Last update: Oct 2026

Cost of Living Comparison Between Petaling Jaya and Mexico City

For one person, living is cheaper in Petaling Jaya: $1,037 a month against $1,567 in Mexico City, rent and utilities included – about $6,400 less a year. Rent and utilities account for about half of the difference.

51

Cost of Living Index in Petaling Jaya
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Petaling Jaya Living Index
76

Cost of Living Index in Mexico City
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Mexico City Living Index

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Petaling Jaya

🇲🇾 Malaysia

$1,037

/mo nomad

Mexico City

🇲🇽 Mexico

$1,567

/mo nomad

Monthly Cost of Living

How much you'll spend in Petaling Jaya and in Mexico City

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

Monthly costs for one person with rent: $1,037 in Petaling Jaya versus $1,567 in Mexico City.

Petaling Jaya $1,037
Mexico City $1,567

Estimated couple costs with rent: $1,499 in Petaling Jaya versus $2,450 in Mexico City.

Petaling Jaya $1,499
Mexico City $2,450

Monthly costs for a family of three with rent: $1,962 in Petaling Jaya versus $3,333 in Mexico City.

Petaling Jaya $1,962
Mexico City $3,333

Living in Petaling Jaya costs roughly 34% less than in Mexico City, and outside of rent the biggest gap is in eating out.

The two cities straddle the global median: Petaling Jaya is 23% below, Mexico City is 16% above.

Meal at Budget Restaurant

$3.58 MYR 14.62

$10.75 MX$199

-66.70%

Three-Course Dinner for Two, Mid-Range

$24.22 MYR 98.8

$50.3 MX$929

-51.80%

Fast Food Meal (McDonalds, etc)

$4.76 MYR 19.40

$11.10 MX$205

-57.12%

Cappuccino

$2.99 MYR 12.21

$3.68 MX$68.1

-18.75%

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

$0.93 MYR 3.80

$1.65 MX$30.42

-43.64%

Water (0.33 liter bottle)

$0.44 MYR 1.81

$1.30 MX$24.08

-66.15%

Local Beer (0.5 liter draught)

$3.32 MYR 13.54

$3.32 MX$61.3

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$5.64 MYR 23.01

$5.54 MX$102

1.81%

Milk (1 liter)

$1.85 MYR 7.53

$1.77 MX$32.68

4.52%

White Bread (500g)

$1.02 MYR 4.16

$3.05 MX$56.4

-66.56%

Rice (white) (1kg)

$1.48 MYR 6.02

$2.01 MX$37.20

-26.37%

Eggs

$1.83 MYR 7.48

$2.77 MX$51.1

-33.94%

Local Cheese (1kg)

$9.93 MYR 40.53

$11.91 MX$220

-16.62%

Chicken Fillets (1kg)

$3.29 MYR 13.42

$9.33 MX$172

-64.74%

Beef Round Steak (1kg)

$9.51 MYR 38.81

$15.02 MX$278

-36.68%

Apples (1kg)

$3.50 MYR 14.29

$3.08 MX$56.8

13.64%

Banana (1kg)

$1.89 MYR 7.70

$1.95 MX$35.97

-3.08%

Oranges (1kg)

$2.71 MYR 11.07

$2.03 MX$37.54

33.50%

Tomato (1kg)

$1.82 MYR 7.44

$2.21 MX$40.92

-17.65%

Potato (1kg)

$2.15 MYR 8.79

$2.02 MX$37.41

6.44%

Onion (1kg)

$1.97 MYR 8.02

$1.82 MX$33.67

8.24%

Lettuce (1 head)

$1.49 MYR 6.08

$1.52 MX$28.07

-1.97%

Water (1.5 liter bottle)

$0.56 MYR 2.27

$1.28 MX$23.65

-56.25%

Cigarettes 20 Pack (Marlboro, Camel)

$4.62 MYR 18.86

$5.27 MX$97.4

-12.33%

Wine (Bottle)

$19.26 MYR 78.6

$16.12 MX$298

19.48%

Local Beer (0.5 liter bottle)

$2.62 MYR 10.69

$1.95 MX$36.05

34.36%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$4.68 MYR 19.09

$4.25 MX$78.6

10.12%

One-way Ticket (Public Transport)

$1.20 MYR 4.91

$0.31 MX$5.82

287.10%

Public Transport Monthly Pass (Regular Price)

$12.34 MYR 50.3

$19.85 MX$367

-37.83%

Taxi Start (Normal Tariff)

$1.23 MYR 5.02

$2.00 MX$36.93

-38.50%

Taxi (Normal Tariff) (1km)

$0.38 MYR 1.55

$0.53 MX$9.86

-28.30%

Taxi 1hour Waiting (Normal Tariff)

$8.76 MYR 35.75

$5.62 MX$104

55.87%

Gasoline (1 liter)

$0.80 MYR 3.26

$1.52 MX$28.07

-47.37%

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

$41.7K MYR 170.2K

$21.0K MX$388.7K

98.40%

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

$32.1K MYR 130.8K

$25.2K MX$465.3K

27.35%

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

$49.70 MYR 203

$62.5 MX$1,155

-20.47%

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

$7.99 MYR 32.61

$28.77 MX$532

-72.23%

Internet (50+ Mbps, Unlimited Data)

$26.77 MYR 109

$34.45 MX$637

-22.29%

Gym Membership (Monthly)

$52.5 MYR 214

$57.1 MX$1,055

-8.04%

Tennis Court (1 Hour on Weekend)

