Last update: Oct 2026

Cost of Living Comparison Between Montevideo and Lazaro Cardenas

For one person, living is cheaper in Lazaro Cardenas: $1,141 a month against $1,784 in Montevideo, rent and utilities included – about $7,700 less a year. Rent and utilities account for about half of the difference.

86

Cost of Living Index in Montevideo
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Montevideo Living Index
55

Cost of Living Index in Lazaro Cardenas
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Lazaro Cardenas Living Index

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Montevideo

🇺🇾 Uruguay

$1,784

/mo nomad

Lazaro Cardenas

🇲🇽 Mexico

$1,141

/mo nomad

Monthly Cost of Living

How much you'll spend in Montevideo and in Lazaro Cardenas

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

Monthly costs for one person with rent: $1,784 in Montevideo versus $1,141 in Lazaro Cardenas.

Montevideo $1,784
Lazaro Cardenas $1,141

Estimated couple costs with rent: $2,756 in Montevideo versus $1,839 in Lazaro Cardenas.

Montevideo $2,756
Lazaro Cardenas $1,839

Monthly costs for a family of three with rent: $3,728 in Montevideo versus $2,537 in Lazaro Cardenas.

Montevideo $3,728
Lazaro Cardenas $2,537

Living in Montevideo is roughly 56% more expensive than in Lazaro Cardenas, and outside of rent the biggest gap is in eating out.

The two cities straddle the global median: Montevideo is 32% above, Lazaro Cardenas is 16% below.

Meal at Budget Restaurant

$14.82 UYU 594

$10.83 MX$203

36.84%

Three-Course Dinner for Two, Mid-Range

$69.7 UYU 2,794

$43.66 MX$817

59.64%

Fast Food Meal (McDonalds, etc)

$14.68 UYU 589

$8.70 MX$163

68.74%

Cappuccino

$4.65 UYU 186

$3.61 MX$67.6

28.81%

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

$2.74 UYU 110

$1.42 MX$26.59

92.96%

Water (0.33 liter bottle)

$2.07 UYU 82.8

$1.03 MX$19.24

100.97%

Local Beer (0.5 liter draught)

$4.79 UYU 192

$2.51 MX$46.92

90.84%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$3.63 UYU 145

$3.99 MX$74.7

-9.02%

Milk (1 liter)

$1.39 UYU 55.7

$1.66 MX$31.06

-16.27%

White Bread (500g)

$2.89 UYU 116

$2.53 MX$47.41

14.23%

Rice (white) (1kg)

$1.70 UYU 68.0

$1.67 MX$31.19

1.80%

Eggs

$4.62 UYU 185

$2.43 MX$45.51

90.12%

Local Cheese (1kg)

$14.22 UYU 570

$8.19 MX$153

73.63%

Chicken Fillets (1kg)

$11.62 UYU 466

$8.49 MX$159

36.87%

Beef Round Steak (1kg)

$12.23 UYU 490

$11.33 MX$212

7.94%

Apples (1kg)

$2.77 UYU 111

$2.67 MX$49.98

3.75%

Banana (1kg)

$2.85 UYU 114

$1.59 MX$29.74

79.25%

Oranges (1kg)

$1.81 UYU 72.4

$1.90 MX$35.65

-4.74%

Tomato (1kg)

$3.20 UYU 128

$1.83 MX$34.27

74.86%

Potato (1kg)

$1.94 UYU 77.7

$1.93 MX$36.05

0.52%

Onion (1kg)

$2.16 UYU 86.4

$1.80 MX$33.61

20.00%

Lettuce (1 head)

$1.43 UYU 57.2

$1.48 MX$27.75

-3.38%

Water (1.5 liter bottle)

$1.94 UYU 77.8

$1.08 MX$20.23

79.63%

Cigarettes 20 Pack (Marlboro, Camel)

$5.47 UYU 219

$4.32 MX$80.8

26.62%

Wine (Bottle)

$8.95 UYU 359

$10.32 MX$193

-13.28%

Local Beer (0.5 liter bottle)

$2.26 UYU 90.7

$1.76 MX$32.88

28.41%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$2.81 UYU 113

$3.20 MX$59.8

-12.19%

One-way Ticket (Public Transport)

$1.56 UYU 62.6

$0.69 MX$12.92

126.09%

Public Transport Monthly Pass (Regular Price)

$73.8 UYU 2,959

Taxi Start (Normal Tariff)

$1.90 UYU 76.1

$2.53 MX$47.26

-24.90%

Taxi (Normal Tariff) (1km)

$0.43 UYU 17.34

$1.92 MX$35.92

-77.60%

Taxi 1hour Waiting (Normal Tariff)

$10.59 UYU 425

$11.01 MX$206

-3.81%

Gasoline (1 liter)

$2.12 UYU 85.1

$1.48 MX$27.62

43.24%

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

$26.8K UYU 1.1M

$21.1K MX$395.7K

26.73%

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

$37.0K UYU 1.5M

$23.8K MX$445.7K

55.36%

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

$193 UYU 7,717

$58.7 MX$1,099

227.86%

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

$20.91 UYU 838

$22.31 MX$417

-6.28%

Internet (50+ Mbps, Unlimited Data)

$44.89 UYU 1,799

$29.94 MX$560

49.93%

Gym Membership (Monthly)

