Last update: Oct 2026

Cost of Living Comparison Between Piedras Negras and Mexico City

For one person, living is cheaper in Piedras Negras: $1,143 a month against $1,548 in Mexico City, rent and utilities included – about $4,900 less a year. Rent and utilities account for most of the difference.

55

Cost of Living Index in Piedras Negras
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Piedras Negras Living Index
75

Cost of Living Index in Mexico City
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Mexico City Living Index

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Piedras Negras

🇲🇽 Mexico

$1,143

/mo nomad

Mexico City

🇲🇽 Mexico

$1,548

/mo nomad

Monthly Cost of Living

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

Monthly costs for one person with rent: $1,143 in Piedras Negras versus $1,548 in Mexico City.

Piedras Negras $1,143
Mexico City $1,548

Estimated couple costs with rent: $1,832 in Piedras Negras versus $2,436 in Mexico City.

Piedras Negras $1,832
Mexico City $2,436

Monthly costs for a family of three with rent: $2,521 in Piedras Negras versus $3,323 in Mexico City.

Piedras Negras $2,521
Mexico City $3,323

Living in Piedras Negras costs roughly 26% less than in Mexico City, and outside of rent the biggest gap is in groceries.

The two cities straddle the global median: Piedras Negras is 16% below, Mexico City is 14% above.

Meal at Budget Restaurant

$11.07 MX$204

$11.02 MX$204

0.45%

Three-Course Dinner for Two, Mid-Range

$44.31 MX$819

$48.68 MX$900

-8.98%

Fast Food Meal (McDonalds, etc)

$8.74 MX$162

$10.90 MX$201

-19.82%

Cappuccino

$3.64 MX$67.3

$3.68 MX$68.1

-1.09%

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

$1.40 MX$25.83

$1.63 MX$30.18

-14.11%

Water (0.33 liter bottle)

$1.06 MX$19.54

$1.25 MX$23.07

-15.20%

Local Beer (0.5 liter draught)

$2.41 MX$44.57

$3.25 MX$60.1

-25.85%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$4.00 MX$73.9

$5.53 MX$102

-27.67%

Milk (1 liter)

$1.59 MX$29.34

$1.70 MX$31.50

-6.47%

White Bread (500g)

$2.67 MX$49.36

$3.02 MX$55.8

-11.59%

Rice (white) (1kg)

$1.67 MX$30.82

$1.92 MX$35.53

-13.02%

Eggs

$2.43 MX$44.94

$2.73 MX$50.5

-10.99%

Local Cheese (1kg)

$8.38 MX$155

$11.77 MX$218

-28.80%

Chicken Fillets (1kg)

$8.51 MX$157

$9.53 MX$176

-10.70%

Beef Round Steak (1kg)

$11.31 MX$209

$14.41 MX$266

-21.51%

Apples (1kg)

$2.72 MX$50.2

$3.02 MX$55.8

-9.93%

Banana (1kg)

$1.54 MX$28.45

$1.89 MX$35.01

-18.52%

Oranges (1kg)

$1.93 MX$35.67

$1.99 MX$36.70

-3.02%

Tomato (1kg)

$1.80 MX$33.34

$2.19 MX$40.38

-17.81%

Potato (1kg)

$1.93 MX$35.59

$1.92 MX$35.43

0.52%

Onion (1kg)

$1.82 MX$33.71

$1.87 MX$34.49

-2.67%

Lettuce (1 head)

$1.43 MX$26.41

$1.44 MX$26.62

-0.69%

Water (1.5 liter bottle)

$1.12 MX$20.73

$1.27 MX$23.39

-11.81%

Cigarettes 20 Pack (Marlboro, Camel)

$4.28 MX$79.1

$5.22 MX$96.4

-18.01%

Wine (Bottle)

$10.39 MX$192

$16.17 MX$299

-35.75%

Local Beer (0.5 liter bottle)

$1.76 MX$32.46

$1.90 MX$35.03

-7.37%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$3.23 MX$59.7

$4.22 MX$78.0

-23.46%

One-way Ticket (Public Transport)

$0.64 MX$11.90

$0.34 MX$6.30

88.24%

Public Transport Monthly Pass (Regular Price)

$19.65 MX$363

Taxi Start (Normal Tariff)

$2.54 MX$46.95

$2.00 MX$36.90

27.00%

Taxi (Normal Tariff) (1km)

$2.01 MX$37.21

$0.52 MX$9.67

286.54%

Taxi 1hour Waiting (Normal Tariff)

$10.83 MX$200

$5.34 MX$98.7

102.81%

Gasoline (1 liter)

$1.29 MX$23.90

$1.52 MX$28.13

-15.13%

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

$20.9K MX$386.5K

$22.1K MX$408.0K

-5.25%

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

$23.9K MX$442.6K

$24.5K MX$452.9K

-2.28%

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

$58.1 MX$1,073

$61.1 MX$1,129

-4.91%

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

$23.02 MX$425

$28.58 MX$528

-19.45%

Internet (50+ Mbps, Unlimited Data)

