Last update: Oct 2026

Cost of Living Comparison Between Monterrey and San Luis Rio Colorado

For one person, living is cheaper in San Luis Rio Colorado: $1,229 a month against $1,647 in Monterrey, rent and utilities included – about $5,000 less a year. Rent and utilities account for most of the difference.

79

Cost of Living Index in Monterrey
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Monterrey Living Index
59

Cost of Living Index in San Luis Rio Colorado
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San Luis Rio Colorado Living Index

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Monterrey

🇲🇽 Mexico

$1,647

/mo nomad

San Luis Rio Colorado

🇲🇽 Mexico

$1,229

/mo nomad

Monthly Cost of Living

How much you'll spend in Monterrey and in San Luis Rio Colorado

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 San Luis Rio Colorado actually costs, broken down by who's living it.

Monthly costs for one person with rent: $1,647 in Monterrey versus $1,229 in San Luis Rio Colorado.

Monterrey $1,647
San Luis Rio Colorado $1,229

Estimated couple costs with rent: $2,591 in Monterrey versus $1,860 in San Luis Rio Colorado.

Monterrey $2,591
San Luis Rio Colorado $1,860

Monthly costs for a family of three with rent: $3,536 in Monterrey versus $2,491 in San Luis Rio Colorado.

Monterrey $3,536
San Luis Rio Colorado $2,491

Living in Monterrey is roughly 34% more expensive than in San Luis Rio Colorado, and outside of rent the biggest gap is in groceries.

The two cities straddle the global median: Monterrey is 21% above, San Luis Rio Colorado is 10% below.

Meal at Budget Restaurant

$13.45 MX$250

$11.95 MX$222

12.55%

Three-Course Dinner for Two, Mid-Range

$48.43 MX$902

$33.23 MX$619

45.74%

Fast Food Meal (McDonalds, etc)

$10.90 MX$203

$9.45 MX$176

15.34%

Cappuccino

$3.82 MX$71.1

$4.19 MX$78.1

-8.83%

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

$1.67 MX$31.02

$1.42 MX$26.42

17.61%

Water (0.33 liter bottle)

$0.98 MX$18.30

$1.23 MX$22.91

-20.33%

Local Beer (0.5 liter draught)

$2.35 MX$43.75

$3.16 MX$58.9

-25.63%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$4.41 MX$82.1

$6.43 MX$120

-31.42%

Milk (1 liter)

$1.80 MX$33.54

$1.72 MX$32.01

4.65%

White Bread (500g)

$2.79 MX$52.0

$2.93 MX$54.6

-4.78%

Rice (white) (1kg)

$1.82 MX$33.97

$1.76 MX$32.75

3.41%

Eggs

$2.51 MX$46.78

$3.10 MX$57.6

-19.03%

Local Cheese (1kg)

$12.09 MX$225

$8.46 MX$157

42.91%

Chicken Fillets (1kg)

$9.41 MX$175

$7.24 MX$135

29.97%

Beef Round Steak (1kg)

$12.71 MX$237

$11.50 MX$214

10.52%

Apples (1kg)

$3.21 MX$59.7

$2.87 MX$53.5

11.85%

Banana (1kg)

$1.50 MX$27.88

$1.59 MX$29.67

-5.66%

Oranges (1kg)

$2.14 MX$39.92

$1.96 MX$36.52

9.18%

Tomato (1kg)

$2.32 MX$43.22

$1.56 MX$29.09

48.72%

Potato (1kg)

$2.20 MX$40.99

$1.49 MX$27.65

47.65%

Onion (1kg)

$2.60 MX$48.37

$1.82 MX$33.79

42.86%

Lettuce (1 head)

$1.44 MX$26.82

$1.45 MX$27.00

-0.69%

Water (1.5 liter bottle)

$1.17 MX$21.85

$1.04 MX$19.40

12.50%

Cigarettes 20 Pack (Marlboro, Camel)

$4.79 MX$89.1

$4.39 MX$81.7

9.11%

Wine (Bottle)

$13.22 MX$246

$7.98 MX$148

65.66%

Local Beer (0.5 liter bottle)

$1.94 MX$36.16

$2.21 MX$41.14

-12.22%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$2.89 MX$53.7

$4.02 MX$74.9

-28.11%

One-way Ticket (Public Transport)

$0.87 MX$16.24

$0.69 MX$12.77

26.09%

Public Transport Monthly Pass (Regular Price)

$31.14 MX$580

$32.51 MX$605

-4.21%

Taxi Start (Normal Tariff)

$1.66 MX$30.84

$2.75 MX$51.1

-39.64%

Taxi (Normal Tariff) (1km)

$1.09 MX$20.36

$2.20 MX$41.03

-50.45%

Taxi 1hour Waiting (Normal Tariff)

$10.67 MX$199

$10.75 MX$200

-0.74%

Gasoline (1 liter)

$1.47 MX$27.43

$1.50 MX$27.93

-2.00%

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

$24.2K MX$451.3K

$24.2K MX$451.1K

0.05%

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

$23.6K MX$438.5K

$23.6K MX$439.6K

-0.26%

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

$118 MX$2,194

$46.01 MX$857

156.18%

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

$25.55 MX$476

$32.95 MX$613

-22.46%

Internet (50+ Mbps, Unlimited Data)

