Last update: Oct 2026

Cost of Living Comparison Between Mexico City and Roodepoort

For one person, living is cheaper in Roodepoort: $1,172 a month against $1,608 in Mexico City, rent and utilities included – about $5,200 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
56

Cost of Living Index in Roodepoort
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Roodepoort Living Index

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Mexico City

🇲🇽 Mexico

$1,608

/mo nomad

Roodepoort

🇿🇦 South Africa

$1,172

/mo nomad

Monthly Cost of Living

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

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

Monthly costs for one person with rent: $1,608 in Mexico City versus $1,172 in Roodepoort.

Mexico City $1,608
Roodepoort $1,172

Estimated couple costs with rent: $2,549 in Mexico City versus $1,767 in Roodepoort.

Mexico City $2,549
Roodepoort $1,767

Monthly costs for a family of three with rent: $3,490 in Mexico City versus $2,362 in Roodepoort.

Mexico City $3,490
Roodepoort $2,362

Living in Mexico City is roughly 37% more expensive than in Roodepoort, and outside of rent the biggest gap is in groceries.

The two cities straddle the global median: Mexico City is 18% above, Roodepoort is 14% below.

Meal at Budget Restaurant

$10.62 MX$199

$12.00 R 200

-11.50%

Three-Course Dinner for Two, Mid-Range

$48.35 MX$906

$44.96 R 748

7.54%

Fast Food Meal (McDonalds, etc)

$10.35 MX$194

$7.11 R 118

45.57%

Cappuccino

$3.69 MX$69.2

$2.43 R 40.47

51.85%

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

$1.67 MX$31.23

$1.13 R 18.87

47.79%

Water (0.33 liter bottle)

$1.27 MX$23.71

$0.98 R 16.28

29.59%

Local Beer (0.5 liter draught)

$3.19 MX$59.8

$2.44 R 40.53

30.74%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$5.31 MX$99.5

$2.78 R 46.26

91.01%

Milk (1 liter)

$1.72 MX$32.32

$1.21 R 20.16

42.15%

White Bread (500g)

$3.04 MX$57.0

$1.15 R 19.12

164.35%

Rice (white) (1kg)

$1.94 MX$36.38

$1.78 R 29.68

8.99%

Eggs

$2.89 MX$54.1

$2.51 R 41.77

15.14%

Local Cheese (1kg)

$10.97 MX$206

$8.79 R 146

24.80%

Chicken Fillets (1kg)

$9.25 MX$173

$5.38 R 89.5

71.93%

Beef Round Steak (1kg)

$15.13 MX$283

$8.88 R 148

70.38%

Apples (1kg)

$3.05 MX$57.1

$1.86 R 30.94

63.98%

Banana (1kg)

$1.94 MX$36.38

$1.79 R 29.77

8.38%

Oranges (1kg)

$2.03 MX$37.95

$1.73 R 28.78

17.34%

Tomato (1kg)

$2.31 MX$43.38

$2.13 R 35.43

8.45%

Potato (1kg)

$2.04 MX$38.14

$1.72 R 28.58

18.60%

Onion (1kg)

$1.80 MX$33.73

$1.77 R 29.40

1.69%

Lettuce (1 head)

$1.48 MX$27.72

$1.21 R 20.18

22.31%

Water (1.5 liter bottle)

$1.27 MX$23.75

$1.26 R 20.91

0.79%

Cigarettes 20 Pack (Marlboro, Camel)

$5.30 MX$99.4

$3.50 R 58.2

51.43%

Wine (Bottle)

$16.10 MX$302

$5.85 R 97.3

175.21%

Local Beer (0.5 liter bottle)

$1.98 MX$37.16

$1.52 R 25.34

30.26%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$4.25 MX$79.7

$1.91 R 31.75

122.51%

One-way Ticket (Public Transport)

$0.31 MX$5.72

$0.81 R 13.43

-61.73%

Public Transport Monthly Pass (Regular Price)

$19.73 MX$370

Taxi Start (Normal Tariff)

$1.84 MX$34.44

$0.81 R 13.40

127.16%

Taxi (Normal Tariff) (1km)

$0.53 MX$10.00

$0.88 R 14.71

-39.77%

Taxi 1hour Waiting (Normal Tariff)

$5.30 MX$99.2

$14.69 R 244

-63.92%

Gasoline (1 liter)

$1.51 MX$28.31

$1.56 R 25.91

-3.21%

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

$21.8K MX$407.7K

$34.7K R 577.7K

-37.35%

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

$24.0K MX$449.5K

$35.1K R 583.8K

-31.65%

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

$63.0 MX$1,180

$226 R 3,761

-72.14%

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

$27.39 MX$513

$39.16 R 652

-30.06%

Internet (50+ Mbps, Unlimited Data)

