Last update: Oct 2026

Cost of Living Comparison Between Toluca and Monterrey

For one person, living is cheaper in Toluca: $1,098 a month against $1,599 in Monterrey, rent and utilities included – about $6,000 less a year. Rent and utilities account for most of the difference.

53

Cost of Living Index in Toluca
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Toluca Living Index
77

Cost of Living Index in Monterrey
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Monterrey Living Index

Jump to prices

Toluca

🇲🇽 Mexico

$1,098

/mo nomad

Monterrey

🇲🇽 Mexico

$1,599

/mo nomad

Monthly Cost of Living

How much you'll spend in Toluca and in Monterrey

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

Monthly costs for one person with rent: $1,098 in Toluca versus $1,599 in Monterrey.

Toluca $1,098
Monterrey $1,599

Estimated couple costs with rent: $1,844 in Toluca versus $2,493 in Monterrey.

Toluca $1,844
Monterrey $2,493

Monthly costs for a family of three with rent: $2,589 in Toluca versus $3,387 in Monterrey.

Toluca $2,589
Monterrey $3,387

Living in Toluca costs roughly 31% less than in Monterrey, and outside of rent the biggest gap is in eating out.

The two cities straddle the global median: Toluca is 19% below, Monterrey is 18% above.

Meal at Budget Restaurant

$11.03 MX$204

$13.80 MX$255

-20.07%

Three-Course Dinner for Two, Mid-Range

$42.85 MX$792

$47.99 MX$887

-10.71%

Fast Food Meal (McDonalds, etc)

$9.09 MX$168

$10.65 MX$197

-14.65%

Cappuccino

$3.14 MX$58.0

$3.99 MX$73.7

-21.30%

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

$1.26 MX$23.24

$1.66 MX$30.76

-24.10%

Water (0.33 liter bottle)

$0.76 MX$13.97

$0.99 MX$18.21

-23.23%

Local Beer (0.5 liter draught)

$2.14 MX$39.49

$2.36 MX$43.64

-9.32%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$3.29 MX$60.8

$4.43 MX$81.8

-25.73%

Milk (1 liter)

$1.77 MX$32.71

$1.82 MX$33.58

-2.75%

White Bread (500g)

$3.12 MX$57.7

$2.83 MX$52.4

10.25%

Rice (white) (1kg)

$2.18 MX$40.28

$1.92 MX$35.44

13.54%

Eggs

$3.05 MX$56.3

$2.48 MX$45.78

22.98%

Local Cheese (1kg)

$7.94 MX$147

$11.74 MX$217

-32.37%

Chicken Fillets (1kg)

$8.36 MX$155

$9.10 MX$168

-8.13%

Beef Round Steak (1kg)

$8.91 MX$165

$12.53 MX$232

-28.89%

Apples (1kg)

$4.08 MX$75.3

$3.34 MX$61.6

22.16%

Banana (1kg)

$2.11 MX$39.00

$1.57 MX$29.10

34.39%

Oranges (1kg)

$2.22 MX$41.07

$2.16 MX$39.86

2.78%

Tomato (1kg)

$2.28 MX$42.16

$2.47 MX$45.65

-7.69%

Potato (1kg)

$2.82 MX$52.2

$2.31 MX$42.64

22.08%

Onion (1kg)

$2.30 MX$42.58

$2.68 MX$49.47

-14.18%

Lettuce (1 head)

$1.64 MX$30.26

$1.46 MX$26.90

12.33%

Water (1.5 liter bottle)

$1.03 MX$19.07

$1.19 MX$22.07

-13.45%

Cigarettes 20 Pack (Marlboro, Camel)

$4.87 MX$90.0

$4.75 MX$87.8

2.53%

Wine (Bottle)

$12.25 MX$226

$13.58 MX$251

-9.79%

Local Beer (0.5 liter bottle)

$1.99 MX$36.76

$1.92 MX$35.52

3.65%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$3.65 MX$67.5

$2.88 MX$53.2

26.74%

One-way Ticket (Public Transport)

$0.75 MX$13.92

$0.79 MX$14.66

-5.06%

Public Transport Monthly Pass (Regular Price)

$31.36 MX$579

Taxi Start (Normal Tariff)

$3.20 MX$59.0

$1.59 MX$29.44

101.26%

Taxi (Normal Tariff) (1km)

$2.01 MX$37.22

$1.06 MX$19.58

89.62%

Taxi 1hour Waiting (Normal Tariff)

$10.17 MX$188

$10.80 MX$200

-5.83%

Gasoline (1 liter)

$1.44 MX$26.66

$1.55 MX$28.59

-7.10%

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

$24.6K MX$454.6K

$24.2K MX$446.4K

1.84%

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

$23.5K MX$433.9K

$24.3K MX$449.4K

-3.44%

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

$58.1 MX$1,074

$117 MX$2,159

-50.25%

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

$25.04 MX$463

$26.38 MX$488

-5.08%

Internet (50+ Mbps, Unlimited Data)

