Last update: Oct 2026

Cost of Living Comparison Between Mexico City and St.James

For one person, living is cheaper in St.James: $917 a month against $1,608 in Mexico City, rent and utilities included – about $8,300 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
44

Cost of Living Index in St.James
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St.James Living Index

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Mexico City

🇲🇽 Mexico

$1,608

/mo nomad

St.James

🇹🇹 Trinidad And Tobago

$917

/mo nomad

Monthly Cost of Living

How much you'll spend in Mexico City and in St.James

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

Monthly costs for one person with rent: $1,608 in Mexico City versus $917 in St.James.

Mexico City $1,608
St.James $917

Estimated couple costs with rent: $2,549 in Mexico City versus $1,593 in St.James.

Mexico City $2,549
St.James $1,593

Monthly costs for a family of three with rent: $3,490 in Mexico City versus $2,270 in St.James.

Mexico City $3,490
St.James $2,270

Living in Mexico City is roughly 75% more expensive than in St.James, and outside of rent the biggest gap is in leisure.

The two cities straddle the global median: Mexico City is 18% above, St.James is 33% below.

Meal at Budget Restaurant

$10.62 MX$200

$10.13 TTD 68.0

4.84%

Three-Course Dinner for Two, Mid-Range

$48.35 MX$909

$88.4 TTD 593

-45.28%

Fast Food Meal (McDonalds, etc)

$10.35 MX$194

$9.03 TTD 60.6

14.62%

Cappuccino

$3.69 MX$69.4

$3.65 TTD 24.49

1.10%

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

$1.67 MX$31.32

$0.99 TTD 6.67

68.69%

Water (0.33 liter bottle)

$1.27 MX$23.78

$0.77 TTD 5.15

64.94%

Local Beer (0.5 liter draught)

$3.19 MX$60.0

$2.25 TTD 15.06

41.78%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$5.31 MX$99.7

$3.67 TTD 24.62

44.69%

Milk (1 liter)

$1.72 MX$32.41

$2.51 TTD 16.85

-31.47%

White Bread (500g)

$3.04 MX$57.1

$2.48 TTD 16.67

22.58%

Rice (white) (1kg)

$1.94 MX$36.48

$2.80 TTD 18.82

-30.71%

Eggs

$2.89 MX$54.3

$4.43 TTD 29.73

-34.76%

Local Cheese (1kg)

$10.97 MX$206

$6.57 TTD 44.06

66.97%

Chicken Fillets (1kg)

$9.25 MX$174

$9.90 TTD 66.4

-6.57%

Beef Round Steak (1kg)

$15.13 MX$284

$11.79 TTD 79.1

28.33%

Apples (1kg)

$3.05 MX$57.3

$5.66 TTD 37.97

-46.11%

Banana (1kg)

$1.94 MX$36.48

$2.97 TTD 19.90

-34.68%

Oranges (1kg)

$2.03 MX$38.06

$3.75 TTD 25.19

-45.87%

Tomato (1kg)

$2.31 MX$43.50

$4.28 TTD 28.70

-46.03%

Potato (1kg)

$2.04 MX$38.25

$2.21 TTD 14.84

-7.69%

Onion (1kg)

$1.80 MX$33.83

$1.87 TTD 12.54

-3.74%

Lettuce (1 head)

$1.48 MX$27.80

$1.91 TTD 12.84

-22.51%

Water (1.5 liter bottle)

$1.27 MX$23.82

$1.35 TTD 9.08

-5.93%

Cigarettes 20 Pack (Marlboro, Camel)

$5.30 MX$99.7

$5.73 TTD 38.48

-7.50%

Wine (Bottle)

$16.10 MX$303

$19.28 TTD 129

-16.49%

Local Beer (0.5 liter bottle)

$1.98 MX$37.27

$2.21 TTD 14.82

-10.41%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$4.25 MX$79.9

$3.00 TTD 20.13

41.67%

One-way Ticket (Public Transport)

$0.31 MX$5.73

Public Transport Monthly Pass (Regular Price)

$19.73 MX$371

Taxi Start (Normal Tariff)

$1.84 MX$34.53

$1.01 TTD 6.78

82.18%

Taxi (Normal Tariff) (1km)

$0.53 MX$10.03

$1.23 TTD 8.26

-56.91%

Taxi 1hour Waiting (Normal Tariff)

$5.30 MX$99.5

$14.65 TTD 98.3

-63.82%

Gasoline (1 liter)

