Last update: Oct 2026

Cost of Living Comparison Between San Felipe and Monterrey

For one person, living is cheaper in San Felipe: $1,106 a month against $1,599 in Monterrey, rent and utilities included – about $5,900 less a year. Rent and utilities account for most of the difference.

54

Cost of Living Index in San Felipe
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San Felipe Living Index
77

Cost of Living Index in Monterrey
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Monterrey Living Index

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San Felipe

🇲🇽 Mexico

$1,106

/mo nomad

Monterrey

🇲🇽 Mexico

$1,599

/mo nomad

Monthly Cost of Living

How much you'll spend in San Felipe 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 San Felipe and in Monterrey actually costs, broken down by who's living it.

Monthly costs for one person with rent: $1,106 in San Felipe versus $1,599 in Monterrey.

San Felipe $1,106
Monterrey $1,599

Estimated couple costs with rent: $1,777 in San Felipe versus $2,493 in Monterrey.

San Felipe $1,777
Monterrey $2,493

Monthly costs for a family of three with rent: $2,448 in San Felipe versus $3,387 in Monterrey.

San Felipe $2,448
Monterrey $3,387

Living in San Felipe costs roughly 31% less than in Monterrey, and outside of rent the biggest gap is in eating out.

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

Meal at Budget Restaurant

$7.35 MX$136

$13.80 MX$255

-46.74%

Three-Course Dinner for Two, Mid-Range

$43.63 MX$806

$47.99 MX$887

-9.09%

Fast Food Meal (McDonalds, etc)

$8.27 MX$153

$10.65 MX$197

-22.35%

Cappuccino

$3.49 MX$64.4

$3.99 MX$73.7

-12.53%

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

$1.35 MX$24.91

$1.66 MX$30.76

-18.67%

Water (0.33 liter bottle)

$1.05 MX$19.41

$0.99 MX$18.21

6.06%

Local Beer (0.5 liter draught)

$2.45 MX$45.34

$2.36 MX$43.64

3.81%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$4.10 MX$75.8

$4.43 MX$81.8

-7.45%

Milk (1 liter)

$1.64 MX$30.38

$1.82 MX$33.58

-9.89%

White Bread (500g)

$2.54 MX$46.89

$2.83 MX$52.4

-10.25%

Rice (white) (1kg)

$1.72 MX$31.80

$1.92 MX$35.44

-10.42%

Eggs

$2.53 MX$46.82

$2.48 MX$45.78

2.02%

Local Cheese (1kg)

$8.42 MX$156

$11.74 MX$217

-28.28%

Chicken Fillets (1kg)

$8.46 MX$156

$9.10 MX$168

-7.03%

Beef Round Steak (1kg)

$11.72 MX$217

$12.53 MX$232

-6.46%

Apples (1kg)

$2.67 MX$49.26

$3.34 MX$61.6

-20.06%

Banana (1kg)

$1.53 MX$28.23

$1.57 MX$29.10

-2.55%

Oranges (1kg)

$1.89 MX$35.02

$2.16 MX$39.86

-12.50%

Tomato (1kg)

$1.83 MX$33.76

$2.47 MX$45.65

-25.91%

Potato (1kg)

$1.99 MX$36.84

$2.31 MX$42.64

-13.85%

Onion (1kg)

$1.87 MX$34.64

$2.68 MX$49.47

-30.22%

Lettuce (1 head)

$1.43 MX$26.39

$1.46 MX$26.90

-2.05%

Water (1.5 liter bottle)

$1.08 MX$20.02

$1.19 MX$22.07

-9.24%

Cigarettes 20 Pack (Marlboro, Camel)

$4.50 MX$83.1

$4.75 MX$87.8

-5.26%

Wine (Bottle)

$10.26 MX$190

$13.58 MX$251

-24.45%

Local Beer (0.5 liter bottle)

$1.75 MX$32.42

$1.92 MX$35.52

-8.85%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$3.07 MX$56.8

$2.88 MX$53.2

6.60%

One-way Ticket (Public Transport)

$0.63 MX$11.65

$0.79 MX$14.66

-20.25%

Public Transport Monthly Pass (Regular Price)

$31.36 MX$579

Taxi Start (Normal Tariff)

$2.63 MX$48.65

$1.59 MX$29.44

65.41%

Taxi (Normal Tariff) (1km)

$1.93 MX$35.73

$1.06 MX$19.58

82.08%

Taxi 1hour Waiting (Normal Tariff)

$11.06 MX$204

$10.80 MX$200

2.41%

Gasoline (1 liter)

