Last update: Oct 2026

Cost of Living Comparison Between Parral and Monterrey

For one person, living is cheaper in Parral: $1,140 a month against $1,599 in Monterrey, rent and utilities included – about $5,500 less a year. Rent and utilities account for most of the difference.

55

Cost of Living Index in Parral
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Parral Living Index
77

Cost of Living Index in Monterrey
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Monterrey Living Index

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Parral

🇲🇽 Mexico

$1,140

/mo nomad

Monterrey

🇲🇽 Mexico

$1,599

/mo nomad

Monthly Cost of Living

How much you'll spend in Parral and in Monterrey

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

Monthly costs for one person with rent: $1,140 in Parral versus $1,599 in Monterrey.

Parral $1,140
Monterrey $1,599

Estimated couple costs with rent: $1,832 in Parral versus $2,493 in Monterrey.

Parral $1,832
Monterrey $2,493

Monthly costs for a family of three with rent: $2,525 in Parral versus $3,387 in Monterrey.

Parral $2,525
Monterrey $3,387

Living in Parral costs roughly 29% less than in Monterrey, and outside of rent the biggest gap is in groceries.

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

Meal at Budget Restaurant

$11.13 MX$206

$13.80 MX$255

-19.35%

Three-Course Dinner for Two, Mid-Range

$43.18 MX$798

$47.99 MX$887

-10.02%

Fast Food Meal (McDonalds, etc)

$8.28 MX$153

$10.65 MX$197

-22.25%

Cappuccino

$3.48 MX$64.3

$3.99 MX$73.7

-12.78%

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

$1.40 MX$25.92

$1.66 MX$30.76

-15.66%

Water (0.33 liter bottle)

$1.02 MX$18.89

$0.99 MX$18.21

3.03%

Local Beer (0.5 liter draught)

$2.53 MX$46.67

$2.36 MX$43.64

7.20%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$4.09 MX$75.7

$4.43 MX$81.8

-7.67%

Milk (1 liter)

$1.60 MX$29.50

$1.82 MX$33.58

-12.09%

White Bread (500g)

$2.65 MX$48.90

$2.83 MX$52.4

-6.36%

Rice (white) (1kg)

$1.66 MX$30.76

$1.92 MX$35.44

-13.54%

Eggs

$2.51 MX$46.38

$2.48 MX$45.78

1.21%

Local Cheese (1kg)

$8.25 MX$152

$11.74 MX$217

-29.73%

Chicken Fillets (1kg)

$8.56 MX$158

$9.10 MX$168

-5.93%

Beef Round Steak (1kg)

$11.60 MX$214

$12.53 MX$232

-7.42%

Apples (1kg)

$2.67 MX$49.32

$3.34 MX$61.6

-20.06%

Banana (1kg)

$1.56 MX$28.88

$1.57 MX$29.10

-0.64%

Oranges (1kg)

$1.93 MX$35.69

$2.16 MX$39.86

-10.65%

Tomato (1kg)

$1.84 MX$34.03

$2.47 MX$45.65

-25.51%

Potato (1kg)

$2.04 MX$37.66

$2.31 MX$42.64

-11.69%

Onion (1kg)

$1.90 MX$35.07

$2.68 MX$49.47

-29.10%

Lettuce (1 head)

$1.48 MX$27.28

$1.46 MX$26.90

1.37%

Water (1.5 liter bottle)

$1.08 MX$20.02

$1.19 MX$22.07

-9.24%

Cigarettes 20 Pack (Marlboro, Camel)

$4.45 MX$82.3

$4.75 MX$87.8

-6.32%

Wine (Bottle)

$10.53 MX$195

$13.58 MX$251

-22.46%

Local Beer (0.5 liter bottle)

$1.82 MX$33.59

$1.92 MX$35.52

-5.21%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$3.12 MX$57.6

$2.88 MX$53.2

8.33%

One-way Ticket (Public Transport)

$0.64 MX$11.80

$0.79 MX$14.66

-18.99%

Public Transport Monthly Pass (Regular Price)

$31.36 MX$579

Taxi Start (Normal Tariff)

$2.63 MX$48.62

$1.59 MX$29.44

65.41%

Taxi (Normal Tariff) (1km)

$2.01 MX$37.14

$1.06 MX$19.58

89.62%

Taxi 1hour Waiting (Normal Tariff)

$11.15 MX$206

$10.80 MX$200

3.24%

Gasoline (1 liter)

