Last update: Oct 2026

Cost of Living Comparison Between Tainan and Mexico City

For one person, living is cheaper in Tainan: $1,068 a month against $1,567 in Mexico City, rent and utilities included – about $6,000 less a year. Rent and utilities account for most of the difference.

52

Cost of Living Index in Tainan
Learn more

Tainan Living Index
76

Cost of Living Index in Mexico City
Learn more

Mexico City Living Index

Jump to prices

Tainan

🇹🇼 Taiwan

$1,068

/mo nomad

Mexico City

🇲🇽 Mexico

$1,567

/mo nomad

Monthly Cost of Living

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

Monthly costs for one person with rent: $1,068 in Tainan versus $1,567 in Mexico City.

Tainan $1,068
Mexico City $1,567

Estimated couple costs with rent: $1,837 in Tainan versus $2,450 in Mexico City.

Tainan $1,837
Mexico City $2,450

Monthly costs for a family of three with rent: $2,606 in Tainan versus $3,333 in Mexico City.

Tainan $2,606
Mexico City $3,333

Living in Tainan costs roughly 32% less than in Mexico City, and outside of rent the biggest gap is in eating out.

The two cities straddle the global median: Tainan is 21% below, Mexico City is 16% above.

Meal at Budget Restaurant

$3.74 NT$121

$10.75 MX$199

-65.21%

Three-Course Dinner for Two, Mid-Range

$24.62 NT$799

$50.3 MX$929

-51.00%

Fast Food Meal (McDonalds, etc)

$4.79 NT$155

$11.10 MX$205

-56.85%

Cappuccino

$3.27 NT$106

$3.68 MX$68.1

-11.14%

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

$0.95 NT$30.66

$1.65 MX$30.42

-42.42%

Water (0.33 liter bottle)

$0.63 NT$20.54

$1.30 MX$24.08

-51.54%

Local Beer (0.5 liter draught)

$2.86 NT$92.6

$3.32 MX$61.3

-13.86%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$3.49 NT$113

$5.54 MX$102

-37.00%

Milk (1 liter)

$3.09 NT$100

$1.77 MX$32.68

74.58%

White Bread (500g)

$1.77 NT$57.5

$3.05 MX$56.4

-41.97%

Rice (white) (1kg)

$3.15 NT$102

$2.01 MX$37.20

56.72%

Eggs

$2.75 NT$89.3

$2.77 MX$51.1

-0.72%

Local Cheese (1kg)

$19.50 NT$632

$11.91 MX$220

63.73%

Chicken Fillets (1kg)

$9.88 NT$320

$9.33 MX$172

5.89%

Beef Round Steak (1kg)

$21.04 NT$682

$15.02 MX$278

40.08%

Apples (1kg)

$4.96 NT$161

$3.08 MX$56.8

61.04%

Banana (1kg)

$2.86 NT$92.7

$1.95 MX$35.97

46.67%

Oranges (1kg)

$3.00 NT$97.4

$2.03 MX$37.54

47.78%

Tomato (1kg)

$4.48 NT$145

$2.21 MX$40.92

102.71%

Potato (1kg)

$2.66 NT$86.4

$2.02 MX$37.41

31.68%

Onion (1kg)

$2.27 NT$73.6

$1.82 MX$33.67

24.73%

Lettuce (1 head)

$1.71 NT$55.3

$1.52 MX$28.07

12.50%

Water (1.5 liter bottle)

$1.15 NT$37.31

$1.28 MX$23.65

-10.16%

Cigarettes 20 Pack (Marlboro, Camel)

$3.81 NT$124

$5.27 MX$97.4

-27.70%

Wine (Bottle)

$13.94 NT$452

$16.12 MX$298

-13.52%

Local Beer (0.5 liter bottle)

$1.65 NT$53.4

$1.95 MX$36.05

-15.38%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$2.17 NT$70.3

$4.25 MX$78.6

-48.94%

One-way Ticket (Public Transport)

$0.61 NT$19.68

$0.31 MX$5.82

96.77%

Public Transport Monthly Pass (Regular Price)

$33.89 NT$1,099

$19.85 MX$367

70.73%

Taxi Start (Normal Tariff)

$2.53 NT$82.2

$2.00 MX$36.93

26.50%

Taxi (Normal Tariff) (1km)

$0.77 NT$24.92

$0.53 MX$9.86

45.28%

Taxi 1hour Waiting (Normal Tariff)

$5.74 NT$186

$5.62 MX$104

2.14%

Gasoline (1 liter)

$1.01 NT$32.90

$1.52 MX$28.07

-33.55%

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

$32.8K NT$1.1M

$21.0K MX$388.7K

55.96%

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

$24.1K NT$780.6K

$25.2K MX$465.3K

-4.40%

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

$87.2 NT$2,828

$62.5 MX$1,155

39.56%

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

$17.51 NT$568

$28.77 MX$532

-39.14%

Internet (50+ Mbps, Unlimited Data)

