Last update: Oct 2026

Cost of Living Comparison Between Tlaxcala and Rio de Janeiro

For one person, living is cheaper in Tlaxcala: $758 a month against $1,182 in Rio de Janeiro, rent and utilities included – about $5,100 less a year. Rent and utilities account for most of the difference.

37

Cost of Living Index in Tlaxcala
Learn more

Tlaxcala Living Index
57

Cost of Living Index in Rio de Janeiro
Learn more

Rio de Janeiro Living Index

Jump to prices

Tlaxcala

🇲🇽 Mexico

$758

/mo nomad

Rio de Janeiro

🇧🇷 Brazil

$1,182

/mo nomad

Monthly Cost of Living

How much you'll spend in Tlaxcala 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 Tlaxcala and in Rio de Janeiro actually costs, broken down by who's living it.

Monthly costs for one person with rent: $758 in Tlaxcala versus $1,182 in Rio de Janeiro.

Tlaxcala $758
Rio de Janeiro $1,182

Estimated couple costs with rent: $1,237 in Tlaxcala versus $1,750 in Rio de Janeiro.

Tlaxcala $1,237
Rio de Janeiro $1,750

Monthly costs for a family of three with rent: $1,717 in Tlaxcala versus $2,318 in Rio de Janeiro.

Tlaxcala $1,717
Rio de Janeiro $2,318

Living in Tlaxcala costs roughly 36% less than in Rio de Janeiro, and outside of rent the biggest gap is in transport.

Both cities sit below the global median: Tlaxcala 44% lower, Rio de Janeiro 13% lower.

Meal at Budget Restaurant

$5.28 MX$98.5

$9.08 R$48.54

-41.85%

Three-Course Dinner for Two, Mid-Range

$22.57 MX$421

$37.25 R$199

-39.41%

Fast Food Meal (McDonalds, etc)

$6.41 MX$120

$8.02 R$42.87

-20.07%

Cappuccino

$2.82 MX$52.6

$2.19 R$11.71

28.77%

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

$1.34 MX$25.00

$1.46 R$7.82

-8.22%

Water (0.33 liter bottle)

$0.99 MX$18.38

$0.99 R$5.27

Local Beer (0.5 liter draught)

$1.86 MX$34.71

$2.03 R$10.84

-8.37%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$2.27 MX$42.26

$3.45 R$18.43

-34.20%

Milk (1 liter)

$1.62 MX$30.17

$1.06 R$5.66

52.83%

White Bread (500g)

$1.99 MX$37.13

$1.98 R$10.61

0.51%

Rice (white) (1kg)

$1.44 MX$26.78

$1.17 R$6.27

23.08%

Eggs

$2.26 MX$42.11

$2.21 R$11.80

2.26%

Local Cheese (1kg)

$6.98 MX$130

$10.11 R$54.1

-30.96%

Chicken Fillets (1kg)

$5.99 MX$112

$4.12 R$22.00

45.39%

Beef Round Steak (1kg)

$10.61 MX$198

$9.17 R$49.04

15.70%

Apples (1kg)

$2.19 MX$40.77

$2.72 R$14.54

-19.49%

Banana (1kg)

$1.16 MX$21.58

$1.71 R$9.15

-32.16%

Oranges (1kg)

$1.70 MX$31.64

$1.53 R$8.18

11.11%

Tomato (1kg)

$1.18 MX$22.07

$1.66 R$8.89

-28.92%

Potato (1kg)

$0.90 MX$16.78

$1.14 R$6.09

-21.05%

Onion (1kg)

$1.06 MX$19.74

$0.99 R$5.32

7.07%

Lettuce (1 head)

$0.82 MX$15.32

$0.65 R$3.46

26.15%

Water (1.5 liter bottle)

$1.14 MX$21.16

$0.60 R$3.20

90.00%

Cigarettes 20 Pack (Marlboro, Camel)

$4.37 MX$81.5

$2.79 R$14.94

56.63%

Wine (Bottle)

$9.40 MX$175

$7.48 R$39.99

25.67%

Local Beer (0.5 liter bottle)

$1.44 MX$26.88

$1.09 R$5.83

32.11%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$1.56 MX$28.99

$2.33 R$12.48

-33.05%

One-way Ticket (Public Transport)

$0.44 MX$8.25

$0.90 R$4.79

-51.11%

Public Transport Monthly Pass (Regular Price)

$53.0 R$283

Taxi Start (Normal Tariff)

$2.67 MX$49.73

$1.17 R$6.24

128.21%

Taxi (Normal Tariff) (1km)

$1.77 MX$32.96

$0.78 R$4.17

126.92%

Taxi 1hour Waiting (Normal Tariff)

$5.55 MX$103

$8.37 R$44.75

-33.69%

Gasoline (1 liter)

$1.42 MX$26.40

$1.21 R$6.48

17.36%

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

$23.7K MX$441.0K

$21.5K R$114.8K

10.21%

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

$25.3K MX$472.5K

$31.1K R$166.5K

-18.58%

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

$32.88 MX$613

$124 R$665

-73.58%

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

$19.21 MX$358

$10.03 R$53.7

91.53%

Internet (50+ Mbps, Unlimited Data)

