Last update: Oct 2026

Cost of Living Comparison Between Surabaya and Mexico City

For one person, living is cheaper in Surabaya: $674 a month against $1,548 in Mexico City, rent and utilities included – about $10,500 less a year. Rent and utilities account for most of the difference.

33

Cost of Living Index in Surabaya
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Surabaya Living Index
75

Cost of Living Index in Mexico City
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Mexico City Living Index

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Surabaya

🇮🇩 Indonesia

$674

/mo nomad

Mexico City

🇲🇽 Mexico

$1,548

/mo nomad

Monthly Cost of Living

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

Monthly costs for one person with rent: $674 in Surabaya versus $1,548 in Mexico City.

Surabaya $674
Mexico City $1,548

Estimated couple costs with rent: $1,173 in Surabaya versus $2,436 in Mexico City.

Surabaya $1,173
Mexico City $2,436

Monthly costs for a family of three with rent: $1,672 in Surabaya versus $3,323 in Mexico City.

Surabaya $1,672
Mexico City $3,323

Living in Surabaya costs roughly 56% less than in Mexico City, and outside of rent the biggest gap is in eating out.

The two cities straddle the global median: Surabaya is 50% below, Mexico City is 14% above.

Meal at Budget Restaurant

$1.63 Rp 29.3K

$11.02 MX$204

-85.21%

Three-Course Dinner for Two, Mid-Range

$11.26 Rp 202.7K

$48.68 MX$900

-76.87%

Fast Food Meal (McDonalds, etc)

$3.14 Rp 56.5K

$10.90 MX$201

-71.19%

Cappuccino

$1.56 Rp 28.0K

$3.68 MX$68.1

-57.61%

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

$0.55 Rp 9,867

$1.63 MX$30.18

-66.26%

Water (0.33 liter bottle)

$0.26 Rp 4,619

$1.25 MX$23.07

-79.20%

Local Beer (0.5 liter draught)

$2.16 Rp 38.9K

$3.25 MX$60.1

-33.54%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$4.14 Rp 74.5K

$5.53 MX$102

-25.14%

Milk (1 liter)

$1.25 Rp 22.5K

$1.70 MX$31.50

-26.47%

White Bread (500g)

$1.27 Rp 22.9K

$3.02 MX$55.8

-57.95%

Rice (white) (1kg)

$0.83 Rp 15.0K

$1.92 MX$35.53

-56.77%

Eggs

$1.18 Rp 21.2K

$2.73 MX$50.5

-56.78%

Local Cheese (1kg)

$7.75 Rp 139.4K

$11.77 MX$218

-34.15%

Chicken Fillets (1kg)

$3.08 Rp 55.5K

$9.53 MX$176

-67.68%

Beef Round Steak (1kg)

$7.75 Rp 139.4K

$14.41 MX$266

-46.22%

Apples (1kg)

$2.02 Rp 36.3K

$3.02 MX$55.8

-33.11%

Banana (1kg)

$1.29 Rp 23.2K

$1.89 MX$35.01

-31.75%

Oranges (1kg)

$1.89 Rp 34.0K

$1.99 MX$36.70

-5.03%

Tomato (1kg)

$1.49 Rp 26.9K

$2.19 MX$40.38

-31.96%

Potato (1kg)

$1.36 Rp 24.4K

$1.92 MX$35.43

-29.17%

Onion (1kg)

$1.90 Rp 34.2K

$1.87 MX$34.49

1.60%

Lettuce (1 head)

$0.89 Rp 16.0K

$1.44 MX$26.62

-38.19%

Water (1.5 liter bottle)

$0.39 Rp 7,029

$1.27 MX$23.39

-69.29%

Cigarettes 20 Pack (Marlboro, Camel)

$1.98 Rp 35.7K

$5.22 MX$96.4

-62.07%

Wine (Bottle)

$25.14 Rp 452.5K

$16.17 MX$299

55.47%

Local Beer (0.5 liter bottle)

$1.74 Rp 31.3K

$1.90 MX$35.03

-8.42%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$2.83 Rp 50.9K

$4.22 MX$78.0

-32.94%

One-way Ticket (Public Transport)

$0.35 Rp 6,237

$0.34 MX$6.30

2.94%

Public Transport Monthly Pass (Regular Price)

$19.65 MX$363

Taxi Start (Normal Tariff)

$0.46 Rp 8,282

$2.00 MX$36.90

-77.00%

Taxi (Normal Tariff) (1km)

$0.42 Rp 7,542

$0.52 MX$9.67

-19.23%

Taxi 1hour Waiting (Normal Tariff)

$2.58 Rp 46.4K

$5.34 MX$98.7

-51.69%

Gasoline (1 liter)

$0.88 Rp 15.8K

$1.52 MX$28.13

-42.11%

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

$24.6K Rp 443.1M

$22.1K MX$408.0K

11.51%

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

$32.3K Rp 581.0M

$24.5K MX$452.9K

31.69%

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

$87.3 Rp 1.6M

$61.1 MX$1,129

42.98%

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

$4.57 Rp 82.2K

$28.58 MX$528

-84.01%

Internet (50+ Mbps, Unlimited Data)

$19.05 Rp 342.9K

$34.47 MX$637

-44.73%

Gym Membership (Monthly)

$17.92 Rp 322.6K

$56.4 MX$1,042

-68.20%

Tennis Court (1 Hour on Weekend)

