Last update: Oct 2026

Cost of Living Comparison Between Tampico and Rio de Janeiro

For one person, living costs are similar in Tampico and in Rio de Janeiro: $1,347 and $1,285 a month, rent and utilities included.

65

Cost of Living Index in Tampico
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Tampico Living Index
63

Cost of Living Index in Rio de Janeiro
Learn more

Rio de Janeiro Living Index

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Tampico

🇲🇽 Mexico

$1,347

/mo nomad

Rio de Janeiro

🇧🇷 Brazil

$1,285

/mo nomad

Monthly Cost of Living

How much you'll spend in Tampico and in Rio de Janeiro

Real prices from locals and on-the-ground checks – rent, groceries, transit and the daily extras. Here's what a month in Tampico and in Rio de Janeiro actually costs, broken down by who's living it.

Monthly costs for one person with rent: $1,347 in Tampico versus $1,285 in Rio de Janeiro.

Tampico $1,347
Rio de Janeiro $1,285

Estimated couple costs with rent: $2,120 in Tampico versus $1,888 in Rio de Janeiro.

Tampico $2,120
Rio de Janeiro $1,888

Monthly costs for a family of three with rent: $2,894 in Tampico versus $2,491 in Rio de Janeiro.

Tampico $2,894
Rio de Janeiro $2,491

Living in Tampico is roughly 5% more expensive than in Rio de Janeiro, and outside of rent the biggest gap is in clothing.

The two cities straddle the global median: Tampico is 1% above, Rio de Janeiro is 4% below.

Meal at Budget Restaurant

$8.12 MX$149

$9.98 R$49.83

-18.64%

Three-Course Dinner for Two, Mid-Range

$55.1 MX$1,012

$40.34 R$201

36.59%

Fast Food Meal (McDonalds, etc)

$9.60 MX$176

$8.48 R$42.35

13.21%

Cappuccino

$3.11 MX$57.0

$2.36 R$11.80

31.78%

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

$1.22 MX$22.33

$1.63 R$8.13

-25.15%

Water (0.33 liter bottle)

$0.80 MX$14.64

$1.01 R$5.06

-20.79%

Local Beer (0.5 liter draught)

$4.48 MX$82.2

$2.44 R$12.19

83.61%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$4.77 MX$87.5

$3.69 R$18.43

29.27%

Milk (1 liter)

$1.44 MX$26.45

$1.15 R$5.72

25.22%

White Bread (500g)

$4.20 MX$77.1

$2.07 R$10.34

102.90%

Rice (white) (1kg)

$1.36 MX$25.06

$1.29 R$6.42

5.43%

Eggs

$4.20 MX$77.1

$2.27 R$11.32

85.02%

Local Cheese (1kg)

$4.84 MX$89.0

$11.00 R$54.9

-56.00%

Chicken Fillets (1kg)

$10.29 MX$189

$4.31 R$21.51

138.75%

Beef Round Steak (1kg)

$13.41 MX$246

$9.74 R$48.63

37.68%

Apples (1kg)

$3.50 MX$64.2

$2.83 R$14.12

23.67%

Banana (1kg)

$1.18 MX$21.66

$1.84 R$9.17

-35.87%

Oranges (1kg)

$2.07 MX$38.05

$1.60 R$7.96

29.37%

Tomato (1kg)

$2.28 MX$41.78

$1.80 R$9.00

26.67%

Potato (1kg)

$2.19 MX$40.13

$1.26 R$6.28

73.81%

Onion (1kg)

$2.79 MX$51.2

$1.07 R$5.34

160.75%

Lettuce (1 head)

$2.09 MX$38.29

$0.75 R$3.75

178.67%

Water (1.5 liter bottle)

$0.95 MX$17.45

$0.66 R$3.29

43.94%

Cigarettes 20 Pack (Marlboro, Camel)

$4.79 MX$88.0

$3.05 R$15.21

57.05%

Wine (Bottle)

$8.18 R$40.84

Local Beer (0.5 liter bottle)

$1.56 MX$28.71

$1.19 R$5.92

31.09%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$2.39 R$11.92

One-way Ticket (Public Transport)

$0.78 MX$14.38

$1.01 R$5.06

-22.77%

Public Transport Monthly Pass (Regular Price)

$27.28 MX$501

$50.2 R$250

-45.60%

Taxi Start (Normal Tariff)

$2.84 MX$52.1

$1.27 R$6.33

123.62%

Taxi (Normal Tariff) (1km)

$2.71 MX$49.82

$0.90 R$4.51

201.11%

Taxi 1hour Waiting (Normal Tariff)

$5.24 MX$96.2

$9.44 R$47.13

-44.49%

Gasoline (1 liter)

$1.42 MX$26.05

$1.33 R$6.65

6.77%

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

$33.1K MX$608.2K

$23.4K R$117.0K

41.39%

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

$23.7K MX$436.0K

$33.6K R$167.6K

-29.27%

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

$106 MX$1,940

$134 R$666

-20.85%

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

$28.01 MX$514

$12.23 R$61.0

129.03%

Internet (50+ Mbps, Unlimited Data)

$24.40 MX$448

$22.65 R$113

7.73%

Gym Membership (Monthly)

$43.32 MX$795

$31.56 R$158

37.26%

Tennis Court (1 Hour on Weekend)