$1.51 MX$28.39

$1.17 TTD 7.83

29.06%

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

$21.8K MX$408.8K

$37.2K TTD 249.9K

-41.60%

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

$24.0K MX$450.8K

$40.7K TTD 273.4K

-41.14%

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

$63.0 MX$1,184

$90.2 TTD 605

-30.20%

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

$27.39 MX$515

$50.9 TTD 341

-46.18%

Internet (50+ Mbps, Unlimited Data)

$35.67 MX$670

$56.0 TTD 376

-36.30%

Gym Membership (Monthly)

$58.9 MX$1,108

Tennis Court (1 Hour on Weekend)

$23.64 MX$444

Cinema Ticket

$6.40 MX$120

$9.06 TTD 60.8

-29.36%

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

$432 MX$8,111

$398 TTD 2,669

8.49%

International Primary School, 1 Child (Yearly)

$11.4K MX$214.7K

$10.9K TTD 73.1K

4.81%

Jeans (Levis 501 Or Similar)

$68.2 MX$1,282

$54.3 TTD 364

25.59%

Summer Dress (H&M, Zara, etc)

$53.1 MX$999

$51.3 TTD 344

3.57%

Sport Shoes (Adidas, Nike)

$108 MX$2,026

$148 TTD 996

-27.36%

Men's Leather Business Shoes

$117 MX$2,204

$103 TTD 693

13.47%

1-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$1,113 MX$20.9K

1-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$710 MX$13.4K

3-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$2,588 MX$48.6K

3-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$1,406 MX$26.4K

Buy Apartment in City Center (m2)

$3,631 MX$68.2K

Buy Apartment Outside City Center (m2)

$2,135 MX$40.1K

Average Monthly Net Salary (After Tax)

$946 MX$17.8K

20-Year Fixed Mortgage Interest Rate (Annual %)

11.35

5.75

97.39%

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.James: October 24, 2026

Monthly budget structure

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

Accommodation & Living

Mexico City

$710 44.2%

St.James

- * 0% 100%

Groceries & Markets

Mexico City

$320 19.9%

St.James

$356 38.8% 11.4% $36

Eating Out

Mexico City

$199 12.4%

St.James

$178 19.4% 10.6% $21

Clothing & Footwear

Mexico City

$156 9.7%

St.James

$161 17.5% 3.2% $4.9

Monthly Utilities & Internet

Mexico City

$126 7.8%

St.James

$197 21.5% 56.4% $71

Sport & Entertainment

Mexico City

$72 4.5%

St.James

$18 * 2% 74.7% $54

Getting Around

Mexico City

$25 1.6%

St.James

$7.2 * 0.8% 71.9% $18

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

Cost Breakdown

Dining out: $48 in Mexico City vs $88 in St.James for a mid-range dinner for two. Groceries echo the gap at $320 vs $356 per month, with Mexico City cheaper across the board.

Good to know

🇲🇽 Mexico City

🇹🇹 St.James

🕒 Local time

20:43 8:43 PM

22:43 10:43 PM

2 h ahead of Mexico City

🌤 Weather

👥 Population

9,209,944 Capital

4,342

💱 Currency

Mexican Peso MXN $

Trinidad and Tobago Dollar TTD $

📈 Exchange rate

100 MXN = 5.32 USD

100 MXN = 4.77 EUR

1 TTD = 0.149 USD

1 TTD = 0.133 EUR

Exchange rates and currency converter

TTD, 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 = 20.98 MXN (100 MXN = 4.77 EUR).

Trinidad and Tobago Dollar exchange rates as of November 2, 2026: 1 USD = 6.71 TTD (1 TTD = 0.149 USD). 1 EUR = 7.49 TTD (1 TTD = 0.133 EUR).

USD to MXN in detail →

On the map

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Between locations

Mexico City St.James 4,140 km ≈ 6 h nonstop flight

From you

Mexico City
St.James

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.James: Cost of Living - Frequently Asked Questions

Total monthly costs including rent come to $1,608 in Mexico City and $917 in St.James, so St.James is about 43% cheaper – a gap that matters a lot on a fixed or modest income.

You’d need roughly $2,412 in Mexico City and $1,375 in St.James to live well. The gap comes down to housing and overall price levels. Both cities are liveable on less, but these numbers represent actual comfort.

Childcare runs $432 in Mexico City versus $398 in St.James. 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 $88 in St.James. If you eat out regularly, this makes a real dent in your monthly spending.

At $917 in St.James versus $1,608 in Mexico City, a $1,200 budget is realistic in St.James but tight or insufficient in Mexico City. The gap between the two cities makes St.James 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.