$29.92 MX$553

$34.47 MX$637

-13.20%

Gym Membership (Monthly)

$33.75 MX$624

$56.4 MX$1,042

-40.12%

Tennis Court (1 Hour on Weekend)

$19.83 MX$366

$24.88 MX$460

-20.30%

Cinema Ticket

$5.33 MX$98.5

$6.66 MX$123

-19.97%

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

$219 MX$4,051

$427 MX$7,891

-48.67%

International Primary School, 1 Child (Yearly)

$4,618 MX$85.3K

$11.6K MX$215.0K

-60.31%

Jeans (Levis 501 Or Similar)

$54.9 MX$1,015

$67.8 MX$1,253

-19.01%

Summer Dress (H&M, Zara, etc)

$40.64 MX$751

$52.0 MX$960

-21.79%

Sport Shoes (Adidas, Nike)

$99.3 MX$1,835

$106 MX$1,959

-6.34%

Men's Leather Business Shoes

$90.7 MX$1,675

$113 MX$2,080

-19.45%

1-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$599 MX$11.1K

$1,025 MX$18.9K

-41.52%

1-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$391 MX$7,221

$654 MX$12.1K

-40.27%

3-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$1,038 MX$19.2K

$2,308 MX$42.7K

-55.05%

3-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$753 MX$13.9K

$1,242 MX$22.9K

-39.39%

Buy Apartment in City Center (m2)

$1,878 MX$34.7K

$3,613 MX$66.8K

-48.03%

Buy Apartment Outside City Center (m2)

$1,167 MX$21.6K

$1,936 MX$35.8K

-39.72%

Average Monthly Net Salary (After Tax)

$1,645 MX$30.4K

$964 MX$17.8K

70.60%

20-Year Fixed Mortgage Interest Rate (Annual %)

11.3

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

Last update for Piedras Negras: October 17, 2026

Last update for Mexico City: October 20, 2026

Monthly budget structure

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

Accommodation & Living

Piedras Negras

$391 34.2%

Mexico City

$654 42.3% 67.4% $263

Groceries & Markets

Piedras Negras

$265 23.2%

Mexico City

$318 20.6% 20.1% $53

Eating Out

Piedras Negras

$188 16.5%

Mexico City

$204 13.2% 8.3% $16

Clothing & Footwear

Piedras Negras

$128 11.2%

Mexico City

$152 9.8% 18.5% $24

Monthly Utilities & Internet

Piedras Negras

$111 9.7%

Mexico City

$124 8% 11.8% $13

Sport & Entertainment

Piedras Negras

$44 3.9%

Mexico City

$70 4.5% 56.9% $25

Getting Around

Piedras Negras

$15 * 1.3%

Mexico City

$26 1.7% 68.7% $10

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 $599 in Piedras Negras and $1,025 in Mexico City. Housing cost is often the main lever when comparing two cities.

Piedras Negras pays 71% more on average while also being the cheaper of the two. The combined effect is a noticeably stronger local purchasing power.

Dining out: $44.00 in Piedras Negras vs $49.00 in Mexico City for a mid-range dinner for two. Groceries echo the gap at $265 vs $318 per month, with Piedras Negras cheaper across the board.

Good to know

🇲🇽 Piedras Negras

🇲🇽 Mexico City

🕒 Local time

03:48 3:48 AM

02:48 2:48 AM

1 h behind Piedras Negras

🌤 Weather

👥 Population

173,959

9,209,944 Capital

💱 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

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Between locations

Piedras Negras Mexico City 1,040 km ≈ 1 h 45 min nonstop flight

From you

Piedras Negras
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

Piedras Negras vs Mexico City: Cost of Living - Frequently Asked Questions

Piedras Negras and Mexico City differ by about 35% in total monthly costs ($1,143 vs $1,548 including rent). Piedras Negras is meaningfully more affordable – a gap that matters a lot on a fixed or modest income.

Average pay runs 71% higher in Piedras Negras, 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: $599 in Piedras Negras versus $1,025 in Mexico City. Housing is usually the single largest factor when comparing overall living costs between the two.

Childcare runs $219 in Piedras Negras versus $427 in Mexico City. Over years of preschool, even a modest monthly gap compounds into a major financial factor for families.

Dining out is cheaper in Piedras Negras – a meal for two runs $44.00 versus $49.00 in Mexico City. If you eat out regularly, this makes a real dent in your monthly spending.

At $1,143 in Piedras Negras versus $1,548 in Mexico City, a $1,500 budget is realistic in Piedras Negras but tight or insufficient in Mexico City. The gap between the two cities makes Piedras Negras 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 Piedras Negras gentler on the wallet – expenses run 35% less than in Mexico City. Beyond cost, consider language, visa policies, and how big the international community is in each city.