Last update: Oct 2026

Cost of Living Comparison Between Mexico City and Shaab

For one person, living is cheaper in Shaab: $1,386 a month against $1,608 in Mexico City, rent and utilities included – about $2,700 less a year. Other living expenses account for most of the difference.

78

Cost of Living Index in Mexico City
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Mexico City Living Index
66

Cost of Living Index in Shaab
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Shaab Living Index

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Mexico City

🇲🇽 Mexico

$1,608

/mo nomad

Shaab

🇰🇼 Kuwait

$1,386

/mo nomad

Monthly Cost of Living

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

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

Monthly costs for one person with rent: $1,608 in Mexico City versus $1,386 in Shaab.

Mexico City $1,608
Shaab $1,386

Estimated couple costs with rent: $2,549 in Mexico City versus $2,294 in Shaab.

Mexico City $2,549
Shaab $2,294

Monthly costs for a family of three with rent: $3,490 in Mexico City versus $3,201 in Shaab.

Mexico City $3,490
Shaab $3,201

Living in Mexico City is roughly 16% more expensive than in Shaab, and outside of rent the biggest gap is in groceries.

Both cities are pricier than the global median: Mexico City 18% above, Shaab 2% above.

Meal at Budget Restaurant

$10.62 MX$198

$12.70 KWD 3.91

-16.38%

Three-Course Dinner for Two, Mid-Range

$48.35 MX$901

$63.2 KWD 19.47

-23.51%

Fast Food Meal (McDonalds, etc)

$10.35 MX$193

$8.88 KWD 2.74

16.55%

Local Non-Alcoholic Beer (0.5 liter draught)

$3.12 KWD 0.96

Imported Non-Alcoholic Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$4.97 KWD 1.53

Cappuccino

$3.69 MX$68.8

$5.21 KWD 1.61

-29.17%

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

$1.67 MX$31.07

$0.70 KWD 0.22

138.57%

Water (0.33 liter bottle)

$1.27 MX$23.59

$0.29 KWD 0.09

337.93%

Local Beer (0.5 liter draught)

$3.19 MX$59.5

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$5.31 MX$98.9

Milk (1 liter)

$1.72 MX$32.15

$1.58 KWD 0.49

8.86%

White Bread (500g)

$3.04 MX$56.7

$1.46 KWD 0.45

108.22%

Rice (white) (1kg)

$1.94 MX$36.19

$1.98 KWD 0.61

-2.02%

Eggs

$2.89 MX$53.8

$2.07 KWD 0.64

39.61%

Local Cheese (1kg)

$10.97 MX$205

$4.42 KWD 1.36

148.19%

Chicken Fillets (1kg)

$9.25 MX$172

$6.74 KWD 2.08

37.24%

Beef Round Steak (1kg)

$15.13 MX$282

$10.17 KWD 3.13

48.77%

Apples (1kg)

$3.05 MX$56.8

$2.52 KWD 0.78

21.03%

Banana (1kg)

$1.94 MX$36.19

$1.92 KWD 0.59

1.04%

Oranges (1kg)

$2.03 MX$37.75

$1.87 KWD 0.58

8.56%

Tomato (1kg)

$2.31 MX$43.15

$1.48 KWD 0.46

56.08%

Potato (1kg)

$2.04 MX$37.94

$1.32 KWD 0.41

54.55%

Onion (1kg)

$1.80 MX$33.55

$1.49 KWD 0.46

20.81%

Lettuce (1 head)

$1.48 MX$27.58

$2.30 KWD 0.71

-35.65%

Water (1.5 liter bottle)

$1.27 MX$23.63

$0.57 KWD 0.18

122.81%

Bottle of Non-Alcoholic Wine (Mid-Range)

$3.15 KWD 0.97

Local Non-Alcoholic Beer (0.5 liter bottle)

$1.04 KWD 0.32

Imported Non-Alcoholic Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$1.39 KWD 0.43

Cigarettes 20 Pack (Marlboro, Camel)

$5.30 MX$98.9

$2.69 KWD 0.83

97.03%

Wine (Bottle)

$16.10 MX$300

Local Beer (0.5 liter bottle)

$1.98 MX$36.97

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$4.25 MX$79.3

One-way Ticket (Public Transport)

$0.31 MX$5.69

$0.81 KWD 0.25

-61.73%

Public Transport Monthly Pass (Regular Price)

$19.73 MX$368

Taxi Start (Normal Tariff)

$1.84 MX$34.25

$4.87 KWD 1.50

-62.22%

Taxi (Normal Tariff) (1km)

$0.53 MX$9.94

$3.30 KWD 1.02

-83.94%

Taxi 1hour Waiting (Normal Tariff)

