Last update: Oct 2026

Cost of Living Comparison Between Taiyuan and Mexico City

For one person, living is cheaper in Taiyuan: $589 a month against $1,567 in Mexico City, rent and utilities included – about $11,700 less a year. Rent and utilities account for about half of the difference.

28

Cost of Living Index in Taiyuan
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Taiyuan Living Index
76

Cost of Living Index in Mexico City
Learn more

Mexico City Living Index

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Taiyuan

🇨🇳 China

$589

/mo nomad

Mexico City

🇲🇽 Mexico

$1,567

/mo nomad

Monthly Cost of Living

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

Monthly costs for one person with rent: $589 in Taiyuan versus $1,567 in Mexico City.

Taiyuan $589
Mexico City $1,567

Estimated couple costs with rent: $913 in Taiyuan versus $2,450 in Mexico City.

Taiyuan $913
Mexico City $2,450

Monthly costs for a family of three with rent: $1,238 in Taiyuan versus $3,333 in Mexico City.

Taiyuan $1,238
Mexico City $3,333

Living in Taiyuan costs roughly 62% less than in Mexico City, and outside of rent the biggest gap is in groceries.

The two cities straddle the global median: Taiyuan is 56% below, Mexico City is 16% above.

Meal at Budget Restaurant

$2.28 ¥15.21

$10.75 MX$199

-78.79%

Three-Course Dinner for Two, Mid-Range

$14.73 ¥98.4

$50.3 MX$929

-70.69%

Fast Food Meal (McDonalds, etc)

$4.40 ¥29.37

$11.10 MX$205

-60.36%

Cappuccino

$2.64 ¥17.60

$3.68 MX$68.1

-28.26%

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

$0.47 ¥3.11

$1.65 MX$30.42

-71.52%

Water (0.33 liter bottle)

$0.29 ¥1.92

$1.30 MX$24.08

-77.69%

Local Beer (0.5 liter draught)

$1.22 ¥8.12

$3.32 MX$61.3

-63.25%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$2.15 ¥14.36

$5.54 MX$102

-61.19%

Milk (1 liter)

$1.77 MX$32.68

White Bread (500g)

$3.05 MX$56.4

Rice (white) (1kg)

$0.83 ¥5.51

$2.01 MX$37.20

-58.71%

Eggs

$1.01 ¥6.75

$2.77 MX$51.1

-63.54%

Local Cheese (1kg)

$11.91 MX$220

Chicken Fillets (1kg)

$9.33 MX$172

Beef Round Steak (1kg)

$13.02 ¥86.9

$15.02 MX$278

-13.32%

Apples (1kg)

$1.87 ¥12.50

$3.08 MX$56.8

-39.29%

Banana (1kg)

$1.38 ¥9.20

$1.95 MX$35.97

-29.23%

Oranges (1kg)

$0.81 ¥5.40

$2.03 MX$37.54

-60.10%

Tomato (1kg)

$1.16 ¥7.76

$2.21 MX$40.92

-47.51%

Potato (1kg)

$0.48 ¥3.20

$2.02 MX$37.41

-76.24%

Onion (1kg)

$0.29 ¥1.91

$1.82 MX$33.67

-84.07%

Lettuce (1 head)

$1.52 MX$28.07

Water (1.5 liter bottle)

$0.46 ¥3.07

$1.28 MX$23.65

-64.06%

Cigarettes 20 Pack (Marlboro, Camel)

$2.95 ¥19.72

$5.27 MX$97.4

-44.02%

Wine (Bottle)

$7.56 ¥50.5

$16.12 MX$298

-53.10%

Local Beer (0.5 liter bottle)

$0.87 ¥5.80

$1.95 MX$36.05

-55.38%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$1.45 ¥9.71

$4.25 MX$78.6

-65.88%

One-way Ticket (Public Transport)

$0.31 ¥2.08

$0.31 MX$5.82

Public Transport Monthly Pass (Regular Price)

$13.65 ¥91.1

$19.85 MX$367

-31.23%

Taxi Start (Normal Tariff)

$1.18 ¥7.89

$2.00 MX$36.93

-41.00%

Taxi (Normal Tariff) (1km)

$0.23 ¥1.53

$0.53 MX$9.86

-56.60%

Taxi 1hour Waiting (Normal Tariff)

$3.73 ¥24.88

$5.62 MX$104

-33.63%

Gasoline (1 liter)

$1.25 ¥8.32

$1.52 MX$28.07

-17.76%

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

$20.0K ¥133.4K

$21.0K MX$388.7K

-5.00%

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

$17.5K ¥117.1K

$25.2K MX$465.3K

-30.36%

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

$94.3 ¥630

$62.5 MX$1,155

50.94%

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

$10.27 ¥68.6

$28.77 MX$532

-64.30%

Internet (50+ Mbps, Unlimited Data)

$12.74 ¥85.1

$34.45 MX$637

-63.02%

Gym Membership (Monthly)

$45.17 ¥302

$57.1 MX$1,055

-20.89%

Tennis Court (1 Hour on Weekend)

