Last update: Oct 2026

Cost of Living Comparison Between Taoyuan and Mexico City

For one person, living is cheaper in Taoyuan: $1,183 a month against $1,608 in Mexico City, rent and utilities included – about $5,100 less a year. Rent and utilities account for most of the difference.

57

Cost of Living Index in Taoyuan
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Taoyuan Living Index
78

Cost of Living Index in Mexico City
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Mexico City Living Index

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Taoyuan

🇹🇼 Taiwan

$1,183

/mo nomad

Mexico City

🇲🇽 Mexico

$1,608

/mo nomad

Monthly Cost of Living

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

Monthly costs for one person with rent: $1,183 in Taoyuan versus $1,608 in Mexico City.

Taoyuan $1,183
Mexico City $1,608

Estimated couple costs with rent: $1,731 in Taoyuan versus $2,549 in Mexico City.

Taoyuan $1,731
Mexico City $2,549

Monthly costs for a family of three with rent: $2,278 in Taoyuan versus $3,490 in Mexico City.

Taoyuan $2,278
Mexico City $3,490

Living in Taoyuan costs roughly 26% less than in Mexico City, and outside of rent the biggest gap is in eating out.

The two cities straddle the global median: Taoyuan is 13% below, Mexico City is 18% above.

Meal at Budget Restaurant

$4.13 NT$135

$10.62 MX$199

-61.11%

Three-Course Dinner for Two, Mid-Range

$24.84 NT$810

$48.35 MX$908

-48.62%

Fast Food Meal (McDonalds, etc)

$5.46 NT$178

$10.35 MX$194

-47.25%

Cappuccino

$3.00 NT$97.8

$3.69 MX$69.3

-18.70%

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

$1.00 NT$32.66

$1.67 MX$31.29

-40.12%

Water (0.33 liter bottle)

$0.69 NT$22.65

$1.27 MX$23.76

-45.67%

Local Beer (0.5 liter draught)

$1.81 NT$58.9

$3.19 MX$59.9

-43.26%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$2.25 NT$73.3

$5.31 MX$99.6

-57.63%

Milk (1 liter)

$2.76 NT$89.9

$1.72 MX$32.38

60.47%

White Bread (500g)

$1.16 NT$37.73

$3.04 MX$57.1

-61.84%

Rice (white) (1kg)

$2.58 NT$84.0

$1.94 MX$36.44

32.99%

Eggs

$2.14 NT$69.9

$2.89 MX$54.2

-25.95%

Local Cheese (1kg)

$8.84 NT$288

$10.97 MX$206

-19.42%

Chicken Fillets (1kg)

$7.14 NT$233

$9.25 MX$174

-22.81%

Beef Round Steak (1kg)

$21.23 NT$692

$15.13 MX$284

40.32%

Apples (1kg)

$3.77 NT$123

$3.05 MX$57.2

23.61%

Banana (1kg)

$1.94 NT$63.3

$1.94 MX$36.45

Oranges (1kg)

$3.05 NT$99.4

$2.03 MX$38.02

50.25%

Tomato (1kg)

$3.05 NT$99.5

$2.31 MX$43.46

32.03%

Potato (1kg)

$2.44 NT$79.5

$2.04 MX$38.21

19.61%

Onion (1kg)

$1.91 NT$62.2

$1.80 MX$33.79

6.11%

Lettuce (1 head)

$2.29 NT$74.6

$1.48 MX$27.77

54.73%

Water (1.5 liter bottle)

$0.87 NT$28.21

$1.27 MX$23.80

-31.50%

Cigarettes 20 Pack (Marlboro, Camel)

$4.85 NT$158

$5.30 MX$99.6

-8.49%

Wine (Bottle)

$10.78 NT$351

$16.10 MX$302

-33.04%

Local Beer (0.5 liter bottle)

$1.48 NT$48.27

$1.98 MX$37.23

-25.25%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$2.03 NT$66.3

$4.25 MX$79.8

-52.24%

One-way Ticket (Public Transport)

$0.52 NT$17.07

$0.31 MX$5.73

67.74%

Public Transport Monthly Pass (Regular Price)

$37.11 NT$1,210

$19.73 MX$371

88.09%

Taxi Start (Normal Tariff)

$2.83 NT$92.3

$1.84 MX$34.50

53.80%

Taxi (Normal Tariff) (1km)

$0.81 NT$26.32

$0.53 MX$10.02

52.83%

Taxi 1hour Waiting (Normal Tariff)

$6.89 NT$225

$5.30 MX$99.4

30.00%

Gasoline (1 liter)

$0.95 NT$31.03

$1.51 MX$28.36

-37.09%

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

$36.5K NT$1.2M

$21.8K MX$408.4K

67.71%

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

$23.0K NT$748.9K

$24.0K MX$450.3K

-4.25%

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

$66.9 NT$2,180

$63.0 MX$1,182

6.16%

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

$17.45 NT$569

$27.39 MX$514

-36.29%

Internet (50+ Mbps, Unlimited Data)

