Last update: Nov 2026

Cost of Living Comparison Between Monterrey and Markham

For one person, living is cheaper in Monterrey: $1,641 a month against $2,405 in Markham, rent and utilities included – about $9,200 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
115

Cost of Living Index in Markham
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Markham Living Index

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Monterrey

🇲🇽 Mexico

$1,641

/mo nomad

Markham

🇨🇦 Canada

$2,405

/mo nomad

Monthly Cost of Living

How much you'll spend in Monterrey and in Markham

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

Monthly costs for one person with rent: $1,641 in Monterrey versus $2,405 in Markham.

Monterrey $1,641
Markham $2,405

Estimated couple costs with rent: $2,573 in Monterrey versus $3,496 in Markham.

Monterrey $2,573
Markham $3,496

Monthly costs for a family of three with rent: $3,504 in Monterrey versus $4,587 in Markham.

Monterrey $3,504
Markham $4,587

Living in Monterrey costs roughly 32% less than in Markham, and outside of rent the biggest gap is in transport.

Both cities are pricier than the global median: Monterrey 21% above, Markham 78% above.

Meal at Budget Restaurant

$13.37 MX$251

$17.69 CA$24.80

-24.42%

Three-Course Dinner for Two, Mid-Range

$47.95 MX$900

$52.9 CA$74.2

-9.43%

Fast Food Meal (McDonalds, etc)

$10.79 MX$203

$10.79 CA$15.12

Cappuccino

$3.77 MX$70.7

$3.70 CA$5.18

1.89%

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

$1.51 MX$28.37

$1.81 CA$2.54

-16.57%

Water (0.33 liter bottle)

$1.03 MX$19.33

$1.24 CA$1.74

-16.94%

Local Beer (0.5 liter draught)

$2.48 MX$46.60

$3.65 CA$5.12

-32.05%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$4.36 MX$81.8

$5.63 CA$7.89

-22.56%

Milk (1 liter)

$1.89 MX$35.58

$1.94 CA$2.71

-2.58%

White Bread (500g)

$2.85 MX$53.5

$2.23 CA$3.12

27.80%

Rice (white) (1kg)

$1.86 MX$34.86

$2.00 CA$2.80

-7.00%

Eggs

$2.47 MX$46.31

$3.17 CA$4.44

-22.08%

Local Cheese (1kg)

$11.81 MX$222

Chicken Fillets (1kg)

$8.97 MX$168

$12.22 CA$17.13

-26.60%

Beef Round Steak (1kg)

$12.57 MX$236

$7.30 CA$10.23

72.19%

Apples (1kg)

$3.20 MX$60.0

$3.65 CA$5.12

-12.33%

Banana (1kg)

$1.50 MX$28.23

$1.29 CA$1.81

16.28%

Oranges (1kg)

$2.12 MX$39.90

$2.28 CA$3.20

-7.02%

Tomato (1kg)

$2.33 MX$43.82

$3.40 CA$4.77

-31.47%

Potato (1kg)

$2.22 MX$41.75

$2.10 CA$2.94

5.71%

Onion (1kg)

$2.58 MX$48.54

$2.00 CA$2.81

29.00%

Lettuce (1 head)

$1.45 MX$27.15

$2.78 CA$3.89

-47.84%

Water (1.5 liter bottle)

$1.22 MX$22.94

$1.51 CA$2.12

-19.21%

Cigarettes 20 Pack (Marlboro, Camel)

$4.80 MX$90.1

$13.75 CA$19.27

-65.09%

Wine (Bottle)

$13.30 MX$250

$14.76 CA$20.69

-9.89%

Local Beer (0.5 liter bottle)

$1.93 MX$36.28

$2.43 CA$3.41

-20.58%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$2.86 MX$53.6

$3.17 CA$4.44

-9.78%

One-way Ticket (Public Transport)

$0.80 MX$15.00

$2.96 CA$4.15

-72.97%

Public Transport Monthly Pass (Regular Price)

$30.94 MX$581

$99.7 CA$140

-68.95%

Taxi Start (Normal Tariff)

$1.83 MX$34.42

$3.31 CA$4.64

-44.71%

Taxi (Normal Tariff) (1km)

$1.06 MX$19.86

Taxi 1hour Waiting (Normal Tariff)

$10.82 MX$203

$19.16 CA$26.86

-43.53%

Gasoline (1 liter)

$1.47 MX$27.65

$1.19 CA$1.67

23.53%

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

$24.1K MX$452.3K

$28.6K CA$40.1K

-15.75%

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

$23.5K MX$442.0K

$21.5K CA$30.2K

9.28%

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

$115 MX$2,152

$130 CA$183

-12.12%

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

$26.37 MX$495

$26.54 CA$37.20

-0.64%

Internet (50+ Mbps, Unlimited Data)

