Last update: Oct 2026

Cost of Living Comparison Between Mexico City and St. Albert, AB

For one person, living is cheaper in St. Albert, AB: $1,193 a month against $1,608 in Mexico City, rent and utilities included – about $5,000 less a year. Higher rent and utilities in Mexico City outweigh lower spending on other living expenses.

78

Cost of Living Index in Mexico City
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Mexico City Living Index
57

Cost of Living Index in St. Albert, AB
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St. Albert, AB Living Index

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Mexico City

🇲🇽 Mexico

$1,608

/mo nomad

St. Albert, AB

🇨🇦 Canada

$1,193

/mo nomad

Monthly Cost of Living

How much you'll spend in Mexico City and in St. Albert, AB

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 St. Albert, AB actually costs, broken down by who's living it.

Monthly costs for one person with rent: $1,608 in Mexico City versus $1,193 in St. Albert, AB.

Mexico City $1,608
St. Albert, AB $1,193

Estimated couple costs with rent: $2,549 in Mexico City versus $2,510 in St. Albert, AB.

Mexico City $2,549
St. Albert, AB $2,510

Monthly costs for a family of three with rent: $3,490 in Mexico City versus $3,827 in St. Albert, AB.

Mexico City $3,490
St. Albert, AB $3,827

Living in Mexico City is roughly 35% more expensive than in St. Albert, AB, and outside of rent the biggest gap is in clothing.

The two cities straddle the global median: Mexico City is 18% above, St. Albert, AB is 12% below.

Meal at Budget Restaurant

$10.62 MX$198

$20.26 CA$28.43

-47.58%

Three-Course Dinner for Two, Mid-Range

$48.35 MX$901

$69.5 CA$97.5

-30.39%

Fast Food Meal (McDonalds, etc)

$10.35 MX$193

$10.09 CA$14.17

2.58%

Cappuccino

$3.69 MX$68.8

$3.75 CA$5.26

-1.60%

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

$1.67 MX$31.07

$2.19 CA$3.08

-23.74%

Water (0.33 liter bottle)

$1.27 MX$23.59

$2.05 CA$2.88

-38.05%

Local Beer (0.5 liter draught)

$3.19 MX$59.5

$5.04 CA$7.07

-36.71%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$5.31 MX$98.9

$5.58 CA$7.83

-4.84%

Milk (1 liter)

$1.72 MX$32.15

$1.75 CA$2.45

-1.71%

White Bread (500g)

$3.04 MX$56.7

$2.28 CA$3.20

33.33%

Rice (white) (1kg)

$1.94 MX$36.19

$3.16 CA$4.43

-38.61%

Eggs

$2.89 MX$53.8

$3.59 CA$5.05

-19.50%

Local Cheese (1kg)

$10.97 MX$205

$11.42 CA$16.02

-3.94%

Chicken Fillets (1kg)

$9.25 MX$172

$11.55 CA$16.21

-19.91%

Beef Round Steak (1kg)

$15.13 MX$282

$18.49 CA$25.95

-18.17%

Apples (1kg)

$3.05 MX$56.8

$4.26 CA$5.98

-28.40%

Banana (1kg)

$1.94 MX$36.19

$1.40 CA$1.97

38.57%

Oranges (1kg)

$2.03 MX$37.75

$4.21 CA$5.91

-51.78%

Tomato (1kg)

$2.31 MX$43.15

$3.92 CA$5.50

-41.07%

Potato (1kg)

$2.04 MX$37.94

$2.68 CA$3.77

-23.88%

Onion (1kg)

$1.80 MX$33.55

$2.74 CA$3.84

-34.31%

Lettuce (1 head)

$1.48 MX$27.58

$2.65 CA$3.72

-44.15%

Water (1.5 liter bottle)

$1.27 MX$23.63

$1.52 CA$2.13

-16.45%

Cigarettes 20 Pack (Marlboro, Camel)

$5.30 MX$98.9

$14.40 CA$20.21

-63.19%

Wine (Bottle)

$16.10 MX$300

$12.24 CA$17.18

31.54%

Local Beer (0.5 liter bottle)

$1.98 MX$36.97

$2.48 CA$3.49

-20.16%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$4.25 MX$79.3

$2.94 CA$4.13

44.56%

One-way Ticket (Public Transport)

$0.31 MX$5.69

$2.17 CA$3.05

-85.71%

Public Transport Monthly Pass (Regular Price)

$19.73 MX$368

$61.2 CA$85.9

-67.77%

Taxi Start (Normal Tariff)

$1.84 MX$34.25

$2.85 CA$4.00

-35.44%

Taxi (Normal Tariff) (1km)

$0.53 MX$9.94

$1.41 CA$1.98

-62.41%

Taxi 1hour Waiting (Normal Tariff)

$5.30 MX$98.7

$21.75 CA$30.52

-75.63%

Gasoline (1 liter)

