZD (1 NZD = 0.563 USD). 1 EUR = 1.98 NZD (1 NZD = 0.504 EUR).

USD to MXN in detail →

On the map

Lowest

Highest

Between locations

Mexico City Masterton 11,020 km ≈ 14 h nonstop flight

From you

Mexico City
Masterton

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 Masterton: Cost of Living - Frequently Asked Questions

Masterton is about 48% cheaper overall, especially in groceries, eating out, and leisure. That difference adds up to real monthly savings that compound significantly over time.

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.

Supermarket bills run roughly 9% higher in Mexico City. For households that cook at home regularly, that difference adds up over a month.

All in, you’ll spend $1,608 per month in Mexico City versus $841 in Masterton – Masterton is about 48% cheaper, which adds up to real savings over time.

At $841 in Masterton versus $1,608 in Mexico City, a $1,000 budget is realistic in Masterton but tight or insufficient in Mexico City. The gap between the two cities makes Masterton 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.