$25.70 MX$483

$45.84 CA$64.3

-43.94%

Gym Membership (Monthly)

$30.53 MX$573

$37.81 CA$53.0

-19.25%

Tennis Court (1 Hour on Weekend)

$21.27 MX$400

$21.33 CA$29.89

-0.28%

Cinema Ticket

$4.96 MX$93.1

$10.35 CA$14.51

-52.08%

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

$679 MX$12.7K

$525 CA$735

29.37%

International Primary School, 1 Child (Yearly)

$14.2K MX$266.4K

$24.0K CA$33.6K

-40.90%

Jeans (Levis 501 Or Similar)

$72.2 MX$1,356

$43.38 CA$60.8

66.44%

Summer Dress (H&M, Zara, etc)

$41.94 MX$788

$37.49 CA$52.6

11.87%

Sport Shoes (Adidas, Nike)

$107 MX$2,019

$94.3 CA$132

14.04%

Men's Leather Business Shoes

$119 MX$2,228

$107 CA$149

11.32%

1-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$1,018 MX$19.1K

$1,640 CA$2,299

-37.96%

1-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$722 MX$13.6K

$1,357 CA$1,902

-46.82%

3-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$1,966 MX$36.9K

$2,685 CA$3,764

-26.77%

3-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$1,416 MX$26.6K

$2,267 CA$3,178

-37.56%

Buy Apartment in City Center (m2)

$4,203 MX$78.9K

$6,308 CA$8,842

-33.38%

Buy Apartment Outside City Center (m2)

$2,782 MX$52.2K

$5,199 CA$7,288

-46.50%

Average Monthly Net Salary (After Tax)

$1,096 MX$20.6K

$3,198 CA$4,483

-65.74%

20-Year Fixed Mortgage Interest Rate (Annual %)

11.79

4.56

158.55%

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

Last update for Monterrey: November 2, 2026

Last update for Markham: November 1, 2026

Monthly budget structure

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

Accommodation & Living

Monterrey

$722 44%

Markham

$1.4K 56.4% 88% $635

Groceries & Markets

Monterrey

$302 18.4%

Markham

$285 * 11.9% 5.7% $17

Eating Out

Monterrey

$216 13.2%

Markham

$260 10.8% 20.5% $44

Monthly Utilities & Internet

Monterrey

$167 10.2%

Markham

$203 8.4% 21.7% $36

Clothing & Footwear

Monterrey

$153 9.3%

Markham

$127 5.3% 17.2% $26

Getting Around

Monterrey

$41 2.5%

Markham

$115 * 4.8% 178% $74

Sport & Entertainment

Monterrey

$40 2.5%

Markham

$59 2.4% 44.7% $18

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 $1,018 in Monterrey and $1,640 in Markham. Housing cost is often the main lever when comparing two cities.

Markham pays about 2.9 times more on average. How far that income stretches comes down to housing choices and lifestyle.

Dining out: $48 in Monterrey vs $53 in Markham. Groceries flip the comparison at $302 vs $285, with Markham cheaper for home cooking.

Good to know

🇲🇽 Monterrey

🇨🇦 Markham

🕒 Local time

02:44 2:44 AM

03:44 3:44 AM

1 h ahead of Monterrey

🌤 Weather

👥 Population

1,142,994

338,503

💱 Currency

Mexican Peso MXN $

Canadian Dollar CAD $

📈 Exchange rate

100 MXN = 5.32 USD

100 MXN = 4.74 EUR

1 CAD = 0.713 USD

1 CAD = 0.635 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 = 18.78 MXN (100 MXN = 5.32 USD). 1 EUR = 21.09 MXN (100 MXN = 4.74 EUR).

Canadian Dollar exchange rates as of November 6, 2026: 1 USD = 1.4 CAD (1 CAD = 0.713 USD). 1 EUR = 1.57 CAD (1 CAD = 0.635 EUR).

USD to MXN in detail →

On the map

Lowest

Highest

Between locations

Monterrey Markham 2,770 km ≈ 4 h nonstop flight

From you

Monterrey
Markham

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 Markham: Cost of Living - Frequently Asked Questions

Monterrey wins on cost – living expenses run 32% lower than in Markham. Housing and daily spending are where you’ll feel the difference most, making Monterrey the obvious pick if budget is a priority.

On paper, salaries run 66% 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 $1,640 in Markham. Housing is usually the single largest factor when comparing overall living costs between the two.

Childcare runs $679 in Monterrey versus $525 in Markham. Over years of preschool, even a modest monthly gap compounds into a major financial factor for families.

Shoppers in Markham pay roughly 6% less for everyday groceries. It’s an unusual reversal that partly offsets higher costs elsewhere.

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.

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