Last update: Oct 2026

Cost of Living Comparison Between Mexico City and Tembisa

For one person, living is cheaper in Tembisa: $1,105 a month against $1,608 in Mexico City, rent and utilities included – about $6,000 less a year. Rent and utilities account for about half of the difference.

78

Cost of Living Index in Mexico City
Learn more

Mexico City Living Index
53

Cost of Living Index in Tembisa
Learn more

Tembisa Living Index

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Mexico City

🇲🇽 Mexico

$1,608

/mo nomad

Tembisa

🇿🇦 South Africa

$1,105

/mo nomad

Monthly Cost of Living

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

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

Monthly costs for one person with rent: $1,608 in Mexico City versus $1,105 in Tembisa.

Mexico City $1,608
Tembisa $1,105

Estimated couple costs with rent: $2,549 in Mexico City versus $1,734 in Tembisa.

Mexico City $2,549
Tembisa $1,734

Monthly costs for a family of three with rent: $3,490 in Mexico City versus $2,363 in Tembisa.

Mexico City $3,490
Tembisa $2,363

Living in Mexico City is roughly 45% more expensive than in Tembisa, and outside of rent the biggest gap is in groceries.

The two cities straddle the global median: Mexico City is 18% above, Tembisa is 19% below.

Meal at Budget Restaurant

$10.62 MX$198

$9.69 R 161

9.60%

Three-Course Dinner for Two, Mid-Range

$48.35 MX$901

$39.77 R 663

21.57%

Fast Food Meal (McDonalds, etc)

$10.35 MX$193

$5.82 R 97.0

77.84%

Cappuccino

$3.69 MX$68.8

$2.31 R 38.53

59.74%

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

$1.67 MX$31.07

$1.10 R 18.29

51.82%

Water (0.33 liter bottle)

$1.27 MX$23.59

$0.83 R 13.79

53.01%

Local Beer (0.5 liter draught)

$3.19 MX$59.5

$2.41 R 40.12

32.37%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$5.31 MX$98.9

$2.80 R 46.70

89.64%

Milk (1 liter)

$1.72 MX$32.15

$1.17 R 19.53

47.01%

White Bread (500g)

$3.04 MX$56.7

$1.10 R 18.37

176.36%

Rice (white) (1kg)

$1.94 MX$36.19

$1.82 R 30.35

6.59%

Eggs

$2.89 MX$53.8

$2.54 R 42.40

13.78%

Local Cheese (1kg)

$10.97 MX$205

$8.39 R 140

30.75%

Chicken Fillets (1kg)

$9.25 MX$172

$4.91 R 81.9

88.39%

Beef Round Steak (1kg)

$15.13 MX$282

$7.19 R 120

110.43%

Apples (1kg)

$3.05 MX$56.8

$1.81 R 30.09

68.51%

Banana (1kg)

$1.94 MX$36.19

$1.69 R 28.11

14.79%

Oranges (1kg)

$2.03 MX$37.75

$1.73 R 28.76

17.34%

Tomato (1kg)

$2.31 MX$43.15

$1.66 R 27.71

39.16%

Potato (1kg)

$2.04 MX$37.94

$1.46 R 24.26

39.73%

Onion (1kg)

$1.80 MX$33.55

$1.45 R 24.12

24.14%

Lettuce (1 head)

$1.48 MX$27.58

$1.24 R 20.62

19.35%

Water (1.5 liter bottle)

$1.27 MX$23.63

$1.16 R 19.41

9.48%

Cigarettes 20 Pack (Marlboro, Camel)

$5.30 MX$98.9

$3.33 R 55.4

59.16%

Wine (Bottle)

$16.10 MX$300

$5.03 R 83.8

220.08%

Local Beer (0.5 liter bottle)

$1.98 MX$36.97

$1.39 R 23.20

42.45%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$4.25 MX$79.3

$1.97 R 32.84

115.74%

One-way Ticket (Public Transport)

$0.31 MX$5.69

$1.56 R 26.03

-80.13%

Public Transport Monthly Pass (Regular Price)

$19.73 MX$368

Taxi Start (Normal Tariff)

$1.84 MX$34.25

$0.64 R 10.61

187.50%

Taxi (Normal Tariff) (1km)

$0.53 MX$9.94

$0.93 R 15.53

-43.01%

Taxi 1hour Waiting (Normal Tariff)

$5.30 MX$98.7

$11.73 R 195

-54.82%

Gasoline (1 liter)

$1.51 MX$28.16

$1.48 R 24.63

2.03%

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

$21.8K MX$405.5K

$36.3K R 604.7K

-40.05%

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

$24.0K MX$447.1K

$33.3K R 554.9K

-27.96%

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

$63.0 MX$1,174

$149 R 2,479

-57.66%

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

$27.39 MX$511

$35.37 R 589

-22.56%

Internet (50+ Mbps, Unlimited Data)

$35.67 MX$665

$37.16 R 619

-4.01%

Gym Membership (Monthly)

