Last update: Oct 2026

Cost of Living Comparison Between Monterrey and Nogales

For one person, living is cheaper in Nogales: $1,134 a month against $1,599 in Monterrey, rent and utilities included – about $5,600 less a year. Rent and utilities account for most of the difference.

77

Cost of Living Index in Monterrey
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Monterrey Living Index
55

Cost of Living Index in Nogales
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Nogales Living Index

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Monterrey

🇲🇽 Mexico

$1,599

/mo nomad

Nogales

🇲🇽 Mexico

$1,134

/mo nomad

Monthly Cost of Living

How much you'll spend in Monterrey and in Nogales

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

Monthly costs for one person with rent: $1,599 in Monterrey versus $1,134 in Nogales.

Monterrey $1,599
Nogales $1,134

Estimated couple costs with rent: $2,493 in Monterrey versus $1,833 in Nogales.

Monterrey $2,493
Nogales $1,833

Monthly costs for a family of three with rent: $3,387 in Monterrey versus $2,532 in Nogales.

Monterrey $3,387
Nogales $2,532

Living in Monterrey is roughly 41% more expensive than in Nogales, and outside of rent the biggest gap is in groceries.

The two cities straddle the global median: Monterrey is 18% above, Nogales is 16% below.

Meal at Budget Restaurant

$13.80 MX$255

$10.82 MX$200

27.54%

Three-Course Dinner for Two, Mid-Range

$47.99 MX$887

$43.93 MX$812

9.24%

Fast Food Meal (McDonalds, etc)

$10.65 MX$197

$8.50 MX$157

25.29%

Cappuccino

$3.99 MX$73.7

$3.50 MX$64.7

14.00%

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

$1.66 MX$30.76

$1.40 MX$25.88

18.57%

Water (0.33 liter bottle)

$0.99 MX$18.21

$1.02 MX$18.86

-2.94%

Local Beer (0.5 liter draught)

$2.36 MX$43.64

$2.51 MX$46.33

-5.98%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$4.43 MX$81.8

$4.14 MX$76.6

7.00%

Milk (1 liter)

$1.82 MX$33.58

$1.66 MX$30.76

9.64%

White Bread (500g)

$2.83 MX$52.4

$2.55 MX$47.18

10.98%

Rice (white) (1kg)

$1.92 MX$35.44

$1.71 MX$31.51

12.28%

Eggs

$2.48 MX$45.78

$2.40 MX$44.30

3.33%

Local Cheese (1kg)

$11.74 MX$217

$8.29 MX$153

41.62%

Chicken Fillets (1kg)

$9.10 MX$168

$8.43 MX$156

7.95%

Beef Round Steak (1kg)

$12.53 MX$232

$11.58 MX$214

8.20%

Apples (1kg)

$3.34 MX$61.6

$2.76 MX$51.0

21.01%

Banana (1kg)

$1.57 MX$29.10

$1.59 MX$29.43

-1.26%

Oranges (1kg)

$2.16 MX$39.86

$1.97 MX$36.40

9.64%

Tomato (1kg)

$2.47 MX$45.65

$1.75 MX$32.28

41.14%

Potato (1kg)

$2.31 MX$42.64

$2.00 MX$36.88

15.50%

Onion (1kg)

$2.68 MX$49.47

$1.89 MX$35.00

41.80%

Lettuce (1 head)

$1.46 MX$26.90

$1.43 MX$26.40

2.10%

Water (1.5 liter bottle)

$1.19 MX$22.07

$1.14 MX$21.00

4.39%

Cigarettes 20 Pack (Marlboro, Camel)

$4.75 MX$87.8

$4.50 MX$83.2

5.56%

Wine (Bottle)

$13.58 MX$251

$10.38 MX$192

30.83%

Local Beer (0.5 liter bottle)

$1.92 MX$35.52

$1.82 MX$33.70

5.49%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$2.88 MX$53.2

$3.09 MX$57.2

-6.80%

One-way Ticket (Public Transport)

$0.79 MX$14.66

$0.65 MX$11.96

21.54%

Public Transport Monthly Pass (Regular Price)

$31.36 MX$579

Taxi Start (Normal Tariff)

$1.59 MX$29.44

$2.61 MX$48.27

-39.08%

Taxi (Normal Tariff) (1km)

$1.06 MX$19.58

$2.01 MX$37.07

-47.26%

Taxi 1hour Waiting (Normal Tariff)

$10.80 MX$200

$10.75 MX$199

0.47%

Gasoline (1 liter)

$1.55 MX$28.59

$1.42 MX$26.18

9.15%

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

$24.2K MX$446.4K

$21.1K MX$390.7K

14.24%

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

$24.3K MX$449.4K

$23.9K MX$442.2K

1.62%

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

$117 MX$2,159

$57.9 MX$1,070

101.78%

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

$26.38 MX$488

$23.08 MX$426

14.30%

Internet (50+ Mbps, Unlimited Data)