$1.45 MX$26.76

$1.55 MX$28.59

-6.45%

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

$21.2K MX$391.3K

$24.2K MX$446.4K

-12.33%

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

$24.4K MX$451.7K

$24.3K MX$449.4K

0.51%

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

$58.3 MX$1,077

$117 MX$2,159

-50.09%

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

$22.41 MX$414

$26.38 MX$488

-15.05%

Internet (50+ Mbps, Unlimited Data)

$29.01 MX$536

$26.04 MX$481

11.41%

Gym Membership (Monthly)

$34.90 MX$645

$30.26 MX$559

15.33%

Tennis Court (1 Hour on Weekend)

$20.29 MX$375

$21.25 MX$393

-4.52%

Cinema Ticket

$5.35 MX$98.8

$5.23 MX$96.6

2.29%

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

$216 MX$3,992

$673 MX$12.4K

-67.88%

International Primary School, 1 Child (Yearly)

$4,612 MX$85.2K

$11.1K MX$205.2K

-58.47%

Jeans (Levis 501 Or Similar)

$55.6 MX$1,028

$72.1 MX$1,332

-22.82%

Summer Dress (H&M, Zara, etc)

$40.23 MX$743

$42.38 MX$783

-5.07%

Sport Shoes (Adidas, Nike)

$101 MX$1,868

$112 MX$2,066

-9.58%

Men's Leather Business Shoes

$88.2 MX$1,630

$119 MX$2,200

-25.92%

1-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$613 MX$11.3K

$949 MX$17.5K

-35.38%

1-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$388 MX$7,174

$666 MX$12.3K

-41.74%

3-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$1,039 MX$19.2K

$1,821 MX$33.7K

-42.93%

3-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$761 MX$14.1K

$1,271 MX$23.5K

-40.13%

Buy Apartment in City Center (m2)

$1,891 MX$34.9K

$4,050 MX$74.8K

-53.31%

Buy Apartment Outside City Center (m2)

$1,145 MX$21.1K

$2,348 MX$43.4K

-51.24%

Average Monthly Net Salary (After Tax)

$1,155 MX$21.3K

20-Year Fixed Mortgage Interest Rate (Annual %)

11.3

11.79

-4.16%

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

Last update for Parral: October 18, 2026

Last update for Monterrey: October 18, 2026

Monthly budget structure

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

Accommodation & Living

Parral

$388 34.1%

Monterrey

$666 41.7% 71.6% $278

Groceries & Markets

Parral

$266 23.4%

Monterrey

$304 19% 14.3% $38

Eating Out

Parral

$186 16.3%

Monterrey

$221 13.9% 19% $35

Clothing & Footwear

Parral

$128 11.3%

Monterrey

$155 9.7% 21.1% $27

Monthly Utilities & Internet

Parral

$110 9.6%

Monterrey

$169 10.6% 54.2% $60

Sport & Entertainment

Parral

$46 4%

Monterrey

$41 2.6% 10.7% $4.9

Getting Around

Parral

$15 * 1.3%

Monterrey

$41 2.6% 172% $26

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 $613 in Parral and $949 in Monterrey. Housing cost is often the main lever when comparing two cities.

Dining out: $43.00 in Parral vs $48.00 in Monterrey for a mid-range dinner for two. Groceries echo the gap at $266 vs $304 per month, with Parral cheaper across the board.

Good to know

🇲🇽 Parral

🇲🇽 Monterrey

🕒 Local time

20:00 8:00 PM

Same time as Parral

🌤 Weather

👥 Population

113,843

1,142,994

💱 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

On the map

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Between locations

Parral Monterrey 550 km ≈ 1 h 15 min nonstop flight

From you

Parral
Monterrey

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

Parral vs Monterrey: Cost of Living - Frequently Asked Questions

Parral and Monterrey differ by about 40% in total monthly costs ($1,140 vs $1,599 including rent). Parral is meaningfully more affordable – a gap that matters a lot on a fixed or modest income.

You'd need roughly $1,709 in Parral and $2,399 in Monterrey 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: $613 in Parral versus $949 in Monterrey. Housing is usually the single largest factor when comparing overall living costs between the two.

Childcare runs $216 in Parral versus $673 in Monterrey. Over years of preschool, even a modest monthly gap compounds into a major financial factor for families.

Dining out is cheaper in Parral – a meal for two runs $43.00 versus $48.00 in Monterrey. If you eat out regularly, this makes a real dent in your monthly spending.

At $1,140 in Parral versus $1,599 in Monterrey, a $1,500 budget is realistic in Parral but tight or insufficient in Monterrey. The gap between the two cities makes Parral 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 Parral gentler on the wallet – expenses run 40% less than in Monterrey. Beyond cost, consider language, visa policies, and how big the international community is in each city.