$1.51 MX$28.16

$1.13 CA$1.58

33.63%

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

$21.8K MX$405.5K

$28.1K CA$39.4K

-22.53%

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

$24.0K MX$447.1K

$20.4K CA$28.7K

17.38%

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

$63.0 MX$1,174

$164 CA$230

-61.60%

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

$27.39 MX$511

$38.23 CA$53.7

-28.35%

Internet (50+ Mbps, Unlimited Data)

$35.67 MX$665

$53.6 CA$75.2

-33.44%

Gym Membership (Monthly)

$58.9 MX$1,099

$40.82 CA$57.3

44.39%

Tennis Court (1 Hour on Weekend)

$23.64 MX$441

Cinema Ticket

$6.40 MX$119

$12.76 CA$17.91

-49.84%

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

$432 MX$8,045

$545 CA$764

-20.76%

International Primary School, 1 Child (Yearly)

$11.4K MX$212.9K

$9,617 CA$13.5K

18.79%

Jeans (Levis 501 Or Similar)

$68.2 MX$1,272

$57.4 CA$80.6

18.85%

Summer Dress (H&M, Zara, etc)

$53.1 MX$990

$40.11 CA$56.3

32.46%

Sport Shoes (Adidas, Nike)

$108 MX$2,009

$86.7 CA$122

24.26%

Men's Leather Business Shoes

$117 MX$2,186

$114 CA$160

3.06%

1-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$1,113 MX$20.8K

1-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$710 MX$13.2K

3-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$2,588 MX$48.2K

$1,351 CA$1,896

91.54%

3-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$1,406 MX$26.2K

$1,151 CA$1,616

22.10%

Buy Apartment in City Center (m2)

$3,631 MX$67.7K

$2,540 CA$3,565

42.95%

Buy Apartment Outside City Center (m2)

$2,135 MX$39.8K

$2,584 CA$3,627

-17.38%

Average Monthly Net Salary (After Tax)

$946 MX$17.6K

$3,267 CA$4,585

-71.04%

20-Year Fixed Mortgage Interest Rate (Annual %)

11.35

4.51

151.66%

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

Last update for Mexico City: October 25, 2026

Last update for St. Albert, AB: October 25, 2026

Monthly budget structure

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

Accommodation & Living

Mexico City

$710 44.2%

St. Albert, AB

- * 0% 100%

Groceries & Markets

Mexico City

$320 19.9%

St. Albert, AB

$366 30.7% 14.6% $47

Eating Out

Mexico City

$199 12.4%

St. Albert, AB

$291 24.4% 46.3% $92

Clothing & Footwear

Mexico City

$156 9.7%

St. Albert, AB

$134 11.2% 14% $22

Monthly Utilities & Internet

Mexico City

$126 7.8%

St. Albert, AB

$256 21.5% 103% $130

Sport & Entertainment

Mexico City

$72 4.5%

St. Albert, AB

$66 5.6% 7.5% $5.4

Getting Around

Mexico City

$25 1.6%

St. Albert, AB

$80 6.7% 214% $54

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

Cost Breakdown

St. Albert, AB pays about 3.5 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 $69 in St. Albert, AB for a mid-range dinner for two. Groceries echo the gap at $320 vs $366 per month, with Mexico City cheaper across the board.

Good to know

🇲🇽 Mexico City

🇨🇦 St. Albert, AB

🕒 Local time

14:49 2:49 PM

Same time as Mexico City

🌤 Weather

👥 Population

9,209,944 Capital

68,232

💱 Currency

Mexican Peso MXN $

Canadian Dollar CAD $

📈 Exchange rate

100 MXN = 5.36 USD

100 MXN = 4.82 EUR

1 CAD = 0.713 USD

1 CAD = 0.64 EUR

Exchange rates and currency converter

CAD, 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).

Canadian Dollar exchange rates as of October 28, 2026: 1 USD = 1.4 CAD (1 CAD = 0.713 USD). 1 EUR = 1.56 CAD (1 CAD = 0.64 EUR).

USD to MXN in detail →

On the map

Lowest

Highest

Between locations

Mexico City St. Albert, AB 4,000 km ≈ 6 h nonstop flight

From you

Mexico City
St. Albert, AB

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 St. Albert, AB: Cost of Living - Frequently Asked Questions

Total monthly costs including rent come to $1,608 in Mexico City and $1,193 in St. Albert, AB, so St. Albert, AB is about 26% cheaper – a gap that matters a lot on a fixed or modest income.

On paper, salaries run 71% 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.

A monthly transit pass in Mexico City runs roughly 68% less than in St. Albert, AB. The price difference matters if you commute daily and watch your budget.

Childcare runs $432 in Mexico City versus $545 in St. Albert, AB. Over years of preschool, even a modest monthly gap compounds into a major financial factor for families.

Both cities are expensive relative to $1,000. St. Albert, AB is the more realistic option, but even there you’ll need to be disciplined with housing, food, and fun money.

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.