$31.71 MX$586

$26.04 MX$481

21.77%

Gym Membership (Monthly)

$48.08 MX$889

$30.26 MX$559

58.89%

Tennis Court (1 Hour on Weekend)

$22.66 MX$419

$21.25 MX$393

6.64%

Cinema Ticket

$6.95 MX$128

$5.23 MX$96.6

32.89%

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

$224 MX$4,131

$673 MX$12.4K

-66.76%

International Primary School, 1 Child (Yearly)

$5,244 MX$96.9K

$11.1K MX$205.2K

-52.77%

Jeans (Levis 501 Or Similar)

$66.7 MX$1,233

$72.1 MX$1,332

-7.45%

Summer Dress (H&M, Zara, etc)

$53.7 MX$992

$42.38 MX$783

26.69%

Sport Shoes (Adidas, Nike)

$104 MX$1,920

$112 MX$2,066

-7.04%

Men's Leather Business Shoes

$104 MX$1,923

$119 MX$2,200

-12.57%

1-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$705 MX$13.0K

$949 MX$17.5K

-25.76%

1-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$289 MX$5,345

$666 MX$12.3K

-56.59%

3-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$972 MX$18.0K

$1,821 MX$33.7K

-46.63%

3-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$703 MX$13.0K

$1,271 MX$23.5K

-44.74%

Buy Apartment in City Center (m2)

$1,296 MX$24.0K

$4,050 MX$74.8K

-67.99%

Buy Apartment Outside City Center (m2)

$915 MX$16.9K

$2,348 MX$43.4K

-61.02%

Average Monthly Net Salary (After Tax)

$1,273 MX$23.5K

$1,155 MX$21.3K

10.16%

20-Year Fixed Mortgage Interest Rate (Annual %)

11.07

11.79

-6.11%

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

Last update for Toluca: October 19, 2026

Last update for Monterrey: October 18, 2026

Monthly budget structure

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

Groceries & Markets

Toluca

$289 26.4%

Monterrey

$304 19% 5.2% $15

Accommodation & Living

Toluca

$289 26.3%

Monterrey

$666 41.7% 130% $377

Eating Out

Toluca

$178 16.3%

Monterrey

$221 13.9% 24.1% $43

Clothing & Footwear

Toluca

$148 13.5%

Monterrey

$155 9.7% 5.1% $7.6

Monthly Utilities & Internet

Toluca

$115 10.5%

Monterrey

$169 10.6% 47.3% $54

Sport & Entertainment

Toluca

$62 5.7%

Monterrey

$41 2.6% 34.3% $21

Getting Around

Toluca

$16 * 1.5%

Monterrey

$41 2.6% 154% $25

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 $705 in Toluca and $949 in Monterrey. Housing cost is often the main lever when comparing two cities.

Toluca pays 10% more on average while also being the cheaper of the two. The combined effect is a noticeably stronger local purchasing power.

Dining out: $43.00 in Toluca vs $48.00 in Monterrey for a mid-range dinner for two. Groceries echo the gap at $289 vs $304 per month, with Toluca cheaper across the board.

Good to know

🇲🇽 Toluca

🇲🇽 Monterrey

🕒 Local time

07:56 7:56 AM

Same time as Toluca

🌤 Weather

👥 Population

223,876

1,142,994

💱 Currency

Mexican Peso MXN $

📈 Exchange rate

100 MXN = 5.41 USD

100 MXN = 4.81 EUR

100 MXN = 5.41 USD

100 MXN = 4.81 EUR

Exchange rates and currency converter

On the map

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Between locations

Toluca Monterrey 710 km ≈ 1 h 30 min nonstop flight

From you

Toluca
Monterrey

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

Toluca vs Monterrey: Cost of Living - Frequently Asked Questions

Toluca and Monterrey differ by about 46% in total monthly costs ($1,098 vs $1,599 including rent). Toluca is meaningfully more affordable – a gap that matters a lot on a fixed or modest income.

Average pay runs 10% higher in Toluca, 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: $705 in Toluca versus $949 in Monterrey. Housing is usually the single largest factor when comparing overall living costs between the two.

Childcare runs $224 in Toluca versus $673 in Monterrey. Over years of preschool, even a modest monthly gap compounds into a major financial factor for families.

Dining out is cheaper in Toluca – a meal for two runs $43.00 versus $48.00 in Monterrey. If you eat out regularly, this makes a real dent in your monthly spending.

At $1,098 in Toluca versus $1,599 in Monterrey, a $1,500 budget is realistic in Toluca but tight or insufficient in Monterrey. The gap between the two cities makes Toluca 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 Toluca gentler on the wallet – expenses run 46% less than in Monterrey. Beyond cost, consider language, visa policies, and how big the international community is in each city.