Last update: Oct 2026

Cost of Living Comparison Between Mexico City and Shantou

For one person, living is cheaper in Shantou: $691 a month against $1,608 in Mexico City, rent and utilities included – about $11,000 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
33

Cost of Living Index in Shantou
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Shantou Living Index

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Mexico City

🇲🇽 Mexico

$1,608

/mo nomad

Shantou

🇨🇳 China

$691

/mo nomad

Monthly Cost of Living

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

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

Monthly costs for one person with rent: $1,608 in Mexico City versus $691 in Shantou.

Mexico City $1,608
Shantou $691

Estimated couple costs with rent: $2,549 in Mexico City versus $1,107 in Shantou.

Mexico City $2,549
Shantou $1,107

Monthly costs for a family of three with rent: $3,490 in Mexico City versus $1,524 in Shantou.

Mexico City $3,490
Shantou $1,524

Living in Mexico City is roughly 133% more expensive than in Shantou, and outside of rent the biggest gap is in eating out.

The two cities straddle the global median: Mexico City is 18% above, Shantou is 49% below.

Meal at Budget Restaurant

$10.62 MX$200

$2.28 ¥15.17

365.79%

Three-Course Dinner for Two, Mid-Range

$48.35 MX$909

$23.55 ¥157

105.31%

Fast Food Meal (McDonalds, etc)

$10.35 MX$194

$5.27 ¥35.00

96.39%

Cappuccino

$3.69 MX$69.4

$3.29 ¥21.86

12.16%

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

$1.67 MX$31.32

$0.47 ¥3.14

255.32%

Water (0.33 liter bottle)

$1.27 MX$23.78

$0.31 ¥2.04

309.68%

Local Beer (0.5 liter draught)

$3.19 MX$60.0

$0.93 ¥6.21

243.01%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$5.31 MX$99.7

$2.22 ¥14.78

139.19%

Milk (1 liter)

$1.72 MX$32.41

$1.61 ¥10.68

6.83%

White Bread (500g)

$3.04 MX$57.1

$1.47 ¥9.77

106.80%

Rice (white) (1kg)

$1.94 MX$36.48

$0.78 ¥5.17

148.72%

Eggs

$2.89 MX$54.3

$1.70 ¥11.32

70.00%

Local Cheese (1kg)

$10.97 MX$206

$13.70 ¥91.0

-19.93%

Chicken Fillets (1kg)

$9.25 MX$174

$3.29 ¥21.86

181.16%

Beef Round Steak (1kg)

$15.13 MX$284

$12.93 ¥86.0

17.01%

Apples (1kg)

$3.05 MX$57.3

$2.05 ¥13.63

48.78%

Banana (1kg)

$1.94 MX$36.48

$1.57 ¥10.46

23.57%

Oranges (1kg)

$2.03 MX$38.06

$1.83 ¥12.16

10.93%

Tomato (1kg)

$2.31 MX$43.50

$1.38 ¥9.15

67.39%

Potato (1kg)

$2.04 MX$38.25

$0.85 ¥5.67

140.00%

Onion (1kg)

$1.80 MX$33.83

$1.01 ¥6.71

78.22%

Lettuce (1 head)

$1.48 MX$27.80

$0.59 ¥3.94

150.85%

Water (1.5 liter bottle)

$1.27 MX$23.82

$0.43 ¥2.84

195.35%

Cigarettes 20 Pack (Marlboro, Camel)

$5.30 MX$99.7

$3.77 ¥25.06

40.58%

Wine (Bottle)

$16.10 MX$303

$11.80 ¥78.4

36.44%

Local Beer (0.5 liter bottle)

$1.98 MX$37.27

$0.84 ¥5.55

135.71%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$4.25 MX$79.9

$1.74 ¥11.57

144.25%

One-way Ticket (Public Transport)

$0.31 MX$5.73

$0.38 ¥2.54

-18.42%

Public Transport Monthly Pass (Regular Price)

$19.73 MX$371

$24.13 ¥160

-18.23%

Taxi Start (Normal Tariff)

$1.84 MX$34.53

$1.46 ¥9.71

26.03%

Taxi (Normal Tariff) (1km)

$0.53 MX$10.03

$0.39 ¥2.58

35.90%

Taxi 1hour Waiting (Normal Tariff)

$5.30 MX$99.5

$7.39 ¥49.13

-28.28%

Gasoline (1 liter)

$1.51 MX$28.39

$1.24 ¥8.27

21.77%

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

$21.8K MX$408.8K

$19.7K ¥130.9K

10.45%

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

$24.0K MX$450.8K

$18.2K ¥120.8K

31.92%

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

$63.0 MX$1,184

$58.3 ¥388

7.99%

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

$27.39 MX$515

$9.17 ¥60.9

198.69%

Internet (50+ Mbps, Unlimited Data)

