Last update: Oct 2026

Cost of Living Comparison Between Mexico City and Miaoli

For one person, living is cheaper in Miaoli: $768 a month against $1,608 in Mexico City, rent and utilities included – about $10,100 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
37

Cost of Living Index in Miaoli
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Miaoli Living Index

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Mexico City

🇲🇽 Mexico

$1,608

/mo nomad

Miaoli

🇹🇼 Taiwan

$768

/mo nomad

Monthly Cost of Living

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

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

Monthly costs for one person with rent: $1,608 in Mexico City versus $768 in Miaoli.

Mexico City $1,608
Miaoli $768

Estimated couple costs with rent: $2,549 in Mexico City versus $1,069 in Miaoli.

Mexico City $2,549
Miaoli $1,069

Monthly costs for a family of three with rent: $3,490 in Mexico City versus $1,370 in Miaoli.

Mexico City $3,490
Miaoli $1,370

Living in Mexico City is roughly 109% more expensive than in Miaoli, and outside of rent the biggest gap is in eating out.

The two cities straddle the global median: Mexico City is 18% above, Miaoli is 44% below.

Meal at Budget Restaurant

$10.62 MX$198

$2.53 NT$82.1

319.76%

Three-Course Dinner for Two, Mid-Range

$48.35 MX$901

$23.04 NT$747

109.85%

Fast Food Meal (McDonalds, etc)

$10.35 MX$193

$4.69 NT$152

120.68%

Cappuccino

$3.69 MX$68.8

$2.94 NT$95.3

25.51%

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

$1.67 MX$31.07

$0.83 NT$26.74

101.20%

Water (0.33 liter bottle)

$1.27 MX$23.59

$0.55 NT$17.89

130.91%

Local Beer (0.5 liter draught)

$3.19 MX$59.5

$1.20 NT$38.78

165.83%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$5.31 MX$98.9

$1.28 NT$41.53

314.84%

Milk (1 liter)

$1.72 MX$32.15

$2.64 NT$85.5

-34.85%

White Bread (500g)

$3.04 MX$56.7

$1.22 NT$39.59

149.18%

Rice (white) (1kg)

$1.94 MX$36.19

$2.64 NT$85.7

-26.52%

Eggs

$2.89 MX$53.8

$2.05 NT$66.6

40.98%

Local Cheese (1kg)

$10.97 MX$205

$8.96 NT$290

22.43%

Chicken Fillets (1kg)

$9.25 MX$172

$7.43 NT$241

24.50%

Beef Round Steak (1kg)

$15.13 MX$282

$21.11 NT$684

-28.33%

Apples (1kg)

$3.05 MX$56.8

$3.77 NT$122

-19.10%

Banana (1kg)

$1.94 MX$36.19

$1.96 NT$63.5

-1.02%

Oranges (1kg)

$2.03 MX$37.75

$2.91 NT$94.3

-30.24%

Tomato (1kg)

$2.31 MX$43.15

$3.10 NT$100

-25.48%

Potato (1kg)

$2.04 MX$37.94

$2.53 NT$81.9

-19.37%

Onion (1kg)

$1.80 MX$33.55

$1.91 NT$61.7

-5.76%

Lettuce (1 head)

$1.48 MX$27.58

$2.20 NT$71.2

-32.73%

Water (1.5 liter bottle)

$1.27 MX$23.63

$0.89 NT$28.98

42.70%

Cigarettes 20 Pack (Marlboro, Camel)

$5.30 MX$98.9

$3.86 NT$125

37.31%

Wine (Bottle)

$16.10 MX$300

$10.90 NT$353

47.71%

Local Beer (0.5 liter bottle)

$1.98 MX$36.97

$1.40 NT$45.41

41.43%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$4.25 MX$79.3

$2.10 NT$68.2

102.38%

One-way Ticket (Public Transport)

$0.31 MX$5.69

Public Transport Monthly Pass (Regular Price)

$19.73 MX$368

Taxi Start (Normal Tariff)

$1.84 MX$34.25

$2.81 NT$91.1

-34.52%

Taxi (Normal Tariff) (1km)

$0.53 MX$9.94

$0.74 NT$23.95

-28.38%

Taxi 1hour Waiting (Normal Tariff)

$5.30 MX$98.7

$7.07 NT$229

-25.04%

Gasoline (1 liter)

$1.51 MX$28.16

$1.01 NT$32.79

49.50%

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

$21.8K MX$405.5K

$36.7K NT$1.2M

-40.69%

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

$24.0K MX$447.1K

$22.8K NT$738.3K

5.25%

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

$63.0 MX$1,174

$68.0 NT$2,203

-7.37%

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

$27.39 MX$511

$17.30 NT$560

58.32%

Internet (50+ Mbps, Unlimited Data)

$35.67 MX$665

$21.61 NT$700

65.06%

Gym Membership (Monthly)