$6.66 Rp 119.9K

$24.88 MX$460

-73.23%

Cinema Ticket

$2.64 Rp 47.5K

$6.66 MX$123

-60.36%

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

$277 Rp 5.0M

$427 MX$7,891

-35.11%

International Primary School, 1 Child (Yearly)

$9,324 Rp 167.8M

$11.6K MX$215.0K

-19.88%

Jeans (Levis 501 Or Similar)

$70.9 Rp 1.3M

$67.8 MX$1,253

4.57%

Summer Dress (H&M, Zara, etc)

$38.58 Rp 694.4K

$52.0 MX$960

-25.75%

Sport Shoes (Adidas, Nike)

$80.8 Rp 1.5M

$106 MX$1,959

-23.82%

Men's Leather Business Shoes

$75.1 Rp 1.4M

$113 MX$2,080

-33.25%

1-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$282 Rp 5.1M

$1,025 MX$18.9K

-72.44%

1-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$144 Rp 2.6M

$654 MX$12.1K

-77.95%

3-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$1,238 Rp 22.3M

$2,308 MX$42.7K

-46.35%

3-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$601 Rp 10.8M

$1,242 MX$22.9K

-51.61%

Buy Apartment in City Center (m2)

$2,161 Rp 38.9M

$3,613 MX$66.8K

-40.19%

Buy Apartment Outside City Center (m2)

$1,072 Rp 19.3M

$1,936 MX$35.8K

-44.63%

Average Monthly Net Salary (After Tax)

$271 Rp 4.9M

$964 MX$17.8K

-71.94%

20-Year Fixed Mortgage Interest Rate (Annual %)

7.5

11.3

-33.63%

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

Last update for Surabaya: October 20, 2026

Last update for Mexico City: October 20, 2026

Monthly budget structure

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

Groceries & Markets

Surabaya

$209 31%

Mexico City

$318 20.6% 52.4% $109

Accommodation & Living

Surabaya

$144 21.4%

Mexico City

$654 42.3% 354% $510

Clothing & Footwear

Surabaya

$119 17.7%

Mexico City

$152 9.8% 27.5% $33

Monthly Utilities & Internet

Surabaya

$111 16.5%

Mexico City

$124 8% 11.9% $13

Eating Out

Surabaya

$63 9.4%

Mexico City

$204 13.2% 222% $140

Sport & Entertainment

Surabaya

$23 3.4%

Mexico City

$70 4.5% 201% $47

Getting Around

Surabaya

$3.9 * 0.6%

Mexico City

$26 1.7% 551% $22

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 $282 in Surabaya and $1,025 in Mexico City. Housing cost is often the main lever when comparing two cities.

Mexico City pays 256% more on average. The extra income cushions the higher costs, though housing choices and lifestyle decide how much of the gap is truly closed.

Dining out: $11.00 in Surabaya vs $49.00 in Mexico City for a mid-range dinner for two. Groceries echo the gap at $209 vs $318 per month, with Surabaya cheaper across the board.

Good to know

🇮🇩 Surabaya

🇲🇽 Mexico City

🕒 Local time

17:46 5:46 PM

04:46 4:46 AM

13 h behind Surabaya

🌤 Weather

👥 Population

2,765,487

9,209,944 Capital

💱 Currency

Indonesian Rupiah IDR Rp

Mexican Peso MXN $

📈 Exchange rate

100,000 IDR = 5.56 USD

100,000 IDR = 4.94 EUR

100 MXN = 5.41 USD

100 MXN = 4.81 EUR

Exchange rates and currency converter

MXN, USD, EUR to IDR – Indonesian Rupiah Converter

🇺🇸 United States Dollar ($)

🇮🇩 Indonesian Rupiah (Rp)

Indonesian Rupiah exchange rates as of October 20, 2026: 1 USD = 18,000 IDR (100,000 IDR = 5.56 USD). 1 EUR = 20,236 IDR (100,000 IDR = 4.94 EUR).

Mexican Peso exchange rates as of October 20, 2026: 1 USD = 18.48 MXN (100 MXN = 5.41 USD). 1 EUR = 20.77 MXN (100 MXN = 4.81 EUR).

USD to IDR in detail →

On the map

Lowest

Highest

Between locations

Surabaya Mexico City 16,320 km ≈ 21 h nonstop flight

From you

Surabaya
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

Surabaya vs Mexico City: Cost of Living - Frequently Asked Questions

Surabaya and Mexico City differ by about 130% in total monthly costs ($674 vs $1,548 including rent). Surabaya is meaningfully more affordable – a gap that matters a lot on a fixed or modest income.

On paper, salaries run 256% lower in Mexico City. 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: $282 in Surabaya versus $1,025 in Mexico City. Housing is usually the single largest factor when comparing overall living costs between the two.

Childcare runs $277 in Surabaya 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 Surabaya – a meal for two runs $11.00 versus $49.00 in Mexico City. If you eat out regularly, this makes a real dent in your monthly spending.

At $674 in Surabaya versus $1,548 in Mexico City, a $2,000 budget is realistic in Surabaya but tight or insufficient in Mexico City. The gap between the two cities makes Surabaya 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 Surabaya gentler on the wallet – expenses run 130% less than in Mexico City. Beyond cost, consider language, visa policies, and how big the international community is in each city.