Last update: Nov 2026

Cost of Living Comparison Between Tijuana and Guatemala City

For one person, living is cheaper in Tijuana: $1,294 a month against $1,347 in Guatemala City, rent and utilities included – about $640 less a year. Higher rent and utilities in Guatemala City outweigh lower spending on other living expenses.

62

Cost of Living Index in Tijuana
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Tijuana Living Index
65

Cost of Living Index in Guatemala City
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Guatemala City Living Index

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Tijuana

🇲🇽 Mexico

$1,294

/mo nomad

Guatemala City

🇬🇹 Guatemala

$1,347

/mo nomad

Monthly Cost of Living

How much you'll spend in Tijuana and in Guatemala City

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

Monthly costs for one person with rent: $1,294 in Tijuana versus $1,347 in Guatemala City.

Tijuana $1,294
Guatemala City $1,347

Estimated couple costs with rent: $2,004 in Tijuana versus $2,028 in Guatemala City.

Tijuana $2,004
Guatemala City $2,028

Monthly costs for a family of three with rent: $2,713 in Tijuana versus $2,710 in Guatemala City.

Tijuana $2,713
Guatemala City $2,710

Living in Tijuana costs roughly 4% less than in Guatemala City, and outside of rent the biggest gap is in clothing.

Meal at Budget Restaurant

$12.22 MX$230

$7.76 Q 59.3

57.47%

Three-Course Dinner for Two, Mid-Range

$33.03 MX$620

$49.88 Q 381

-33.78%

Fast Food Meal (McDonalds, etc)

$9.52 MX$179

$7.72 Q 59.0

23.32%

Cappuccino

$4.17 MX$78.4

$3.31 Q 25.28

25.98%

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

$1.35 MX$25.31

$1.17 Q 8.98

15.38%

Water (0.33 liter bottle)

$1.18 MX$22.22

$1.01 Q 7.75

16.83%

Local Beer (0.5 liter draught)

$3.20 MX$60.1

$3.18 Q 24.29

0.63%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$6.50 MX$122

$4.71 Q 36.00

38.00%

Milk (1 liter)

$1.78 MX$33.47

$2.08 Q 15.88

-14.42%

White Bread (500g)

$2.85 MX$53.5

$3.11 Q 23.78

-8.36%

Rice (white) (1kg)

$1.87 MX$35.15

$2.12 Q 16.19

-11.79%

Eggs

$3.24 MX$60.9

$2.44 Q 18.68

32.79%

Local Cheese (1kg)

$8.11 MX$152

$6.19 Q 47.28

31.02%

Chicken Fillets (1kg)

$7.24 MX$136

$9.64 Q 73.7

-24.90%

Beef Round Steak (1kg)

$11.34 MX$213

$13.48 Q 103

-15.88%

Apples (1kg)

$2.73 MX$51.3

$3.98 Q 30.43

-31.41%

Banana (1kg)

$1.64 MX$30.76

$1.65 Q 12.58

-0.61%

Oranges (1kg)

$1.86 MX$34.87

$2.83 Q 21.66

-34.28%

Tomato (1kg)

$1.46 MX$27.40

$1.63 Q 12.48

-10.43%

Potato (1kg)

$1.49 MX$27.96

$1.53 Q 11.70

-2.61%

Onion (1kg)

$1.73 MX$32.43

$2.18 Q 16.63

-20.64%

Lettuce (1 head)

$1.43 MX$26.76

$0.69 Q 5.26

107.25%

Water (1.5 liter bottle)

$1.02 MX$19.20

$1.17 Q 8.94

-12.82%

Cigarettes 20 Pack (Marlboro, Camel)

$4.19 MX$78.8

$4.01 Q 30.62

4.49%

Wine (Bottle)

$7.92 MX$149

$8.08 Q 61.7

-1.98%

Local Beer (0.5 liter bottle)

$2.16 MX$40.60

$1.79 Q 13.71

20.67%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$3.91 MX$73.4

$2.68 Q 20.46

45.90%

One-way Ticket (Public Transport)

$0.93 MX$17.44

$1.01 Q 7.69

-7.92%

Public Transport Monthly Pass (Regular Price)

$37.25 MX$700

$11.11 Q 84.9

235.28%

Taxi Start (Normal Tariff)

$2.75 MX$51.7

$5.17 Q 39.48

-46.81%

Taxi (Normal Tariff) (1km)

$2.10 MX$39.37

Taxi 1hour Waiting (Normal Tariff)

$18.58 MX$349

$10.66 Q 81.5

74.30%

Gasoline (1 liter)

$1.52 MX$28.62

$1.37 Q 10.47

10.95%

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

$24.0K MX$450.6K

$27.1K Q 207.4K

-11.57%

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

$23.6K MX$443.1K

$24.9K Q 190.7K

-5.43%

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

$47.30 MX$888

$73.1 Q 559

-35.29%

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

$33.20 MX$624

$29.48 Q 225

12.62%

Internet (50+ Mbps, Unlimited Data)

$28.87 MX$542

$45.73 Q 349

-36.87%

Gym Membership (Monthly)