$16.83 MX$309

$30.87 R$154

-45.48%

Cinema Ticket

$5.58 MX$102

$8.23 R$41.07

-32.20%

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

$282 MX$5,179

$603 R$3,011

-53.23%

International Primary School, 1 Child (Yearly)

$8,172 MX$150.0K

$13.2K R$66.1K

-38.28%

Jeans (Levis 501 Or Similar)

$74.7 MX$1,371

$41.62 R$208

79.41%

Summer Dress (H&M, Zara, etc)

$66.9 MX$1,228

$49.94 R$249

33.92%

Sport Shoes (Adidas, Nike)

$164 MX$3,016

$75.0 R$375

118.88%

Men's Leather Business Shoes

$253 MX$4,642

$68.3 R$341

270.12%

1-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$531 MX$9,755

$905 R$4,519

-41.31%

1-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$385 MX$7,066

$527 R$2,633

-27.04%

3-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$946 MX$17.4K

$1,346 R$6,720

-29.76%

3-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$678 MX$12.5K

$774 R$3,865

-12.40%

Buy Apartment in City Center (m2)

$3,981 R$19.9K

Buy Apartment Outside City Center (m2)

$1,562 R$7,798

Average Monthly Net Salary (After Tax)

$571 MX$10.5K

$643 R$3,210

-11.21%

20-Year Fixed Mortgage Interest Rate (Annual %)

11.93

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

Last update for Tampico: October 5, 2026

Last update for Rio de Janeiro: October 6, 2026

Monthly budget structure

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

Accommodation & Living

Tampico

$385 28.8%

Rio de Janeiro

$527 41% 37.1% $143

Groceries & Markets

Tampico

$269 * 20.1%

Rio de Janeiro

$215 16.7% 20.1% $54

Clothing & Footwear

Tampico

$251 18.8%

Rio de Janeiro

$106 8.2% 57.9% $146

Eating Out

Tampico

$171 12.8%

Rio de Janeiro

$164 12.7% 4.2% $7.2

Monthly Utilities & Internet

Tampico

$158 11.8%

Rio de Janeiro

$168 13.1% 6.5% $10

Sport & Entertainment

Tampico

$54 4.1%

Rio de Janeiro

$48 3.7% 11.8% $6.4

Getting Around

Tampico

$47 3.5%

Rio de Janeiro

$60 4.7% 28.1% $13

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 $531 in Tampico and $905 in Rio de Janeiro. Housing cost is often the main lever when comparing two cities.

Rio de Janeiro pays 13% more on average while also being the cheaper of the two. The combined effect is a noticeably stronger local purchasing power.

Dining out: $55.0 in Tampico vs $40.00 in Rio de Janeiro for a mid-range dinner for two. Groceries echo the gap at $269 vs $215 per month, with Rio de Janeiro cheaper across the board.

Good to know

🇲🇽 Tampico

🇧🇷 Rio de Janeiro

🕒 Local time

05:29 5:29 AM

08:29 8:29 AM

3 h ahead of Tampico

🌤 Weather

👥 Population

297,562

6,211,223

💱 Currency

Mexican Peso MXN $

Brazilian Real BRL R$

📈 Exchange rate

100 MXN = 5.45 USD

100 MXN = 4.86 EUR

1 BRL = 0.2 USD

1 BRL = 0.179 EUR

Exchange rates and currency converter

BRL, USD, EUR to MXN – Mexican Peso Converter

🇺🇸 United States Dollar ($)

🇲🇽 Mexican Peso ($)

Mexican Peso exchange rates as of October 10, 2026: 1 USD = 18.36 MXN (100 MXN = 5.45 USD). 1 EUR = 20.57 MXN (100 MXN = 4.86 EUR).

Brazilian Real exchange rates as of October 10, 2026: 1 USD = 4.99 BRL (1 BRL = 0.2 USD). 1 EUR = 5.59 BRL (1 BRL = 0.179 EUR).

USD to MXN in detail →

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Between locations

Tampico Rio de Janeiro 7,760 km ≈ 10 h nonstop flight

From you

Tampico
Rio de Janeiro

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

Tampico vs Rio de Janeiro: Cost of Living - Frequently Asked Questions

Tampico and Rio de Janeiro differ by about 5% in total monthly costs ($1,347 vs $1,285 including rent). Rio de Janeiro is meaningfully more affordable – a gap that matters a lot on a fixed or modest income.

On paper, salaries run 13% lower in Rio de Janeiro. 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: $531 in Tampico versus $905 in Rio de Janeiro. Housing is usually the single largest factor when comparing overall living costs between the two.

Dining out is cheaper in Rio de Janeiro – a meal for two runs $40.00 versus $55.0 in Tampico. If you eat out regularly, this makes a real dent in your monthly spending.

All in, you'll spend $1,347 per month in Tampico versus $1,285 in Rio de Janeiro – a 5% gap that adds up to real savings over time for anyone picking the cheaper option.

At $1,285 in Rio de Janeiro versus $1,347 in Tampico, a $2,000 budget is realistic in Rio de Janeiro but tight or insufficient in Tampico. The gap between the two cities makes Rio de Janeiro 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 Rio de Janeiro gentler on the wallet – expenses run 5% less than in Tampico. Beyond cost, consider language, visa policies, and how big the international community is in each city.