$58.9 MX$1,099

$32.03 R 534

84.01%

Tennis Court (1 Hour on Weekend)

$23.64 MX$441

$10.74 R 179

120.11%

Cinema Ticket

$6.40 MX$119

$7.37 R 123

-13.16%

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

$432 MX$8,045

$247 R 4,116

74.71%

International Primary School, 1 Child (Yearly)

$11.4K MX$212.9K

$5,513 R 91.9K

107.21%

Jeans (Levis 501 Or Similar)

$68.2 MX$1,272

$54.4 R 906

25.45%

Summer Dress (H&M, Zara, etc)

$53.1 MX$990

$33.07 R 551

60.66%

Sport Shoes (Adidas, Nike)

$108 MX$2,009

$101 R 1,687

6.43%

Men's Leather Business Shoes

$117 MX$2,186

$89.2 R 1,486

31.47%

1-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$1,113 MX$20.8K

$392 R 6,537

183.81%

1-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$710 MX$13.2K

$359 R 5,987

97.74%

3-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$2,588 MX$48.2K

$746 R 12.4K

247.05%

3-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$1,406 MX$26.2K

$753 R 12.5K

86.78%

Buy Apartment in City Center (m2)

$3,631 MX$67.7K

$877 R 14.6K

313.88%

Buy Apartment Outside City Center (m2)

$2,135 MX$39.8K

$682 R 11.4K

212.85%

Average Monthly Net Salary (After Tax)

$946 MX$17.6K

$566 R 9,430

67.19%

20-Year Fixed Mortgage Interest Rate (Annual %)

11.35

10.94

3.75%

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

Last update for Mexico City: October 25, 2026

Last update for Tembisa: October 27, 2026

Monthly budget structure

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

Accommodation & Living

Mexico City

$710 44.2%

Tembisa

$359 32.5% 49.4% $351

Groceries & Markets

Mexico City

$320 19.9%

Tembisa

$193 17.5% 39.6% $126

Eating Out

Mexico City

$199 12.4%

Tembisa

$148 13.4% 25.5% $51

Clothing & Footwear

Mexico City

$156 9.7%

Tembisa

$125 11.3% 19.8% $31

Monthly Utilities & Internet

Mexico City

$126 7.8%

Tembisa

$221 20% 75.6% $95

Sport & Entertainment

Mexico City

$72 4.5%

Tembisa

$47 4.2% 34.8% $25

Getting Around

Mexico City

$25 1.6%

Tembisa

$12 * 1% 54.7% $14

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 $392 in Tembisa. Housing cost is often the main lever when comparing two cities.

Mexico City pays 67% more on average. How far that income stretches comes down to housing choices and lifestyle.

Dining out: $48 in Mexico City vs $40 in Tembisa for a mid-range dinner for two. Groceries echo the gap at $320 vs $193 per month, with Tembisa cheaper across the board.

Good to know

🇲🇽 Mexico City

🇿🇦 Tembisa

🕒 Local time

16:08 4:08 PM

00:08 12:08 AM

8 h ahead of Mexico City

🌤 Weather

👥 Population

9,209,944 Capital

463,109

💱 Currency

Mexican Peso MXN $

South African Rand ZAR R

📈 Exchange rate

100 MXN = 5.36 USD

100 MXN = 4.82 EUR

100 ZAR = 6 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 October 28, 2026: 1 USD = 18.64 MXN (100 MXN = 5.36 USD). 1 EUR = 20.75 MXN (100 MXN = 4.82 EUR).

South African Rand exchange rates as of October 28, 2026: 1 USD = 16.66 ZAR (100 ZAR = 6 USD). 1 EUR = 18.55 ZAR (100 ZAR = 5.39 EUR).

USD to MXN in detail →

On the map

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Between locations

Mexico City Tembisa 14,600 km ≈ 19 h nonstop flight

From you

Mexico City
Tembisa

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 Tembisa: Cost of Living - Frequently Asked Questions

Total monthly costs including rent come to $1,608 in Mexico City and $1,105 in Tembisa, so Tembisa is about 31% cheaper – a gap that matters a lot on a fixed or modest income.

Average pay runs 67% higher in Mexico City, which matters when comparing affordability. Whether that higher income actually nets you more depends on your spending habits and housing choices.

Rent for a central apartment: $1,113 in Mexico City versus $392 in Tembisa. Housing is usually the single largest factor when comparing overall living costs between the two.

Childcare runs $432 in Mexico City versus $247 in Tembisa. Over years of preschool, even a modest monthly gap compounds into a major financial factor for families.

Dining out is cheaper in Tembisa – a meal for two runs $40 versus $48 in Mexico City. If you eat out regularly, this makes a real dent in your monthly spending.

At $1,105 in Tembisa versus $1,608 in Mexico City, a $1,500 budget is realistic in Tembisa but tight or insufficient in Mexico City. The gap between the two cities makes Tembisa 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.

It comes down to priorities – Tembisa wins on affordability, Mexico City on earning potential. Factor in climate, language, visa rules, and proximity to places that matter to you before deciding.