$21.30 NT$691

$34.45 MX$637

-38.17%

Gym Membership (Monthly)

$45.65 NT$1,480

$57.1 MX$1,055

-20.05%

Tennis Court (1 Hour on Weekend)

$24.81 MX$458

Cinema Ticket

$9.60 NT$311

$6.67 MX$123

43.93%

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

$433 NT$14.1K

$431 MX$7,964

0.54%

International Primary School, 1 Child (Yearly)

$5,413 NT$175.5K

$11.7K MX$216.9K

-53.89%

Jeans (Levis 501 Or Similar)

$63.2 NT$2,050

$70.8 MX$1,308

-10.71%

Summer Dress (H&M, Zara, etc)

$39.20 NT$1,271

$51.8 MX$958

-24.37%

Sport Shoes (Adidas, Nike)

$83.7 NT$2,716

$109 MX$2,011

-23.06%

Men's Leather Business Shoes

$103 NT$3,353

$112 MX$2,076

-7.94%

1-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$297 NT$9,624

$1,051 MX$19.4K

-71.77%

1-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$200 NT$6,470

$665 MX$12.3K

-70.00%

3-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$845 NT$27.4K

$2,346 MX$43.3K

-64.00%

3-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$696 NT$22.6K

$1,227 MX$22.7K

-43.24%

Buy Apartment in City Center (m2)

$4,123 NT$133.7K

$3,554 MX$65.7K

16.01%

Buy Apartment Outside City Center (m2)

$3,022 NT$98.0K

$1,977 MX$36.5K

52.85%

Average Monthly Net Salary (After Tax)

$1,376 NT$44.6K

$975 MX$18.0K

41.21%

20-Year Fixed Mortgage Interest Rate (Annual %)

2.4

11.3

-78.76%

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

Last update for Tainan: October 11, 2026

Last update for Mexico City: October 11, 2026

Monthly budget structure

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

Groceries & Markets

Tainan

$393 36.9%

Mexico City

$323 20.6% 18% $71

Accommodation & Living

Tainan

$200 18.7%

Mexico City

$665 42.4% 233% $466

Clothing & Footwear

Tainan

$130 12.2%

Mexico City

$155 9.9% 18.7% $24

Monthly Utilities & Internet

Tainan

$126 11.8%

Mexico City

$126 8% 0.3% $0.3

Eating Out

Tainan

$111 10.4%

Mexico City

$203 13% 82.7% $92

Sport & Entertainment

Tainan

$65 6.1%

Mexico City

$70 4.5% 8.6% $5.6

Getting Around

Tainan

$43 4%

Mexico City

$26 1.6% 39.6% $17

Cost Breakdown

A one-bedroom apartment in the center runs $297 in Tainan and $1,051 in Mexico City. Housing cost is often the main lever when comparing two cities.

Tainan pays 41% more on average while also being the cheaper of the two. The combined effect is a noticeably stronger local purchasing power.

Dining out: $25.00 in Tainan vs $50.0 in Mexico City. Groceries flip the comparison at $393 vs $323, with Mexico City cheaper for home cooking.

Good to know

🇹🇼 Tainan

🇲🇽 Mexico City

🕒 Local time

08:15 8:15 AM

18:15 6:15 PM

14 h behind Tainan

🌤 Weather

👥 Population

1,886,033

9,209,944 Capital

💱 Currency

New Taiwan Dollar TWD NT$

Mexican Peso MXN $

📈 Exchange rate

100 TWD = 3.08 USD

100 TWD = 2.74 EUR

100 MXN = 5.41 USD

100 MXN = 4.81 EUR

Exchange rates and currency converter

MXN, USD, EUR to TWD – New Taiwan Dollar Converter

🇺🇸 United States Dollar ($)

🇹🇼 New Taiwan Dollar (NT$)

New Taiwan Dollar exchange rates as of October 19, 2026: 1 USD = 32.43 TWD (100 TWD = 3.08 USD). 1 EUR = 36.46 TWD (100 TWD = 2.74 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 TWD in detail →

On the map

Lowest

Highest

Between locations

Tainan Mexico City 13,650 km ≈ 18 h nonstop flight

From you

Tainan
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

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

Tainan and Mexico City differ by about 47% in total monthly costs ($1,068 vs $1,567 including rent). Tainan is meaningfully more affordable – a gap that matters a lot on a fixed or modest income.

Average pay runs 41% higher in Tainan, 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: $297 in Tainan 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 Tainan runs roughly 71% less than in Mexico City. Both cities have functional networks, but the price difference matters if you're watching your budget.

Childcare runs $433 in Tainan versus $431 in Mexico City. Over years of preschool, even a modest monthly gap compounds into a major financial factor for families.

At $1,068 in Tainan versus $1,567 in Mexico City, a $2,000 budget is realistic in Tainan but tight or insufficient in Mexico City. The gap between the two cities makes Tainan 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, Tainan 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 Tainan gentler on the wallet – expenses run 47% less than in Mexico City. Beyond cost, consider language, visa policies, and how big the international community is in each city.