$21.84 NT$712

$35.67 MX$670

-38.77%

Gym Membership (Monthly)

$30.19 NT$984

$58.9 MX$1,107

-48.78%

Tennis Court (1 Hour on Weekend)

$7.09 NT$231

$23.64 MX$444

-70.01%

Cinema Ticket

$10.80 NT$352

$6.40 MX$120

68.75%

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

$521 NT$17.0K

$432 MX$8,103

20.79%

International Primary School, 1 Child (Yearly)

$31.3K NT$1.0M

$11.4K MX$214.5K

174.37%

Jeans (Levis 501 Or Similar)

$88.0 NT$2,871

$68.2 MX$1,281

29.05%

Summer Dress (H&M, Zara, etc)

$24.36 NT$794

$53.1 MX$997

-54.15%

Sport Shoes (Adidas, Nike)

$83.0 NT$2,707

$108 MX$2,023

-22.98%

Men's Leather Business Shoes

$96.0 NT$3,129

$117 MX$2,202

-18.15%

1-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$641 NT$20.9K

$1,113 MX$20.9K

-42.45%

1-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$437 NT$14.2K

$710 MX$13.3K

-38.49%

3-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$777 NT$25.3K

$2,588 MX$48.6K

-69.99%

3-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$610 NT$19.9K

$1,406 MX$26.4K

-56.63%

Buy Apartment in City Center (m2)

$6,226 NT$203.0K

$3,631 MX$68.2K

71.46%

Buy Apartment Outside City Center (m2)

$4,079 NT$133.0K

$2,135 MX$40.1K

91.07%

Average Monthly Net Salary (After Tax)

$1,507 NT$49.1K

$946 MX$17.8K

59.26%

20-Year Fixed Mortgage Interest Rate (Annual %)

2.38

11.35

-79.03%

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

Last update for Taoyuan: October 27, 2026

Last update for Mexico City: October 25, 2026

Monthly budget structure

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

Accommodation & Living

Taoyuan

$437 36.9%

Mexico City

$710 44.2% 62.6% $273

Groceries & Markets

Taoyuan

$306 25.8%

Mexico City

$320 19.9% 4.6% $14

Clothing & Footwear

Taoyuan

$131 11.1%

Mexico City

$156 9.7% 18.9% $25

Monthly Utilities & Internet

Taoyuan

$106 9%

Mexico City

$126 7.8% 18.7% $20

Eating Out

Taoyuan

$106 8.9%

Mexico City

$199 12.4% 87.9% $93

Sport & Entertainment

Taoyuan

$52 4.4%

Mexico City

$72 4.5% 38.5% $20

Getting Around

Taoyuan

$46 3.9%

Mexico City

$25 1.6% 44.7% $21

Cost Breakdown

A one-bedroom apartment in the center runs $641 in Taoyuan and $1,113 in Mexico City. Housing cost is often the main lever when comparing two cities.

Taoyuan pays 59% more on average while also being the cheaper of the two. The combined effect is a noticeably stronger local purchasing power.

Dining out: $25 in Taoyuan vs $48 in Mexico City for a mid-range dinner for two. Groceries echo the gap at $306 vs $320 per month, with Taoyuan cheaper across the board.

Good to know

🇹🇼 Taoyuan

🇲🇽 Mexico City

🕒 Local time

02:20 2:20 AM

12:20 12:20 PM

14 h behind Taoyuan

🌤 Weather

👥 Population

2,147,763

9,209,944 Capital

💱 Currency

New Taiwan Dollar TWD NT$

Mexican Peso MXN $

📈 Exchange rate

100 TWD = 3.07 USD

100 TWD = 2.75 EUR

100 MXN = 5.33 USD

100 MXN = 4.77 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 31, 2026: 1 USD = 32.61 TWD (100 TWD = 3.07 USD). 1 EUR = 36.41 TWD (100 TWD = 2.75 EUR).

Mexican Peso exchange rates as of October 31, 2026: 1 USD = 18.77 MXN (100 MXN = 5.33 USD). 1 EUR = 20.96 MXN (100 MXN = 4.77 EUR).

USD to TWD in detail →

On the map

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Between locations

Taoyuan Mexico City 13,420 km ≈ 17 h nonstop flight

From you

Taoyuan
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

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

Total monthly costs including rent come to $1,183 in Taoyuan and $1,608 in Mexico City, so Taoyuan is about 26% cheaper – a gap that matters a lot on a fixed or modest income.

Average pay runs 59% higher in Taoyuan, 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: $641 in Taoyuan versus $1,113 in Mexico City. Housing is usually the single largest factor when comparing overall living costs between the two.

A monthly transit pass in Mexico City runs roughly 47% less than in Taoyuan. The price difference matters if you commute daily and watch your budget.

Childcare runs $521 in Taoyuan versus $432 in Mexico City. Over years of preschool, even a modest monthly gap compounds into a major financial factor for families.

Both cities are expensive relative to $1,000. Taoyuan is the more realistic option, but even there you’ll need to be disciplined with housing, food, and fun money.

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.