$3.03 MYR 12.37

$24.81 MX$458

-87.79%

Cinema Ticket

$4.93 MYR 20.12

$6.67 MX$123

-26.09%

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

$273 MYR 1,114

$431 MX$7,964

-36.66%

International Primary School, 1 Child (Yearly)

$10.5K MYR 42.8K

$11.7K MX$216.9K

-10.56%

Jeans (Levis 501 Or Similar)

$51.7 MYR 211

$70.8 MX$1,308

-26.95%

Summer Dress (H&M, Zara, etc)

$30.02 MYR 122

$51.8 MX$958

-42.08%

Sport Shoes (Adidas, Nike)

$78.4 MYR 320

$109 MX$2,011

-27.99%

Men's Leather Business Shoes

$86.4 MYR 353

$112 MX$2,076

-23.04%

1-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$482 MYR 1,966

$1,051 MX$19.4K

-54.15%

1-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$397 MYR 1,620

$665 MX$12.3K

-40.27%

3-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$832 MYR 3,394

$2,346 MX$43.3K

-64.53%

3-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$559 MYR 2,281

$1,227 MX$22.7K

-54.42%

Buy Apartment in City Center (m2)

$3,184 MYR 13.0K

$3,554 MX$65.7K

-10.41%

Buy Apartment Outside City Center (m2)

$978 MYR 3,990

$1,977 MX$36.5K

-50.53%

Average Monthly Net Salary (After Tax)

$1,707 MYR 6,964

$975 MX$18.0K

75.15%

20-Year Fixed Mortgage Interest Rate (Annual %)

4.51

11.3

-60.09%

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

Last update for Petaling Jaya: October 12, 2026

Last update for Mexico City: October 11, 2026

Monthly budget structure

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

Accommodation & Living

Petaling Jaya

$397 38.3%

Mexico City

$665 42.4% 67.4% $268

Groceries & Markets

Petaling Jaya

$249 24.1%

Mexico City

$323 20.6% 29.3% $73

Eating Out

Petaling Jaya

$112 10.8%

Mexico City

$203 13% 80.9% $91

Clothing & Footwear

Petaling Jaya

$111 10.7%

Mexico City

$155 9.9% 39.4% $44

Monthly Utilities & Internet

Petaling Jaya

$84 8.2%

Mexico City

$126 8% 48.8% $41

Sport & Entertainment

Petaling Jaya

$62 6%

Mexico City

$70 4.5% 12.9% $8.1

Getting Around

Petaling Jaya

$20 2%

Mexico City

$26 1.6% 27.1% $5.5

Cost Breakdown

A one-bedroom apartment in the center runs $482 in Petaling Jaya and $1,051 in Mexico City. Housing cost is often the main lever when comparing two cities.

Petaling Jaya pays 75% more on average while also being the cheaper of the two. The combined effect is a noticeably stronger local purchasing power.

Dining out: $24.00 in Petaling Jaya vs $50.0 in Mexico City for a mid-range dinner for two. Groceries echo the gap at $249 vs $323 per month, with Petaling Jaya cheaper across the board.

Good to know

🇲🇾 Petaling Jaya

🇲🇽 Mexico City

🕒 Local time

09:46 9:46 AM

19:46 7:46 PM

14 h behind Petaling Jaya

🌤 Weather

👥 Population

771,687

9,209,944 Capital

💱 Currency

Malaysian Ringgit MYR RM

Mexican Peso MXN $

📈 Exchange rate

1 MYR = 0.245 USD

1 MYR = 0.218 EUR

100 MXN = 5.41 USD

100 MXN = 4.81 EUR

Exchange rates and currency converter

MXN, USD, EUR to MYR – Malaysian Ringgit Converter

🇺🇸 United States Dollar ($)

🇲🇾 Malaysian Ringgit (RM)

Malaysian Ringgit exchange rates as of October 19, 2026: 1 USD = 4.08 MYR (1 MYR = 0.245 USD). 1 EUR = 4.59 MYR (1 MYR = 0.218 EUR).

Mexican Peso exchange rates as of October 19, 2026: 1 USD = 18.48 MXN (100 MXN = 5.41 USD). 1 EUR = 20.77 MXN (100 MXN = 4.81 EUR).

USD to MYR in detail →

On the map

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Between locations

Petaling Jaya Mexico City 16,630 km ≈ 21 h nonstop flight

From you

Petaling Jaya
Mexico City

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

Petaling Jaya vs Mexico City: Cost of Living - Frequently Asked Questions

Petaling Jaya and Mexico City differ by about 51% in total monthly costs ($1,037 vs $1,567 including rent). Petaling Jaya is meaningfully more affordable – a gap that matters a lot on a fixed or modest income.

Average pay runs 75% higher in Petaling Jaya, 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: $482 in Petaling Jaya versus $1,051 in Mexico City. Housing is usually the single largest factor when comparing overall living costs between the two.

A monthly transit pass in Petaling Jaya runs roughly 61% less than in Mexico City. Both cities have functional networks, but the price difference matters if you're watching your budget.

Childcare runs $273 in Petaling Jaya versus $431 in Mexico City. Over years of preschool, even a modest monthly gap compounds into a major financial factor for families.

At $1,037 in Petaling Jaya versus $1,567 in Mexico City, a $1,000 budget is realistic in Petaling Jaya but tight or insufficient in Mexico City. The gap between the two cities makes Petaling Jaya 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.

Safety-wise, Petaling Jaya and Mexico City are on par. Petty crime is typical for cities this size, and most residents feel comfortable going about their daily routines in either place.

Expats usually find Petaling Jaya gentler on the wallet – expenses run 51% less than in Mexico City. Beyond cost, consider language, visa policies, and how big the international community is in each city.