$33.93 MX$633

$20.88 R$112

62.50%

Gym Membership (Monthly)

$32.44 MX$605

$28.35 R$152

14.43%

Tennis Court (1 Hour on Weekend)

$21.49 MX$401

$29.33 R$157

-26.73%

Cinema Ticket

$4.71 MX$87.9

$7.62 R$40.72

-38.19%

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

$242 MX$4,512

$563 R$3,010

-57.00%

International Primary School, 1 Child (Yearly)

$12.0K R$64.4K

Jeans (Levis 501 Or Similar)

$29.97 MX$559

$39.25 R$210

-23.64%

Summer Dress (H&M, Zara, etc)

$49.21 MX$917

$46.36 R$248

6.15%

Sport Shoes (Adidas, Nike)

$115 MX$2,150

$68.4 R$366

68.61%

Men's Leather Business Shoes

$90.3 MX$1,684

$63.4 R$339

42.45%

1-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$253 MX$4,711

$776 R$4,150

-67.44%

1-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$155 MX$2,893

$473 R$2,530

-67.20%

3-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$492 MX$9,175

$1,391 R$7,437

-64.61%

3-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$356 MX$6,630

$739 R$3,951

-51.87%

Buy Apartment in City Center (m2)

$3,393 R$18.1K

Buy Apartment Outside City Center (m2)

$1,570 R$8,396

Average Monthly Net Salary (After Tax)

$648 MX$12.1K

$597 R$3,192

8.54%

20-Year Fixed Mortgage Interest Rate (Annual %)

10.87

11.93

-8.89%

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

Last update for Tlaxcala: October 24, 2026

Last update for Rio de Janeiro: October 25, 2026

Monthly budget structure

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

Groceries & Markets

Tlaxcala

$215 28.4%

Rio de Janeiro

$201 17% 6.6% $14

Accommodation & Living

Tlaxcala

$155 20.5%

Rio de Janeiro

$473 40% 205% $318

Clothing & Footwear

Tlaxcala

$128 16.9%

Rio de Janeiro

$98 8.3% 23.7% $30

Eating Out

Tlaxcala

$119 15.6%

Rio de Janeiro

$150 12.7% 26.4% $31

Monthly Utilities & Internet

Tlaxcala

$86 11.4%

Rio de Janeiro

$155 13.1% 80.6% $69

Sport & Entertainment

Tlaxcala

$42 5.5%

Rio de Janeiro

$44 3.7% 4.1% $1.7

Getting Around

Tlaxcala

$13 * 1.8%

Rio de Janeiro

$62 5.2% 364% $48

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 $253 in Tlaxcala and $776 in Rio de Janeiro. Housing cost is often the main lever when comparing two cities.

Tlaxcala pays 9% more on average while also being the cheaper of the two. The combined effect is a noticeably stronger local purchasing power.

Dining out: $23 in Tlaxcala vs $37 in Rio de Janeiro. Groceries flip the comparison at $215 vs $201, with Rio de Janeiro cheaper for home cooking.

Good to know

🇲🇽 Tlaxcala

🇧🇷 Rio de Janeiro

🕒 Local time

14:18 2:18 PM

17:18 5:18 PM

3 h ahead of Tlaxcala

🌤 Weather

👥 Population

13,555

6,211,223

💱 Currency

Mexican Peso MXN $

Brazilian Real BRL R$

📈 Exchange rate

100 MXN = 5.36 USD

100 MXN = 4.82 EUR

1 BRL = 0.187 USD

1 BRL = 0.168 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 28, 2026: 1 USD = 18.64 MXN (100 MXN = 5.36 USD). 1 EUR = 20.75 MXN (100 MXN = 4.82 EUR).

Brazilian Real exchange rates as of October 28, 2026: 1 USD = 5.35 BRL (1 BRL = 0.187 USD). 1 EUR = 5.95 BRL (1 BRL = 0.168 EUR).

USD to MXN in detail →

On the map

Lowest

Highest

Between locations

Tlaxcala Rio de Janeiro 7,600 km ≈ 10 h nonstop flight

From you

Tlaxcala
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

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

Total monthly costs including rent come to $758 in Tlaxcala and $1,182 in Rio de Janeiro, so Tlaxcala is about 36% cheaper – a gap that matters a lot on a fixed or modest income.

Average pay runs 9% higher in Tlaxcala, 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: $253 in Tlaxcala versus $776 in Rio de Janeiro. Housing is usually the single largest factor when comparing overall living costs between the two.

Childcare runs $242 in Tlaxcala versus $563 in Rio de Janeiro. Over years of preschool, even a modest monthly gap compounds into a major financial factor for families.

Dining out is cheaper in Tlaxcala – a meal for two runs $23 versus $37 in Rio de Janeiro. If you eat out regularly, this makes a real dent in your monthly spending.

At $758 in Tlaxcala versus $1,182 in Rio de Janeiro, a $1,000 budget is realistic in Tlaxcala but tight or insufficient in Rio de Janeiro. The gap between the two cities makes Tlaxcala 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.