$5.30 MX$98.7

$15.86 KWD 4.89

-66.58%

Gasoline (1 liter)

$1.51 MX$28.16

$0.35 KWD 0.11

331.43%

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

$21.8K MX$405.5K

$23.6K KWD 7,262

-7.70%

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

$24.0K MX$447.1K

$19.5K KWD 6,015

22.86%

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

$63.0 MX$1,174

$66.5 KWD 20.47

-5.22%

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

$27.39 MX$511

$22.82 KWD 7.03

20.03%

Internet (50+ Mbps, Unlimited Data)

$35.67 MX$665

$29.54 KWD 9.10

20.75%

Gym Membership (Monthly)

$58.9 MX$1,099

$102 KWD 31.37

-42.11%

Tennis Court (1 Hour on Weekend)

$23.64 MX$441

Cinema Ticket

$6.40 MX$119

$12.90 KWD 3.97

-50.39%

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

$432 MX$8,045

$503 KWD 155

-14.26%

International Primary School, 1 Child (Yearly)

$11.4K MX$212.9K

$9,302 KWD 2,866

22.81%

Jeans (Levis 501 Or Similar)

$68.2 MX$1,272

$37.18 KWD 11.46

83.49%

Summer Dress (H&M, Zara, etc)

$53.1 MX$990

$39.66 KWD 12.22

33.96%

Sport Shoes (Adidas, Nike)

$108 MX$2,009

$97.4 KWD 30.01

10.65%

Men's Leather Business Shoes

$117 MX$2,186

$87.5 KWD 26.94

34.10%

1-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$1,113 MX$20.8K

$796 KWD 245

39.96%

1-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$710 MX$13.2K

$617 KWD 190

15.18%

3-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$2,588 MX$48.2K

$1,694 KWD 522

52.82%

3-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$1,406 MX$26.2K

$1,320 KWD 407

6.53%

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

$3,175 KWD 978

-70.20%

20-Year Fixed Mortgage Interest Rate (Annual %)

11.35

6.53

73.81%

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

Last update for Mexico City: October 25, 2026

Last update for Shaab: October 25, 2026

Monthly budget structure

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

Accommodation & Living

Mexico City

$710 44.2%

Shaab

$617 44.5% 13.2% $94

Groceries & Markets

Mexico City

$320 19.9%

Shaab

$186 13.4% 41.8% $134

Eating Out

Mexico City

$199 12.4%

Shaab

$195 14.1% 1.9% $3.8

Clothing & Footwear

Mexico City

$156 9.7%

Shaab

$118 8.5% 24.4% $38

Monthly Utilities & Internet

Mexico City

$126 7.8%

Shaab

$119 8.6% 5.7% $7.2

Sport & Entertainment

Mexico City

$72 4.5%

Shaab

$128 9.2% 77.9% $56

Getting Around

Mexico City

$25 1.6%

Shaab

$25 * 1.8% 3.3% $0.9

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 $796 in Shaab. Housing cost is often the main lever when comparing two cities.

Shaab pays about 3.4 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 $63 in Shaab. Groceries flip the comparison at $320 vs $186, with Shaab cheaper for home cooking.

Good to know

🇲🇽 Mexico City

🇰🇼 Shaab

🕒 Local time

15:50 3:50 PM

00:50 12:50 AM

9 h ahead of Mexico City

🌤 Weather

👥 Population

9,209,944 Capital

164,212

💱 Currency

Mexican Peso MXN $

Kuwaiti Dinar KWD د.ك

📈 Exchange rate

100 MXN = 5.36 USD

100 MXN = 4.82 EUR

1 KWD = 3.25 USD

1 KWD = 2.92 EUR

Exchange rates and currency converter

KWD, 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).

Kuwaiti Dinar exchange rates as of October 28, 2026: 1 USD = 0.308 KWD (1 KWD = 3.25 USD). 1 EUR = 0.343 KWD (1 KWD = 2.92 EUR).

USD to MXN in detail →

On the map

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Between locations

Mexico City Shaab 13,550 km ≈ 17 h nonstop flight

From you

Mexico City
Shaab

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 Shaab: Cost of Living - Frequently Asked Questions

Total monthly costs including rent come to $1,608 in Mexico City and $1,386 in Shaab, so Shaab is about 14% cheaper – a gap that matters a lot on a fixed or modest income.

On paper, salaries run 70% 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 $796 in Shaab. Housing is usually the single largest factor when comparing overall living costs between the two.

Childcare runs $432 in Mexico City versus $503 in Shaab. Over years of preschool, even a modest monthly gap compounds into a major financial factor for families.

Dining out is cheaper in Mexico City – a meal for two runs $48 versus $63 in Shaab. If you eat out regularly, this makes a real dent in your monthly spending.

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.