Last update: Oct 2026

Cost of Living Comparison Between Montreal and Lazaro Cardenas

For one person, living is cheaper in Lazaro Cardenas: $1,141 a month against $2,059 in Montreal, rent and utilities included – about $11,000 less a year. Rent and utilities account for most of the difference.

99

Cost of Living Index in Montreal
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Montreal Living Index
55

Cost of Living Index in Lazaro Cardenas
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Lazaro Cardenas Living Index

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Montreal

🇨🇦 Canada

$2,059

/mo nomad

Lazaro Cardenas

🇲🇽 Mexico

$1,141

/mo nomad

Monthly Cost of Living

How much you'll spend in Montreal 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 Montreal and in Lazaro Cardenas actually costs, broken down by who's living it.

Monthly costs for one person with rent: $2,059 in Montreal versus $1,141 in Lazaro Cardenas.

Montreal $2,059
Lazaro Cardenas $1,141

Estimated couple costs with rent: $3,123 in Montreal versus $1,839 in Lazaro Cardenas.

Montreal $3,123
Lazaro Cardenas $1,839

Monthly costs for a family of three with rent: $4,187 in Montreal versus $2,537 in Lazaro Cardenas.

Montreal $4,187
Lazaro Cardenas $2,537

Living in Montreal is roughly 81% more expensive than in Lazaro Cardenas, and outside of rent the biggest gap is in eating out.

The two cities straddle the global median: Montreal is 52% above, Lazaro Cardenas is 16% below.

Meal at Budget Restaurant

$18.84 CA$26.40

$10.83 MX$203

73.96%

Three-Course Dinner for Two, Mid-Range

$73.2 CA$103

$43.66 MX$817

67.70%

Fast Food Meal (McDonalds, etc)

$10.54 CA$14.77

$8.70 MX$163

21.15%

Cappuccino

$3.97 CA$5.56

$3.61 MX$67.6

9.97%

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

$1.94 CA$2.71

$1.42 MX$26.59

36.62%

Water (0.33 liter bottle)

$1.57 CA$2.20

$1.03 MX$19.24

52.43%

Local Beer (0.5 liter draught)

$6.42 CA$9.00

$2.51 MX$46.92

155.78%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$7.20 CA$10.10

$3.99 MX$74.7

80.45%

Milk (1 liter)

$2.32 CA$3.25

$1.66 MX$31.06

39.76%

White Bread (500g)

$3.19 CA$4.47

$2.53 MX$47.41

26.09%

Rice (white) (1kg)

$3.19 CA$4.46

$1.67 MX$31.19

91.02%

Eggs

$3.68 CA$5.15

$2.43 MX$45.51

51.44%

Local Cheese (1kg)

$13.24 CA$18.56

$8.19 MX$153

61.66%

Chicken Fillets (1kg)

$11.69 CA$16.39

$8.49 MX$159

37.69%

Beef Round Steak (1kg)

$13.98 CA$19.59

$11.33 MX$212

23.39%

Apples (1kg)

$3.14 CA$4.40

$2.67 MX$49.98

17.60%

Banana (1kg)

$1.45 CA$2.03

$1.59 MX$29.74

-8.81%

Oranges (1kg)

$3.38 CA$4.73

$1.90 MX$35.65

77.89%

Tomato (1kg)

$3.11 CA$4.36

$1.83 MX$34.27

69.95%

Potato (1kg)

$1.93 CA$2.70

$1.93 MX$36.05

Onion (1kg)

$1.83 CA$2.56

$1.80 MX$33.61

1.67%

Lettuce (1 head)

$2.36 CA$3.31

$1.48 MX$27.75

59.46%

Water (1.5 liter bottle)

$1.50 CA$2.11

$1.08 MX$20.23

38.89%

Cigarettes 20 Pack (Marlboro, Camel)

$11.12 CA$15.59

$4.32 MX$80.8

157.41%

Wine (Bottle)

$10.60 CA$14.85

$10.32 MX$193

2.71%

Local Beer (0.5 liter bottle)

$2.22 CA$3.11

$1.76 MX$32.88

26.14%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$2.84 CA$3.98

$3.20 MX$59.8

-11.25%

One-way Ticket (Public Transport)

$2.62 CA$3.68

$0.69 MX$12.92

279.71%

Public Transport Monthly Pass (Regular Price)

$79.1 CA$111

Taxi Start (Normal Tariff)

$3.23 CA$4.52

$2.53 MX$47.26

27.67%

Taxi (Normal Tariff) (1km)

$1.48 CA$2.08

$1.92 MX$35.92

-22.92%

Taxi 1hour Waiting (Normal Tariff)

$32.22 CA$45.15

$11.01 MX$206

192.64%

Gasoline (1 liter)