$35.67 MX$668

$37.33 R 621

-4.45%

Gym Membership (Monthly)

$58.9 MX$1,105

$47.68 R 793

23.62%

Tennis Court (1 Hour on Weekend)

$23.64 MX$443

Cinema Ticket

$6.40 MX$120

$7.35 R 122

-12.93%

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

$432 MX$8,088

$238 R 3,967

81.01%

International Primary School, 1 Child (Yearly)

$11.4K MX$214.1K

$5,476 R 91.1K

108.60%

Jeans (Levis 501 Or Similar)

$68.2 MX$1,278

$52.1 R 866

31.04%

Summer Dress (H&M, Zara, etc)

$53.1 MX$996

$32.49 R 541

63.53%

Sport Shoes (Adidas, Nike)

$108 MX$2,020

$110 R 1,822

-1.61%

Men's Leather Business Shoes

$117 MX$2,198

$88.4 R 1,471

32.60%

1-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$1,113 MX$20.9K

$598 R 9,957

86.04%

1-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$710 MX$13.3K

$289 R 4,800

146.26%

3-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$2,588 MX$48.5K

$1,530 R 25.5K

69.15%

3-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$1,406 MX$26.3K

$531 R 8,828

164.95%

Buy Apartment in City Center (m2)

$3,631 MX$68.0K

Buy Apartment Outside City Center (m2)

$2,135 MX$40.0K

Average Monthly Net Salary (After Tax)

$946 MX$17.7K

$1,519 R 25.3K

-37.71%

20-Year Fixed Mortgage Interest Rate (Annual %)

11.35

11.25

0.89%

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

Last update for Mexico City: October 25, 2026

Last update for Roodepoort: October 24, 2026

Monthly budget structure

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

Accommodation & Living

Mexico City

$710 44.2%

Roodepoort

$289 24.6% 59.4% $422

Groceries & Markets

Mexico City

$320 19.9%

Roodepoort

$210 17.9% 34.3% $109

Eating Out

Mexico City

$199 12.4%

Roodepoort

$173 14.7% 13.1% $26

Clothing & Footwear

Mexico City

$156 9.7%

Roodepoort

$127 10.9% 18.4% $29

Monthly Utilities & Internet

Mexico City

$126 7.8%

Roodepoort

$303 25.8% 140% $177

Sport & Entertainment

Mexico City

$72 4.5%

Roodepoort

$62 5.3% 13% $9.4

Getting Around

Mexico City

$25 1.6%

Roodepoort

$8.5 * 0.7% 66.8% $17

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 $598 in Roodepoort. Housing cost is often the main lever when comparing two cities.

Roodepoort pays 61% 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 $45 in Roodepoort for a mid-range dinner for two. Groceries echo the gap at $320 vs $210 per month, with Roodepoort cheaper across the board.

Good to know

🇲🇽 Mexico City

🇿🇦 Roodepoort

🕒 Local time

07:55 7:55 AM

15:55 3:55 PM

8 h ahead of Mexico City

🌤 Weather

👥 Population

9,209,944 Capital

325,000

💱 Currency

Mexican Peso MXN $

South African Rand ZAR R

📈 Exchange rate

100 MXN = 5.34 USD

100 MXN = 4.78 EUR

100 ZAR = 6.01 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 November 2, 2026: 1 USD = 18.74 MXN (100 MXN = 5.34 USD). 1 EUR = 20.91 MXN (100 MXN = 4.78 EUR).

South African Rand exchange rates as of November 2, 2026: 1 USD = 16.64 ZAR (100 ZAR = 6.01 USD). 1 EUR = 18.57 ZAR (100 ZAR = 5.39 EUR).

USD to MXN in detail →

On the map

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Between locations

Mexico City Roodepoort 14,570 km ≈ 19 h nonstop flight

From you

Mexico City
Roodepoort

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 Roodepoort: Cost of Living - Frequently Asked Questions

Total monthly costs including rent come to $1,608 in Mexico City and $1,172 in Roodepoort, so Roodepoort is about 27% cheaper – a gap that matters a lot on a fixed or modest income.

On paper, salaries run 38% 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 $598 in Roodepoort. Housing is usually the single largest factor when comparing overall living costs between the two.

Childcare runs $432 in Mexico City versus $238 in Roodepoort. Over years of preschool, even a modest monthly gap compounds into a major financial factor for families.

Dining out is cheaper in Roodepoort – a meal for two runs $45 versus $48 in Mexico City. If you eat out regularly, this makes a real dent in your monthly spending.

At $1,172 in Roodepoort versus $1,608 in Mexico City, a $1,500 budget is realistic in Roodepoort but tight or insufficient in Mexico City. The gap between the two cities makes Roodepoort 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.