$58.9 MX$1,099

Tennis Court (1 Hour on Weekend)

$23.64 MX$441

Cinema Ticket

$6.40 MX$119

$10.84 NT$351

-40.96%

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

$432 MX$8,045

$508 NT$16.5K

-15.04%

International Primary School, 1 Child (Yearly)

$11.4K MX$212.9K

$30.8K NT$999.4K

-62.97%

Jeans (Levis 501 Or Similar)

$68.2 MX$1,272

$12.19 NT$395

459.64%

Summer Dress (H&M, Zara, etc)

$53.1 MX$990

$23.87 NT$773

122.58%

Sport Shoes (Adidas, Nike)

$108 MX$2,009

$62.2 NT$2,014

73.36%

Men's Leather Business Shoes

$117 MX$2,186

$94.1 NT$3,049

24.60%

1-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$1,113 MX$20.8K

$211 NT$6,834

427.85%

1-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$710 MX$13.2K

$156 NT$5,060

354.90%

3-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$2,588 MX$48.2K

3-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$1,406 MX$26.2K

Buy Apartment in City Center (m2)

$3,631 MX$67.7K

Buy Apartment Outside City Center (m2)

$2,135 MX$39.8K

Average Monthly Net Salary (After Tax)

$946 MX$17.6K

$2,374 NT$76.9K

-60.15%

20-Year Fixed Mortgage Interest Rate (Annual %)

11.35

2.38

376.89%

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

Last update for Mexico City: October 25, 2026

Last update for Miaoli: October 24, 2026

Monthly budget structure

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

Accommodation & Living

Mexico City

$710 44.2%

Miaoli

$156 20.3% 78% $554

Groceries & Markets

Mexico City

$320 19.9%

Miaoli

$306 39.9% 4.1% $13

Eating Out

Mexico City

$199 12.4%

Miaoli

$84 10.9% 57.9% $115

Clothing & Footwear

Mexico City

$156 9.7%

Miaoli

$87 11.3% 44.5% $69

Monthly Utilities & Internet

Mexico City

$126 7.8%

Miaoli

$107 13.9% 15.2% $19

Sport & Entertainment

Mexico City

$72 4.5%

Miaoli

$22 * 2.8% 69.8% $50

Getting Around

Mexico City

$25 1.6%

Miaoli

$6.5 * 0.9% 74.4% $19

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 $1,113 in Mexico City and $211 in Miaoli. Housing cost is often the main lever when comparing two cities.

Miaoli 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 $23 in Miaoli for a mid-range dinner for two. Groceries echo the gap at $320 vs $306 per month, with Miaoli cheaper across the board.

Good to know

🇲🇽 Mexico City

🇹🇼 Miaoli

🕒 Local time

12:00 12:00 PM

02:00 2:00 AM

14 h ahead of Mexico City

🌤 Weather

👥 Population

9,209,944 Capital

89,892

💱 Currency

Mexican Peso MXN $

New Taiwan Dollar TWD NT$

📈 Exchange rate

100 MXN = 5.36 USD

100 MXN = 4.82 EUR

100 TWD = 3.09 USD

100 TWD = 2.77 EUR

Exchange rates and currency converter

TWD, USD, EUR to MXN – Mexican Peso Converter

🇺🇸 United States Dollar ($)

🇲🇽 Mexican Peso ($)

Mexican Peso exchange rates as of October 28, 2026: 1 USD = 18.64 MXN (100 MXN = 5.36 USD). 1 EUR = 20.75 MXN (100 MXN = 4.82 EUR).

New Taiwan Dollar exchange rates as of October 28, 2026: 1 USD = 32.4 TWD (100 TWD = 3.09 USD). 1 EUR = 36.07 TWD (100 TWD = 2.77 EUR).

USD to MXN in detail →

On the map

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Highest

Between locations

Mexico City Miaoli 13,490 km ≈ 17 h nonstop flight

From you

Mexico City
Miaoli

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 Miaoli: Cost of Living - Frequently Asked Questions

Mexico City and Miaoli differ by about 109% in total monthly costs ($1,608 vs $768 including rent). Miaoli is meaningfully more affordable – a gap that matters a lot on a fixed or modest income.

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 $211 in Miaoli. Housing is usually the single largest factor when comparing overall living costs between the two.

Childcare runs $432 in Mexico City versus $508 in Miaoli. Over years of preschool, even a modest monthly gap compounds into a major financial factor for families.

Dining out is cheaper in Miaoli – a meal for two runs $23 versus $48 in Mexico City. If you eat out regularly, this makes a real dent in your monthly spending.

At $768 in Miaoli versus $1,608 in Mexico City, a $1,200 budget is realistic in Miaoli but tight or insufficient in Mexico City. The gap between the two cities makes Miaoli 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.