Last update: Nov 2026

Cost of Living Comparison Between Monterrey and Cambridge, Canada

Name: Cambridge
Address: Cambridge, CA

For one person, living is cheaper in Monterrey: $1,641 a month against $2,529 in Cambridge, rent and utilities included – about $10,700 less a year. Rent and utilities account for most of the difference.

78

Cost of Living Index in Monterrey
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Monterrey Living Index
122

Cost of Living Index in Cambridge
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Cambridge Living Index

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Monterrey

🇲🇽 Mexico

$1,641

/mo nomad

Cambridge

🇨🇦 Canada

$2,529

/mo nomad

Monthly Cost of Living

How much you'll spend in Monterrey and in Cambridge

Real prices from locals and on-the-ground checks – rent, groceries, transit and the daily extras. Here's what a month in Monterrey and in Cambridge actually costs, broken down by who's living it.

Monthly costs for one person with rent: $1,641 in Monterrey versus $2,529 in Cambridge.

Monterrey $1,641
Cambridge $2,529

Estimated couple costs with rent: $2,573 in Monterrey versus $3,458 in Cambridge.

Monterrey $2,573
Cambridge $3,458

Monthly costs for a family of three with rent: $3,504 in Monterrey versus $4,386 in Cambridge.

Monterrey $3,504
Cambridge $4,386

Living in Monterrey costs roughly 35% less than in Cambridge, and outside of rent the biggest gap is in transport.

Both cities are pricier than the global median: Monterrey 21% above, Cambridge 87% above.

Meal at Budget Restaurant

$13.37 MX$250

$17.65 CA$24.82

-24.25%

Three-Course Dinner for Two, Mid-Range

$47.95 MX$897

$56.4 CA$79.2

-14.91%

Fast Food Meal (McDonalds, etc)

$10.79 MX$202

$10.62 CA$14.94

1.60%

Cappuccino

$3.77 MX$70.4

$3.42 CA$4.81

10.23%

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

$1.51 MX$28.26

$1.94 CA$2.73

-22.16%

Water (0.33 liter bottle)

$1.03 MX$19.25

$1.28 CA$1.80

-19.53%

Local Beer (0.5 liter draught)

$2.48 MX$46.41

$4.89 CA$6.87

-49.28%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$4.36 MX$81.5

$6.52 CA$9.17

-33.13%

Milk (1 liter)

$1.89 MX$35.43

$2.05 CA$2.88

-7.80%

White Bread (500g)

$2.85 MX$53.3

$2.42 CA$3.40

17.77%

Rice (white) (1kg)

$1.86 MX$34.71

$3.34 CA$4.69

-44.31%

Eggs

$2.47 MX$46.12

$3.38 CA$4.76

-26.92%

Local Cheese (1kg)

$11.81 MX$221

$11.59 CA$16.30

1.90%

Chicken Fillets (1kg)

$8.97 MX$168

$11.56 CA$16.26

-22.40%

Beef Round Steak (1kg)

$12.57 MX$235

$14.53 CA$20.43

-13.49%

Apples (1kg)

$3.20 MX$59.8

$4.01 CA$5.64

-20.20%

Banana (1kg)

$1.50 MX$28.12

$1.32 CA$1.86

13.64%

Oranges (1kg)

$2.12 MX$39.74

$4.11 CA$5.78

-48.42%

Tomato (1kg)

$2.33 MX$43.64

$3.73 CA$5.25

-37.53%

Potato (1kg)

$2.22 MX$41.58

$2.63 CA$3.70

-15.59%

Onion (1kg)

$2.58 MX$48.34

$1.99 CA$2.80

29.65%

Lettuce (1 head)

$1.45 MX$27.04

$2.09 CA$2.94

-30.62%

Water (1.5 liter bottle)

$1.22 MX$22.85

$1.37 CA$1.92

-10.95%

Cigarettes 20 Pack (Marlboro, Camel)

$4.80 MX$89.7

$12.68 CA$17.84

-62.15%

Wine (Bottle)

$13.30 MX$249

$12.34 CA$17.36

7.78%

Local Beer (0.5 liter bottle)

$1.93 MX$36.14

$2.62 CA$3.68

-26.34%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$2.86 MX$53.4

$4.06 CA$5.71

-29.56%

One-way Ticket (Public Transport)

$0.80 MX$14.94

$2.81 CA$3.95

-71.53%

Public Transport Monthly Pass (Regular Price)

$30.94 MX$579

$69.1 CA$97.1

-55.19%

Taxi Start (Normal Tariff)

$1.83 MX$34.28

$3.25 CA$4.57

-43.69%

Taxi (Normal Tariff) (1km)

$1.06 MX$19.78

$1.81 CA$2.54

-41.44%

Taxi 1hour Waiting (Normal Tariff)

$10.82 MX$202

$28.09 CA$39.50

-61.48%

Gasoline (1 liter)

$1.47 MX$27.54

$1.27 CA$1.79

15.75%

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

$24.1K MX$450.4K

$26.7K CA$37.5K

-9.73%

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

$23.5K MX$440.2K

$21.0K CA$29.6K

11.94%

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

$115 MX$2,144

$151 CA$213

-24.29%

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

$26.37 MX$493

$42.55 CA$59.8

-38.03%

Internet (50+ Mbps, Unlimited Data)