$26.04 MX$481

$28.99 MX$536

-10.18%

Gym Membership (Monthly)

$30.26 MX$559

$33.67 MX$622

-10.13%

Tennis Court (1 Hour on Weekend)

$21.25 MX$393

$20.37 MX$376

4.32%

Cinema Ticket

$5.23 MX$96.6

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

$673 MX$12.4K

$222 MX$4,099

203.23%

International Primary School, 1 Child (Yearly)

$11.1K MX$205.2K

$4,589 MX$84.8K

141.95%

Jeans (Levis 501 Or Similar)

$72.1 MX$1,332

$55.3 MX$1,021

30.46%

Summer Dress (H&M, Zara, etc)

$42.38 MX$783

$39.95 MX$738

6.08%

Sport Shoes (Adidas, Nike)

$112 MX$2,066

$102 MX$1,885

9.57%

Men's Leather Business Shoes

$119 MX$2,200

$88.4 MX$1,634

34.61%

1-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$949 MX$17.5K

$596 MX$11.0K

59.19%

1-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$666 MX$12.3K

$386 MX$7,131

72.65%

3-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$1,821 MX$33.7K

$1,046 MX$19.3K

74.06%

3-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$1,271 MX$23.5K

$771 MX$14.3K

64.78%

Buy Apartment in City Center (m2)

$4,050 MX$74.8K

$1,940 MX$35.9K

108.75%

Buy Apartment Outside City Center (m2)

$2,348 MX$43.4K

$1,163 MX$21.5K

101.82%

Average Monthly Net Salary (After Tax)

$1,155 MX$21.3K

20-Year Fixed Mortgage Interest Rate (Annual %)

11.79

11.3

4.34%

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

Last update for Monterrey: October 18, 2026

Last update for Nogales: October 19, 2026

Monthly budget structure

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

Accommodation & Living

Monterrey

$666 41.7%

Nogales

$386 34% 42.1% $280

Groceries & Markets

Monterrey

$304 19%

Nogales

$266 23.4% 12.8% $39

Eating Out

Monterrey

$221 13.9%

Nogales

$185 16.3% 16.6% $37

Monthly Utilities & Internet

Monterrey

$169 10.6%

Nogales

$110 9.7% 35% $59

Clothing & Footwear

Monterrey

$155 9.7%

Nogales

$129 11.3% 17.3% $27

Getting Around

Monterrey

$41 2.6%

Nogales

$15 * 1.3% 63.2% $26

Sport & Entertainment

Monterrey

$41 2.6%

Nogales

$44 3.9% 8.4% $3.4

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 $949 in Monterrey and $596 in Nogales. Housing cost is often the main lever when comparing two cities.

Dining out: $48.00 in Monterrey vs $44.00 in Nogales for a mid-range dinner for two. Groceries echo the gap at $304 vs $266 per month, with Nogales cheaper across the board.

Good to know

🇲🇽 Monterrey

🇲🇽 Nogales

🕒 Local time

02:08 2:08 AM

01:08 1:08 AM

1 h behind Monterrey

🌤 Weather

👥 Population

1,142,994

261,137

💱 Currency

Mexican Peso MXN $

📈 Exchange rate

100 MXN = 5.41 USD

100 MXN = 4.81 EUR

100 MXN = 5.41 USD

100 MXN = 4.81 EUR

Exchange rates and currency converter

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Between locations

Monterrey Nogales 1,210 km ≈ 2 h nonstop flight

From you

Monterrey
Nogales

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 Nogales: Cost of Living - Frequently Asked Questions

Monterrey and Nogales differ by about 41% in total monthly costs ($1,599 vs $1,134 including rent). Nogales is meaningfully more affordable – a gap that matters a lot on a fixed or modest income.

You'd need roughly $2,399 in Monterrey and $1,701 in Nogales 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.

Rent for a central apartment: $949 in Monterrey versus $596 in Nogales. Housing is usually the single largest factor when comparing overall living costs between the two.

Childcare runs $673 in Monterrey versus $222 in Nogales. Over years of preschool, even a modest monthly gap compounds into a major financial factor for families.

Dining out is cheaper in Nogales – a meal for two runs $44.00 versus $48.00 in Monterrey. If you eat out regularly, this makes a real dent in your monthly spending.

At $1,134 in Nogales versus $1,599 in Monterrey, a $2,000 budget is realistic in Nogales but tight or insufficient in Monterrey. The gap between the two cities makes Nogales 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.

Expats usually find Nogales gentler on the wallet – expenses run 41% less than in Monterrey. Beyond cost, consider language, visa policies, and how big the international community is in each city.