$26.43 MX$492

$29.62 MX$551

-10.77%

Gym Membership (Monthly)

$30.77 MX$573

$32.11 MX$598

-4.17%

Tennis Court (1 Hour on Weekend)

$21.07 MX$392

$19.37 MX$361

8.78%

Cinema Ticket

$5.09 MX$94.8

$6.45 MX$120

-21.09%

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

$694 MX$12.9K

$206 MX$3,826

237.65%

International Primary School, 1 Child (Yearly)

$11.3K MX$210.7K

$4,436 MX$82.6K

155.21%

Jeans (Levis 501 Or Similar)

$72.5 MX$1,349

$52.5 MX$977

38.02%

Summer Dress (H&M, Zara, etc)

$41.51 MX$773

$45.76 MX$852

-9.29%

Sport Shoes (Adidas, Nike)

$110 MX$2,043

$103 MX$1,914

6.73%

Men's Leather Business Shoes

$115 MX$2,140

$69.7 MX$1,298

64.88%

1-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$1,056 MX$19.7K

$572 MX$10.6K

84.73%

1-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$721 MX$13.4K

$428 MX$7,965

68.57%

3-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$1,999 MX$37.2K

$893 MX$16.6K

123.85%

3-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$1,435 MX$26.7K

$668 MX$12.4K

114.76%

Buy Apartment in City Center (m2)

$4,219 MX$78.5K

$2,110 MX$39.3K

100.00%

Buy Apartment Outside City Center (m2)

$2,731 MX$50.8K

$1,092 MX$20.3K

150.19%

Average Monthly Net Salary (After Tax)

$1,149 MX$21.4K

20-Year Fixed Mortgage Interest Rate (Annual %)

11.79

12.07

-2.32%

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

Last update for Monterrey: October 25, 2026

Last update for San Luis Rio Colorado: October 24, 2026

Monthly budget structure

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

Accommodation & Living

Monterrey

$721 43.8%

San Luis Rio Colorado

$428 34.8% 40.7% $293

Groceries & Markets

Monterrey

$303 18.4%

San Luis Rio Colorado

$263 21.4% 13.3% $40

Eating Out

Monterrey

$217 13.2%

San Luis Rio Colorado

$213 17.4% 1.8% $3.8

Monthly Utilities & Internet

Monterrey

$170 10.3%

San Luis Rio Colorado

$109 8.8% 36.1% $61

Clothing & Footwear

Monterrey

$152 9.3%

San Luis Rio Colorado

$122 9.9% 20% $31

Getting Around

Monterrey

$42 2.5%

San Luis Rio Colorado

$49 4% 17.4% $7.3

Sport & Entertainment

Monterrey

$41 2.5%

San Luis Rio Colorado

$45 3.7% 9.9% $4

Cost Breakdown

A one-bedroom apartment in the center runs $1,056 in Monterrey and $572 in San Luis Rio Colorado. Housing cost is often the main lever when comparing two cities.

Dining out: $48 in Monterrey vs $33 in San Luis Rio Colorado for a mid-range dinner for two. Groceries echo the gap at $303 vs $263 per month, with San Luis Rio Colorado cheaper across the board.

Good to know

🇲🇽 Monterrey

🇲🇽 San Luis Rio Colorado

🕒 Local time

04:08 4:08 AM

03:08 3:08 AM

1 h behind Monterrey

🌤 Weather

👥 Population

1,142,994

176,685

💱 Currency

Mexican Peso MXN $

📈 Exchange rate

100 MXN = 5.37 USD

100 MXN = 4.83 EUR

100 MXN = 5.37 USD

100 MXN = 4.83 EUR

Exchange rates and currency converter

On the map

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Between locations

Monterrey San Luis Rio Colorado 1,590 km ≈ 2 h 30 min nonstop flight

From you

Monterrey
San Luis Rio Colorado

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 San Luis Rio Colorado: Cost of Living - Frequently Asked Questions

Monterrey and San Luis Rio Colorado differ by about 34% in total monthly costs ($1,647 vs $1,229 including rent). San Luis Rio Colorado is meaningfully more affordable – a gap that matters a lot on a fixed or modest income.

You’d need roughly $2,470 in Monterrey and $1,843 in San Luis Rio Colorado 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: $1,056 in Monterrey versus $572 in San Luis Rio Colorado. Housing is usually the single largest factor when comparing overall living costs between the two.

Dining out is cheaper in San Luis Rio Colorado – a meal for two runs $33 versus $48 in Monterrey. If you eat out regularly, this makes a real dent in your monthly spending.

All in, you’ll spend $1,647 per month in Monterrey versus $1,229 in San Luis Rio Colorado – a 34% gap that adds up to real savings over time for anyone picking the cheaper option.

Both cities are expensive relative to $1,000. San Luis Rio Colorado is the more realistic option, but even there you’ll need to be disciplined with housing, food, and fun money.

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.