$35.21 MX$661

$38.04 Q 291

-7.44%

Tennis Court (1 Hour on Weekend)

$7.85 MX$147

$12.79 Q 97.8

-38.62%

Cinema Ticket

$6.52 MX$123

$6.57 Q 50.2

-0.76%

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

$205 MX$3,856

$338 Q 2,582

-39.23%

International Primary School, 1 Child (Yearly)

$4,596 MX$86.3K

$15.8K Q 120.8K

-70.92%

Jeans (Levis 501 Or Similar)

$53.8 MX$1,010

$49.96 Q 382

7.65%

Summer Dress (H&M, Zara, etc)

$45.86 MX$861

$47.37 Q 362

-3.19%

Sport Shoes (Adidas, Nike)

$99.7 MX$1,872

$119 Q 908

-16.12%

Men's Leather Business Shoes

$69.1 MX$1,297

$111 Q 845

-37.55%

1-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$846 MX$15.9K

$835 Q 6,383

1.33%

1-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$486 MX$9,127

$538 Q 4,114

-9.73%

3-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$1,481 MX$27.8K

$1,568 Q 12.0K

-5.58%

3-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$889 MX$16.7K

$823 Q 6,292

7.98%

Buy Apartment in City Center (m2)

$3,091 MX$58.0K

$2,041 Q 15.6K

51.47%

Buy Apartment Outside City Center (m2)

$2,778 MX$52.2K

$1,099 Q 8,398

152.83%

Average Monthly Net Salary (After Tax)

$1,090 MX$20.5K

$846 Q 6,463

28.84%

20-Year Fixed Mortgage Interest Rate (Annual %)

11.6

11.62

-0.17%

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

Last update for Tijuana: November 1, 2026

Last update for Guatemala City: November 3, 2026

Monthly budget structure

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

Accommodation & Living

Tijuana

$486 37.6%

Guatemala City

$538 40% 10.8% $52

Groceries & Markets

Tijuana

$260 20.1%

Guatemala City

$283 21% 8.8% $23

Eating Out

Tijuana

$216 16.7%

Guatemala City

$159 11.8% 26.2% $57

Clothing & Footwear

Tijuana

$121 9.3%

Guatemala City

$147 10.9% 21.8% $26

Monthly Utilities & Internet

Tijuana

$109 8.5%

Guatemala City

$148 11% 35.6% $39

Getting Around

Tijuana

$54 4.2%

Guatemala City

$20 * 1.5% 62.5% $34

Sport & Entertainment

Tijuana

$48 3.7%

Guatemala City

$51 3.8% 6.1% $2.9

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 $846 in Tijuana and $835 in Guatemala City. Housing cost is often the main lever when comparing two cities.

Tijuana pays 29% more on average while also being the cheaper of the two. The combined effect is a noticeably stronger local purchasing power.

Dining out: $33 in Tijuana vs $50 in Guatemala City for a mid-range dinner for two. Groceries echo the gap at $260 vs $283 per month, with Tijuana cheaper across the board.

Good to know

🇲🇽 Tijuana

🇬🇹 Guatemala City

🕒 Local time

01:19 1:19 AM

03:19 3:19 AM

2 h ahead of Tijuana

🌤 Weather

👥 Population

1,810,645

2,450,212 Capital

💱 Currency

Mexican Peso MXN $

Guatemalan Quetzal GTQ Q

📈 Exchange rate

100 MXN = 5.32 USD

100 MXN = 4.74 EUR

1 GTQ = 0.131 USD

1 GTQ = 0.117 EUR

Exchange rates and currency converter

GTQ, USD, EUR to MXN – Mexican Peso Converter

🇺🇸 United States Dollar ($)

🇲🇽 Mexican Peso ($)

Mexican Peso exchange rates as of November 6, 2026: 1 USD = 18.78 MXN (100 MXN = 5.32 USD). 1 EUR = 21.09 MXN (100 MXN = 4.74 EUR).

Guatemalan Quetzal exchange rates as of November 6, 2026: 1 USD = 7.64 GTQ (1 GTQ = 0.131 USD). 1 EUR = 8.58 GTQ (1 GTQ = 0.117 EUR).

USD to MXN in detail →

On the map

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Between locations

Tijuana Guatemala City 3,340 km ≈ 4 h 45 min nonstop flight

From you

Tijuana
Guatemala 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

Tijuana vs Guatemala City: Cost of Living - Frequently Asked Questions

Tijuana wins on cost – living expenses run 4% lower than in Guatemala City. Housing and daily spending are where you’ll feel the difference most, making Tijuana the obvious pick if budget is a priority.

Average pay runs 29% higher in Tijuana, 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: $846 in Tijuana versus $835 in Guatemala City. Housing is usually the single largest factor when comparing overall living costs between the two.

Dining out is cheaper in Tijuana – a meal for two runs $33 versus $50 in Guatemala City. If you eat out regularly, this makes a real dent in your monthly spending.

All in, you’ll spend $1,294 per month in Tijuana versus $1,347 in Guatemala City – Tijuana is about 4% cheaper, which adds up to real savings over time.

Both cities are expensive relative to $1,000. Tijuana 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.