$35.67 MX$670

$13.84 ¥92.0

157.73%

Gym Membership (Monthly)

$58.9 MX$1,108

Tennis Court (1 Hour on Weekend)

$23.64 MX$444

Cinema Ticket

$6.40 MX$120

$7.42 ¥49.29

-13.75%

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

$432 MX$8,111

$527 ¥3,505

-18.17%

International Primary School, 1 Child (Yearly)

$11.4K MX$214.7K

$24.3K ¥161.8K

-53.07%

Jeans (Levis 501 Or Similar)

$68.2 MX$1,282

$55.2 ¥367

23.52%

Summer Dress (H&M, Zara, etc)

$53.1 MX$999

$40.48 ¥269

31.25%

Sport Shoes (Adidas, Nike)

$108 MX$2,026

$72.4 ¥481

48.79%

Men's Leather Business Shoes

$117 MX$2,204

$92.9 ¥617

26.23%

1-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$1,113 MX$20.9K

$295 ¥1,963

276.89%

1-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$710 MX$13.4K

$148 ¥984

379.81%

3-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$2,588 MX$48.6K

$590 ¥3,924

338.30%

3-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$1,406 MX$26.4K

$301 ¥1,998

367.57%

Buy Apartment in City Center (m2)

$3,631 MX$68.2K

$2,209 ¥14.7K

64.39%

Buy Apartment Outside City Center (m2)

$2,135 MX$40.1K

$4,479 ¥29.8K

-52.33%

Average Monthly Net Salary (After Tax)

$946 MX$17.8K

$1,070 ¥7,110

-11.58%

20-Year Fixed Mortgage Interest Rate (Annual %)

11.35

3.35

238.81%

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

Last update for Mexico City: October 25, 2026

Last update for Shantou: October 26, 2026

Monthly budget structure

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

Accommodation & Living

Mexico City

$710 44.2%

Shantou

$148 21.4% 79.2% $562

Groceries & Markets

Mexico City

$320 19.9%

Shantou

$214 31% 32.9% $105

Eating Out

Mexico City

$199 12.4%

Shantou

$86 12.4% 56.8% $113

Clothing & Footwear

Mexico City

$156 9.7%

Shantou

$117 17% 24.6% $38

Monthly Utilities & Internet

Mexico City

$126 7.8%

Shantou

$81 11.8% 35.5% $45

Sport & Entertainment

Mexico City

$72 4.5%

Shantou

$15 * 2.2% 79.3% $57

Getting Around

Mexico City

$25 1.6%

Shantou

$29 4.2% 14.2% $3.6

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 $295 in Shantou. Housing cost is often the main lever when comparing two cities.

Shantou pays 13% 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 $24 in Shantou for a mid-range dinner for two. Groceries echo the gap at $320 vs $214 per month, with Shantou cheaper across the board.

Good to know

🇲🇽 Mexico City

🇨🇳 Shantou

🕒 Local time

01:51 1:51 AM

15:51 3:51 PM

14 h ahead of Mexico City

🌤 Weather

👥 Population

9,209,944 Capital

5,389,328

💱 Currency

Mexican Peso MXN $

Chinese Yuan CNY ¥

📈 Exchange rate

100 MXN = 5.32 USD

100 MXN = 4.77 EUR

1 CNY = 0.15 USD

1 CNY = 0.135 EUR

Exchange rates and currency converter

CNY, USD, EUR to MXN – Mexican Peso Converter

🇺🇸 United States Dollar ($)

🇲🇽 Mexican Peso ($)

Mexican Peso exchange rates as of November 2, 2026: 1 USD = 18.79 MXN (100 MXN = 5.32 USD). 1 EUR = 20.97 MXN (100 MXN = 4.77 EUR).

Chinese Yuan exchange rates as of November 2, 2026: 1 USD = 6.64 CNY (1 CNY = 0.15 USD). 1 EUR = 7.42 CNY (1 CNY = 0.135 EUR).

USD to MXN in detail →

On the map

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Between locations

Mexico City Shantou 13,870 km ≈ 18 h nonstop flight

From you

Mexico City
Shantou

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 Shantou: Cost of Living - Frequently Asked Questions

Total monthly costs including rent come to $1,608 in Mexico City and $691 in Shantou, so Shantou is about 57% cheaper – a gap that matters a lot on a fixed or modest income.

On paper, salaries run 12% 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 $295 in Shantou. Housing is usually the single largest factor when comparing overall living costs between the two.

A monthly transit pass in Mexico City runs roughly 18% less than in Shantou. The price difference matters if you commute daily and watch your budget.

Childcare runs $432 in Mexico City versus $527 in Shantou. Over years of preschool, even a modest monthly gap compounds into a major financial factor for families.

At $691 in Shantou versus $1,608 in Mexico City, a $1,200 budget is realistic in Shantou but tight or insufficient in Mexico City. The gap between the two cities makes Shantou 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.