$1.45 MX$26.73

$1.55 MX$28.59

-6.45%

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

$21.4K MX$395.3K

$24.2K MX$446.4K

-11.44%

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

$24.5K MX$452.2K

$24.3K MX$449.4K

0.63%

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

$57.9 MX$1,070

$117 MX$2,159

-50.43%

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

$23.12 MX$427

$26.38 MX$488

-12.36%

Internet (50+ Mbps, Unlimited Data)

$29.50 MX$545

$26.04 MX$481

13.29%

Gym Membership (Monthly)

$33.66 MX$622

$30.26 MX$559

11.24%

Tennis Court (1 Hour on Weekend)

$20.47 MX$378

$21.25 MX$393

-3.67%

Cinema Ticket

$5.36 MX$99.0

$5.23 MX$96.6

2.49%

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

$219 MX$4,051

$673 MX$12.4K

-67.41%

International Primary School, 1 Child (Yearly)

$4,580 MX$84.6K

$11.1K MX$205.2K

-58.75%

Jeans (Levis 501 Or Similar)

$54.2 MX$1,002

$72.1 MX$1,332

-24.75%

Summer Dress (H&M, Zara, etc)

$40.18 MX$742

$42.38 MX$783

-5.19%

Sport Shoes (Adidas, Nike)

$99.7 MX$1,842

$112 MX$2,066

-10.84%

Men's Leather Business Shoes

$90.0 MX$1,662

$119 MX$2,200

-24.44%

1-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$617 MX$11.4K

$949 MX$17.5K

-34.94%

1-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$389 MX$7,184

$666 MX$12.3K

-41.65%

3-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$1,059 MX$19.6K

$1,821 MX$33.7K

-41.84%

3-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$757 MX$14.0K

$1,271 MX$23.5K

-40.49%

Buy Apartment in City Center (m2)

$1,934 MX$35.7K

$4,050 MX$74.8K

-52.25%

Buy Apartment Outside City Center (m2)

$1,147 MX$21.2K

$2,348 MX$43.4K

-51.16%

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 San Felipe: October 17, 2026

Last update for Monterrey: October 18, 2026

Monthly budget structure

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

Accommodation & Living

San Felipe

$389 35.1%

Monterrey

$666 41.7% 71.4% $278

Groceries & Markets

San Felipe

$265 23.9%

Monterrey

$304 19% 15.1% $40

Eating Out

San Felipe

$156 14.1%

Monterrey

$221 13.9% 42.4% $66

Clothing & Footwear

San Felipe

$128 11.6%

Monterrey

$155 9.7% 21.6% $28

Monthly Utilities & Internet

San Felipe

$111 10%

Monterrey

$169 10.6% 53.1% $59

Sport & Entertainment

San Felipe

$44 4%

Monterrey

$41 2.6% 8.2% $3.7

Getting Around

San Felipe

$15 * 1.3%

Monterrey

$41 2.6% 180% $27

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 $617 in San Felipe and $949 in Monterrey. Housing cost is often the main lever when comparing two cities.

Dining out: $44.00 in San Felipe vs $48.00 in Monterrey for a mid-range dinner for two. Groceries echo the gap at $265 vs $304 per month, with San Felipe cheaper across the board.

Good to know

🇲🇽 San Felipe

🇲🇽 Monterrey

🕒 Local time

07:57 7:57 AM

Same time as San Felipe

🌤 Weather

👥 Population

28,452

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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San Felipe Monterrey 480 km

From you

San Felipe
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

San Felipe vs Monterrey: Cost of Living - Frequently Asked Questions

San Felipe and Monterrey differ by about 45% in total monthly costs ($1,106 vs $1,599 including rent). San Felipe is meaningfully more affordable – a gap that matters a lot on a fixed or modest income.

You'd need roughly $1,660 in San Felipe 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: $617 in San Felipe versus $949 in Monterrey. Housing is usually the single largest factor when comparing overall living costs between the two.

Childcare runs $219 in San Felipe 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 San Felipe – a meal for two runs $44.00 versus $48.00 in Monterrey. If you eat out regularly, this makes a real dent in your monthly spending.

At $1,106 in San Felipe versus $1,599 in Monterrey, a $1,500 budget is realistic in San Felipe but tight or insufficient in Monterrey. The gap between the two cities makes San Felipe 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, San Felipe and Monterrey 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 San Felipe gentler on the wallet – expenses run 45% less than in Monterrey. Beyond cost, consider language, visa policies, and how big the international community is in each city.