$25.70 MX$481

$51.3 CA$72.2

-49.91%

Gym Membership (Monthly)

$30.53 MX$571

$28.73 CA$40.41

6.27%

Tennis Court (1 Hour on Weekend)

$21.27 MX$398

Cinema Ticket

$4.96 MX$92.8

$10.39 CA$14.61

-52.26%

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

$679 MX$12.7K

$399 CA$561

69.99%

International Primary School, 1 Child (Yearly)

$14.2K MX$265.3K

$16.2K CA$22.8K

-12.43%

Jeans (Levis 501 Or Similar)

$72.2 MX$1,350

$62.5 CA$87.8

15.59%

Summer Dress (H&M, Zara, etc)

$41.94 MX$784

$32.98 CA$46.38

27.17%

Sport Shoes (Adidas, Nike)

$107 MX$2,011

$80.9 CA$114

32.95%

Men's Leather Business Shoes

$119 MX$2,219

$108 CA$151

10.31%

1-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$1,018 MX$19.0K

$1,518 CA$2,135

-32.96%

1-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$722 MX$13.5K

$1,397 CA$1,964

-48.34%

3-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$1,966 MX$36.8K

$2,097 CA$2,950

-6.25%

3-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$1,416 MX$26.5K

$1,896 CA$2,666

-25.33%

Buy Apartment in City Center (m2)

$4,203 MX$78.6K

$4,368 CA$6,143

-3.79%

Buy Apartment Outside City Center (m2)

$2,782 MX$52.0K

$3,701 CA$5,205

-24.84%

Average Monthly Net Salary (After Tax)

$1,096 MX$20.5K

$3,019 CA$4,246

-63.71%

20-Year Fixed Mortgage Interest Rate (Annual %)

11.79

5.22

125.86%

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

Last update for Monterrey: November 2, 2026

Last update for Cambridge: November 3, 2026

Monthly budget structure

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

Accommodation & Living

Monterrey

$722 44%

Cambridge

$1.4K 55.2% 93.6% $675

Groceries & Markets

Monterrey

$302 18.4%

Cambridge

$353 14% 16.9% $51

Eating Out

Monterrey

$216 13.2%

Cambridge

$264 10.5% 22.5% $49

Monthly Utilities & Internet

Monterrey

$167 10.2%

Cambridge

$245 9.7% 47.1% $79

Clothing & Footwear

Monterrey

$153 9.3%

Cambridge

$128 5.1% 16.6% $25

Getting Around

Monterrey

$41 2.5%

Cambridge

$93 3.7% 124% $51

Sport & Entertainment

Monterrey

$40 2.5%

Cambridge

$50 2% 22.4% $9.1

Cost Breakdown

A one-bedroom apartment in the center runs $1,018 in Monterrey and $1,518 in Cambridge. Housing cost is often the main lever when comparing two cities.

Cambridge pays about 2.8 times more on average. How far that income stretches comes down to housing choices and lifestyle.

Dining out: $48 in Monterrey vs $56 in Cambridge for a mid-range dinner for two. Groceries echo the gap at $302 vs $353 per month, with Monterrey cheaper across the board.

Good to know

🇲🇽 Monterrey

🇨🇦 Cambridge

🕒 Local time

09:02 9:02 AM

10:02 10:02 AM

1 h ahead of Monterrey

🌤 Weather

👥 Population

1,142,994

138,479

💱 Currency

Mexican Peso MXN $

Canadian Dollar CAD $

📈 Exchange rate

100 MXN = 5.35 USD

100 MXN = 4.76 EUR

1 CAD = 0.711 USD

1 CAD = 0.633 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 November 6, 2026: 1 USD = 18.7 MXN (100 MXN = 5.35 USD). 1 EUR = 21.01 MXN (100 MXN = 4.76 EUR).

Canadian Dollar exchange rates as of November 6, 2026: 1 USD = 1.41 CAD (1 CAD = 0.711 USD). 1 EUR = 1.58 CAD (1 CAD = 0.633 EUR).

USD to MXN in detail →

On the map

Lowest

Highest

Between locations

Monterrey Cambridge 2,670 km ≈ 3 h 45 min nonstop flight

From you

Monterrey
Cambridge

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

Monterrey vs Cambridge: Cost of Living - Frequently Asked Questions

Monterrey is about 35% cheaper overall, especially in transport, groceries, and eating out. That difference adds up to real monthly savings that compound significantly over time.

On paper, salaries run 64% lower in Monterrey. 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: $1,018 in Monterrey versus $1,518 in Cambridge. Housing is usually the single largest factor when comparing overall living costs between the two.

Supermarket bills run roughly 17% higher in Cambridge. For households that cook at home regularly, that difference adds up over a month.

Dining out is cheaper in Monterrey – a meal for two runs $48 versus $56 in Cambridge. If you eat out regularly, this makes a real dent in your monthly spending.

Either city works on $3,000 a month, though Monterrey gives you more room to save. At this income level, the choice is more about lifestyle than financial pressure.

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.

Expats usually find Monterrey gentler on the wallet – expenses run 35% less than in Cambridge. Beyond cost, consider language, visa policies, and how big the international community is in each city.