$50.8 UYU 2,035

$34.30 MX$642

48.02%

Tennis Court (1 Hour on Weekend)

$19.73 UYU 791

$20.49 MX$384

-3.71%

Cinema Ticket

$12.30 UYU 493

$5.11 MX$95.7

140.70%

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

$629 UYU 25.2K

$221 MX$4,141

184.18%

International Primary School, 1 Child (Yearly)

$10.9K UYU 436.7K

$4,553 MX$85.2K

139.34%

Jeans (Levis 501 Or Similar)

$104 UYU 4,160

$55.3 MX$1,035

87.72%

Summer Dress (H&M, Zara, etc)

$57.4 UYU 2,302

$39.96 MX$748

43.74%

Sport Shoes (Adidas, Nike)

$125 UYU 5,003

$99.7 MX$1,867

25.16%

Men's Leather Business Shoes

$132 UYU 5,308

$90.1 MX$1,687

46.96%

1-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$713 UYU 28.6K

$602 MX$11.3K

18.51%

1-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$575 UYU 23.1K

$393 MX$7,352

46.50%

3-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$1,164 UYU 46.7K

$1,055 MX$19.8K

10.31%

3-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$1,033 UYU 41.4K

$780 MX$14.6K

32.45%

Buy Apartment in City Center (m2)

$3,418 UYU 137.0K

$1,921 MX$36.0K

77.95%

Buy Apartment Outside City Center (m2)

$1,760 UYU 70.5K

$1,169 MX$21.9K

50.54%

Average Monthly Net Salary (After Tax)

$1,244 UYU 49.9K

$552 MX$10.3K

125.46%

20-Year Fixed Mortgage Interest Rate (Annual %)

5.74

11.3

-49.20%

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

Last update for Montevideo: October 19, 2026

Last update for Lazaro Cardenas: October 19, 2026

Monthly budget structure

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

Accommodation & Living

Montevideo

$575 32.2%

Lazaro Cardenas

$393 34.4% 31.7% $183

Groceries & Markets

Montevideo

$334 18.7%

Lazaro Cardenas

$263 23.1% 21.1% $71

Eating Out

Montevideo

$269 15.1%

Lazaro Cardenas

$186 16.3% 30.7% $82

Monthly Utilities & Internet

Montevideo

$258 14.5%

Lazaro Cardenas

$111 9.7% 57% $147

Clothing & Footwear

Montevideo

$188 10.6%

Lazaro Cardenas

$128 11.3% 31.9% $60

Getting Around

Montevideo

$84 4.7%

Lazaro Cardenas

$15 * 1.3% 82.3% $69

Sport & Entertainment

Montevideo

$75 4.2%

Lazaro Cardenas

$45 3.9% 40.9% $31

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 $713 in Montevideo and $602 in Lazaro Cardenas. Housing cost is often the main lever when comparing two cities.

Montevideo pays about 2.3 times more on average. How far that income stretches comes down to housing choices and lifestyle.

Dining out: $70 in Montevideo vs $44 in Lazaro Cardenas for a mid-range dinner for two. Groceries echo the gap at $334 vs $263 per month, with Lazaro Cardenas cheaper across the board.

Good to know

🇺🇾 Montevideo

🇲🇽 Lazaro Cardenas

🕒 Local time

07:03 7:03 AM

04:03 4:03 AM

3 h behind Montevideo

🌤 Weather

👥 Population

1,319,108 Capital

83,637

💱 Currency

Uruguayan Peso UYU $U

Mexican Peso MXN $

📈 Exchange rate

100 UYU = 2.49 USD

100 UYU = 2.22 EUR

100 MXN = 5.34 USD

100 MXN = 4.76 EUR

Exchange rates and currency converter

MXN, USD, EUR to UYU – Uruguayan Peso Converter

🇺🇸 United States Dollar ($)

🇺🇾 Uruguayan Peso ($U)

Uruguayan Peso exchange rates as of October 26, 2026: 1 USD = 40.08 UYU (100 UYU = 2.49 USD). 1 EUR = 44.97 UYU (100 UYU = 2.22 EUR).

Mexican Peso exchange rates as of October 26, 2026: 1 USD = 18.72 MXN (100 MXN = 5.34 USD). 1 EUR = 21 MXN (100 MXN = 4.76 EUR).

USD to UYU in detail →

On the map

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Between locations

Montevideo Lazaro Cardenas 7,620 km ≈ 10 h nonstop flight

From you

Montevideo
Lazaro Cardenas

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

Montevideo vs Lazaro Cardenas: Cost of Living - Frequently Asked Questions

Lazaro Cardenas wins on cost – living expenses run 36% lower than in Montevideo. Housing and daily spending are where you’ll feel the difference most, making Lazaro Cardenas the obvious pick if budget is a priority.

Average pay in Montevideo is about 2.3 times higher, 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: $713 in Montevideo versus $602 in Lazaro Cardenas. Housing is usually the single largest factor when comparing overall living costs between the two.

Childcare runs $629 in Montevideo versus $221 in Lazaro Cardenas. Over years of preschool, even a modest monthly gap compounds into a major financial factor for families.

Dining out is cheaper in Lazaro Cardenas – a meal for two runs $44 versus $70 in Montevideo. If you eat out regularly, this makes a real dent in your monthly spending.

Both cities are expensive relative to $1,000. Lazaro Cardenas 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.

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