$8.76 ¥58.5

$24.81 MX$458

-64.69%

Cinema Ticket

$6.64 ¥44.31

$6.67 MX$123

-0.45%

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

$431 MX$7,964

International Primary School, 1 Child (Yearly)

$11.7K MX$216.9K

Jeans (Levis 501 Or Similar)

$27.60 ¥184

$70.8 MX$1,308

-61.01%

Summer Dress (H&M, Zara, etc)

$67.2 ¥449

$51.8 MX$958

29.62%

Sport Shoes (Adidas, Nike)

$74.0 ¥494

$109 MX$2,011

-32.01%

Men's Leather Business Shoes

$59.4 ¥397

$112 MX$2,076

-47.12%

1-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$223 ¥1,488

$1,051 MX$19.4K

-78.79%

1-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$114 ¥759

$665 MX$12.3K

-82.90%

3-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$556 ¥3,714

$2,346 MX$43.3K

-76.29%

3-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$259 ¥1,730

$1,227 MX$22.7K

-78.87%

Buy Apartment in City Center (m2)

$2,629 ¥17.6K

$3,554 MX$65.7K

-26.03%

Buy Apartment Outside City Center (m2)

$1,252 ¥8,356

$1,977 MX$36.5K

-36.69%

Average Monthly Net Salary (After Tax)

$928 ¥6,194

$975 MX$18.0K

-4.82%

20-Year Fixed Mortgage Interest Rate (Annual %)

3.83

11.3

-66.11%

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

Last update for Taiyuan: October 12, 2026

Last update for Mexico City: October 11, 2026

Monthly budget structure

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

Monthly Utilities & Internet

Taiyuan

$117 19.9%

Mexico City

$126 8% 7.1% $8.4

Accommodation & Living

Taiyuan

$114 19.3%

Mexico City

$665 42.4% 485% $551

Groceries & Markets

Taiyuan

$103 * 17.5%

Mexico City

$323 20.6% 213% $220

Clothing & Footwear

Taiyuan

$103 17.4%

Mexico City

$155 9.9% 50.7% $52

Eating Out

Taiyuan

$76 13%

Mexico City

$203 13% 166% $127

Sport & Entertainment

Taiyuan

$58 9.9%

Mexico City

$70 4.5% 20.5% $12

Getting Around

Taiyuan

$17 2.9%

Mexico City

$26 1.6% 49.7% $8.6

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 $223 in Taiyuan and $1,051 in Mexico City. Housing cost is often the main lever when comparing two cities.

Mexico City pays 5% 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: $15.00 in Taiyuan vs $50.0 in Mexico City for a mid-range dinner for two. Groceries echo the gap at $103 vs $323 per month, with Taiyuan cheaper across the board.

Good to know

🇨🇳 Taiyuan

🇲🇽 Mexico City

🕒 Local time

14:09 2:09 PM

00:09 12:09 AM

14 h behind Taiyuan

🌤 Weather

👥 Population

3,525,300

9,209,944 Capital

💱 Currency

Chinese Yuan CNY ¥

Mexican Peso MXN $

📈 Exchange rate

1 CNY = 0.15 USD

1 CNY = 0.133 EUR

100 MXN = 5.41 USD

100 MXN = 4.81 EUR

Exchange rates and currency converter

MXN, USD, EUR to CNY – Chinese Yuan Converter

🇺🇸 United States Dollar ($)

🇨🇳 Chinese Yuan (¥)

Chinese Yuan exchange rates as of October 18, 2026: 1 USD = 6.68 CNY (1 CNY = 0.15 USD). 1 EUR = 7.51 CNY (1 CNY = 0.133 EUR).

Mexican Peso exchange rates as of October 18, 2026: 1 USD = 18.48 MXN (100 MXN = 5.41 USD). 1 EUR = 20.77 MXN (100 MXN = 4.81 EUR).

USD to CNY in detail →

On the map

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Between locations

Taiyuan Mexico City 12,830 km ≈ 17 h nonstop flight

From you

Taiyuan
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

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

Taiyuan and Mexico City differ by about 166% in total monthly costs ($589 vs $1,567 including rent). Taiyuan is meaningfully more affordable – a gap that matters a lot on a fixed or modest income.

On paper, salaries run 5% 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: $223 in Taiyuan versus $1,051 in Mexico City. Housing is usually the single largest factor when comparing overall living costs between the two.

Dining out is cheaper in Taiyuan – a meal for two runs $15.00 versus $50.0 in Mexico City. If you eat out regularly, this makes a real dent in your monthly spending.

A monthly transit pass in Taiyuan runs roughly 45% less than in Mexico City. Both cities have functional networks, but the price difference matters if you're watching your budget.

At $589 in Taiyuan versus $1,567 in Mexico City, a $1,000 budget is realistic in Taiyuan but tight or insufficient in Mexico City. The gap between the two cities makes Taiyuan 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 Taiyuan gentler on the wallet – expenses run 166% less than in Mexico City. Beyond cost, consider language, visa policies, and how big the international community is in each city.