$1.36 CA$1.91

$1.48 MX$27.62

-8.11%

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

$27.6K CA$38.7K

$21.1K MX$395.7K

30.77%

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

$21.2K CA$29.7K

$23.8K MX$445.7K

-11.00%

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

$77.0 CA$108

$58.7 MX$1,099

31.20%

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

$34.14 CA$47.84

$22.31 MX$417

53.03%

Internet (50+ Mbps, Unlimited Data)

$42.19 CA$59.1

$29.94 MX$560

40.92%

Gym Membership (Monthly)

$30.81 CA$43.18

$34.30 MX$642

-10.17%

Tennis Court (1 Hour on Weekend)

$19.66 CA$27.54

$20.49 MX$384

-4.05%

Cinema Ticket

$11.47 CA$16.08

$5.11 MX$95.7

124.46%

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

$506 CA$709

$221 MX$4,141

128.78%

International Primary School, 1 Child (Yearly)

$16.2K CA$22.8K

$4,553 MX$85.2K

256.63%

Jeans (Levis 501 Or Similar)

$57.3 CA$80.2

$55.3 MX$1,035

3.56%

Summer Dress (H&M, Zara, etc)

$38.10 CA$53.4

$39.96 MX$748

-4.65%

Sport Shoes (Adidas, Nike)

$91.9 CA$129

$99.7 MX$1,867

-7.84%

Men's Leather Business Shoes

$110 CA$154

$90.1 MX$1,687

21.80%

1-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$1,237 CA$1,733

$602 MX$11.3K

105.53%

1-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$977 CA$1,369

$393 MX$7,352

148.66%

3-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$2,180 CA$3,055

$1,055 MX$19.8K

106.59%

3-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$1,608 CA$2,253

$780 MX$14.6K

106.09%

Buy Apartment in City Center (m2)

$5,113 CA$7,165

$1,921 MX$36.0K

166.19%

Buy Apartment Outside City Center (m2)

$3,744 CA$5,247

$1,169 MX$21.9K

220.28%

Average Monthly Net Salary (After Tax)

$2,957 CA$4,144

$552 MX$10.3K

435.81%

20-Year Fixed Mortgage Interest Rate (Annual %)

4.48

11.3

-60.35%

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

Last update for Montreal: October 20, 2026

Last update for Lazaro Cardenas: October 19, 2026

Monthly budget structure

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

Accommodation & Living

Montreal

$977 47.4%

Lazaro Cardenas

$393 34.4% 59.8% $584

Groceries & Markets

Montreal

$351 17.1%

Lazaro Cardenas

$263 23.1% 25.1% $88

Eating Out

Montreal

$290 14.1%

Lazaro Cardenas

$186 16.3% 35.8% $104

Monthly Utilities & Internet

Montreal

$153 7.5%

Lazaro Cardenas

$111 9.7% 27.7% $42

Clothing & Footwear

Montreal

$134 6.5%

Lazaro Cardenas

$128 11.3% 4% $5.4

Getting Around

Montreal

$100 4.9%

Lazaro Cardenas

$15 * 1.3% 85.2% $85

Sport & Entertainment

Montreal

$54 2.6%

Lazaro Cardenas

$45 3.9% 17.2% $9.2

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 $1,237 in Montreal and $602 in Lazaro Cardenas. Housing cost is often the main lever when comparing two cities.

Montreal pays about 5.4 times more on average. How far that income stretches comes down to housing choices and lifestyle.

Dining out: $73 in Montreal vs $44 in Lazaro Cardenas for a mid-range dinner for two. Groceries echo the gap at $351 vs $263 per month, with Lazaro Cardenas cheaper across the board.

Good to know

🇨🇦 Montreal

🇲🇽 Lazaro Cardenas

🕒 Local time

06:53 6:53 AM

04:53 4:53 AM

2 h behind Montreal

🌤 Weather

👥 Population

1,762,949

83,637

💱 Currency

Canadian Dollar CAD $

Mexican Peso MXN $

📈 Exchange rate

1 CAD = 0.714 USD

1 CAD = 0.636 EUR

100 MXN = 5.34 USD

100 MXN = 4.76 EUR

Exchange rates and currency converter

MXN, USD, EUR to CAD – Canadian Dollar Converter

🇺🇸 United States Dollar ($)

🇨🇦 Canadian Dollar ($)

Canadian Dollar exchange rates as of October 26, 2026: 1 USD = 1.4 CAD (1 CAD = 0.714 USD). 1 EUR = 1.57 CAD (1 CAD = 0.636 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 CAD in detail →

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Montreal Lazaro Cardenas 4,040 km ≈ 6 h nonstop flight

From you

Montreal
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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

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

Lazaro Cardenas wins on cost – living expenses run 45% lower than in Montreal. 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 Montreal is about 5.4 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: $1,237 in Montreal versus $602 in Lazaro Cardenas. Housing is usually the single largest factor when comparing overall living costs between the two.

Childcare runs $506 in Montreal 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 $73 in Montreal. 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, Montreal on earning potential. Factor in climate, language, visa rules, and proximity to places that matter to you before deciding.