Last update: Oct 2026

Cost of Living Comparison Between Phnom Penh and Mexico City

For one person, living is cheaper in Phnom Penh: $1,083 a month against $1,608 in Mexico City, rent and utilities included – about $6,300 less a year. Rent and utilities account for about half of the difference.

52

Cost of Living Index in Phnom Penh
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Phnom Penh Living Index
78

Cost of Living Index in Mexico City
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Mexico City Living Index

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Phnom Penh

🇰🇭 Cambodia

$1,083

/mo nomad

Mexico City

🇲🇽 Mexico

$1,608

/mo nomad

Monthly Cost of Living

How much you'll spend in Phnom Penh 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 Phnom Penh and in Mexico City actually costs, broken down by who's living it.

Monthly costs for one person with rent: $1,083 in Phnom Penh versus $1,608 in Mexico City.

Phnom Penh $1,083
Mexico City $1,608

Estimated couple costs with rent: $1,778 in Phnom Penh versus $2,549 in Mexico City.

Phnom Penh $1,778
Mexico City $2,549

Monthly costs for a family of three with rent: $2,474 in Phnom Penh versus $3,490 in Mexico City.

Phnom Penh $2,474
Mexico City $3,490

Living in Phnom Penh costs roughly 33% less than in Mexico City, and outside of rent the biggest gap is in eating out.

The two cities straddle the global median: Phnom Penh is 20% below, Mexico City is 18% above.

Meal at Budget Restaurant

$4.55 ៛18.5K

$10.62 MX$199

-57.16%

Three-Course Dinner for Two, Mid-Range

$40.42 ៛164.7K

$48.35 MX$908

-16.40%

Fast Food Meal (McDonalds, etc)

$7.01 ៛28.6K

$10.35 MX$194

-32.27%

Cappuccino

$2.84 ៛11.6K

$3.69 MX$69.3

-23.04%

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

$1.72 ៛7,001

$1.67 MX$31.29

2.99%

Water (0.33 liter bottle)

$0.67 ៛2,727

$1.27 MX$23.76

-47.24%

Local Beer (0.5 liter draught)

$1.03 ៛4,187

$3.19 MX$59.9

-67.71%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$3.05 ៛12.4K

$5.31 MX$99.6

-42.56%

Milk (1 liter)

$2.28 ៛9,284

$1.72 MX$32.38

32.56%

White Bread (500g)

$1.60 ៛6,536

$3.04 MX$57.1

-47.37%

Rice (white) (1kg)

$1.07 ៛4,378

$1.94 MX$36.44

-44.85%

Eggs

$1.82 ៛7,428

$2.89 MX$54.2

-37.02%

Local Cheese (1kg)

$14.70 ៛59.9K

$10.97 MX$206

34.00%

Chicken Fillets (1kg)

$4.45 ៛18.1K

$9.25 MX$174

-51.89%

Beef Round Steak (1kg)

$9.63 ៛39.2K

$15.13 MX$284

-36.35%

Apples (1kg)

$4.14 ៛16.9K

$3.05 MX$57.2

35.74%

Banana (1kg)

$1.70 ៛6,947

$1.94 MX$36.45

-12.37%

Oranges (1kg)

$4.49 ៛18.3K

$2.03 MX$38.02

121.18%

Tomato (1kg)

$2.02 ៛8,218

$2.31 MX$43.46

-12.55%

Potato (1kg)

$1.72 ៛6,997

$2.04 MX$38.21

-15.69%

Onion (1kg)

$1.26 ៛5,125

$1.80 MX$33.79

-30.00%

Lettuce (1 head)

$1.39 ៛5,659

$1.48 MX$27.77

-6.08%

Water (1.5 liter bottle)

$0.77 ៛3,146

$1.27 MX$23.80

-39.37%

Cigarettes 20 Pack (Marlboro, Camel)

$1.95 ៛7,933

$5.30 MX$99.6

-63.21%

Wine (Bottle)

$11.14 ៛45.4K

$16.10 MX$302

-30.81%

Local Beer (0.5 liter bottle)

$1.01 ៛4,122

$1.98 MX$37.23

-48.99%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$1.79 ៛7,296

$4.25 MX$79.8

-57.88%

One-way Ticket (Public Transport)

$0.38 ៛1,560

$0.31 MX$5.73

22.58%

Public Transport Monthly Pass (Regular Price)

$9.88 ៛40.3K

$19.73 MX$371

-49.92%

Taxi Start (Normal Tariff)

$1.10 ៛4,463

$1.84 MX$34.50

-40.22%

Taxi (Normal Tariff) (1km)

$1.01 ៛4,126

$0.53 MX$10.02

90.57%

Taxi 1hour Waiting (Normal Tariff)

$5.02 ៛20.4K

$5.30 MX$99.4

-5.28%

Gasoline (1 liter)

$1.36 ៛5,553

$1.51 MX$28.36

-9.93%

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

$34.8K ៛141.9M

$21.8K MX$408.4K

60.02%

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

$44.6K ៛181.9M

$24.0K MX$450.3K

86.12%

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

$118 ៛481.8K

$63.0 MX$1,182

87.73%

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

$7.32 ៛29.8K

$27.39 MX$514

-73.27%

Internet (50+ Mbps, Unlimited Data)

$25.26 ៛102.9K

$35.67 MX$670

-29.18%

Gym Membership (Monthly)

$37.94 ៛154.6K

$58.9 MX$1,107

-35.63%

Tennis Court (1 Hour on Weekend)

$11.05 ៛45.0K

$23.64 MX$444

-53.26%

Cinema Ticket

$5.09 ៛20.7K

$6.40 MX$120

-20.47%

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

$597 ៛2.4M

$432 MX$8,103

38.33%

International Primary School, 1 Child (Yearly)

$11.1K ៛45.3M

$11.4K MX$214.5K

-2.59%

Jeans (Levis 501 Or Similar)

$28.17 ៛114.8K

$68.2 MX$1,281

-58.71%

Summer Dress (H&M, Zara, etc)

$24.25 ៛98.8K

$53.1 MX$997

-54.36%

Sport Shoes (Adidas, Nike)

$90.2 ៛367.4K

$108 MX$2,023

-16.34%

Men's Leather Business Shoes

$58.1 ៛236.6K

$117 MX$2,202

-50.50%

1-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$658 ៛2.7M

$1,113 MX$20.9K

-40.92%

1-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$406 ៛1.7M

$710 MX$13.3K

-42.84%

3-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$1,441 ៛5.9M

$2,588 MX$48.6K

-44.32%

3-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$950 ៛3.9M

$1,406 MX$26.4K

-32.41%

Buy Apartment in City Center (m2)

$2,710 ៛11.0M

$3,631 MX$68.2K

-25.37%

Buy Apartment Outside City Center (m2)

$1,523 ៛6.2M

$2,135 MX$40.1K

-28.65%

Average Monthly Net Salary (After Tax)

$315 ៛1.3M

$946 MX$17.8K

-66.68%

20-Year Fixed Mortgage Interest Rate (Annual %)

7.94

11.35

-30.04%

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

Last update for Phnom Penh: October 26, 2026

Last update for Mexico City: October 25, 2026

Monthly budget structure

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

Accommodation & Living

Phnom Penh

$406 37.5%

Mexico City

$710 44.2% 75% $304

Groceries & Markets

Phnom Penh

$258 23.8%

Mexico City

$320 19.9% 23.8% $62

Monthly Utilities & Internet

Phnom Penh

$151 13.9%

Mexico City

$126 7.8% 16.4% $25

Eating Out

Phnom Penh

$112 10.4%

Mexico City

$199 12.4% 76.9% $86

Clothing & Footwear

Phnom Penh

$90 8.3%

Mexico City

$156 9.7% 72.6% $66

Sport & Entertainment

Phnom Penh

$48 4.4%

Mexico City

$72 4.5% 49.1% $24

Getting Around

Phnom Penh

$18 1.6%

Mexico City

$25 1.6% 44.9% $7.9

Cost Breakdown

A one-bedroom apartment in the center runs $658 in Phnom Penh and $1,113 in Mexico City. Housing cost is often the main lever when comparing two cities.

Mexico City pays about 3 times more on average. How far that income stretches comes down to housing choices and lifestyle.

Dining out: $40 in Phnom Penh vs $48 in Mexico City for a mid-range dinner for two. Groceries echo the gap at $258 vs $320 per month, with Phnom Penh cheaper across the board.

Good to know

🇰🇭 Phnom Penh

🇲🇽 Mexico City

🕒 Local time

04:16 4:16 AM

15:16 3:16 PM

13 h behind Phnom Penh

🌤 Weather

👥 Population

2,009,264 Capital

9,209,944 Capital

💱 Currency

Cambodian Riel KHR ៛

Mexican Peso MXN $

📈 Exchange rate

10,000 KHR = 2.45 USD

10,000 KHR = 2.2 EUR

100 MXN = 5.33 USD

100 MXN = 4.77 EUR

Exchange rates and currency converter

MXN, USD, EUR to KHR – Cambodian Riel Converter

🇺🇸 United States Dollar ($)

🇰🇭 Cambodian Riel (៛)

Cambodian Riel exchange rates as of November 1, 2026: 1 USD = 4,075 KHR (10,000 KHR = 2.45 USD). 1 EUR = 4,550 KHR (10,000 KHR = 2.2 EUR).

Mexican Peso exchange rates as of November 1, 2026: 1 USD = 18.77 MXN (100 MXN = 5.33 USD). 1 EUR = 20.96 MXN (100 MXN = 4.77 EUR).

USD to KHR in detail →

On the map

Lowest

Highest

Between locations

Phnom Penh Mexico City 15,680 km ≈ 20 h nonstop flight

From you

Phnom Penh
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

Phnom Penh vs Mexico City: Cost of Living - Frequently Asked Questions

Total monthly costs including rent come to $1,083 in Phnom Penh and $1,608 in Mexico City, so Phnom Penh is about 33% cheaper – a gap that matters a lot on a fixed or modest income.

On paper, salaries run 67% lower in Phnom Penh. That’s worth factoring in alongside costs, though remote workers earning in a stronger currency may not notice the difference at all.

Rent for a central apartment: $658 in Phnom Penh versus $1,113 in Mexico City. Housing is usually the single largest factor when comparing overall living costs between the two.

A monthly transit pass in Phnom Penh runs roughly 50% less than in Mexico City. The price difference matters if you commute daily and watch your budget.

Childcare runs $597 in Phnom Penh versus $432 in Mexico City. Over years of preschool, even a modest monthly gap compounds into a major financial factor for families.

At $1,083 in Phnom Penh versus $1,608 in Mexico City, a $1,500 budget is realistic in Phnom Penh but tight or insufficient in Mexico City. The gap between the two cities makes Phnom Penh 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 Phnom Penh gentler on the wallet – expenses run 33% less than in Mexico City. Beyond cost, consider language, visa policies, and how big the international community is in each city.