Last update: Oct 2026

Cost of Living Comparison Between Toluca and Phuket

For one person, living is cheaper in Toluca: $1,098 a month against $1,208 in Phuket, rent and utilities included – about $1,300 less a year. Higher rent and utilities in Phuket outweigh lower spending on other living expenses.

53

Cost of Living Index in Toluca
Learn more

Toluca Living Index
59

Cost of Living Index in Phuket
Learn more

Phuket Living Index

Jump to prices

Toluca

🇲🇽 Mexico

$1,098

/mo nomad

Phuket

🇹🇭 Thailand

$1,208

/mo nomad

Monthly Cost of Living

How much you'll spend in Toluca and in Phuket

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 Phuket actually costs, broken down by who's living it.

Monthly costs for one person with rent: $1,098 in Toluca versus $1,208 in Phuket.

Toluca $1,098
Phuket $1,208

Estimated couple costs with rent: $1,844 in Toluca versus $2,027 in Phuket.

Toluca $1,844
Phuket $2,027

Monthly costs for a family of three with rent: $2,589 in Toluca versus $2,845 in Phuket.

Toluca $2,589
Phuket $2,845

Living in Toluca costs roughly 9% less than in Phuket, and outside of rent the biggest gap is in eating out.

Both cities sit below the global median: Toluca 19% lower, Phuket 11% lower.

Meal at Budget Restaurant

$11.03 MX$204

$4.40 ฿147

150.68%

Three-Course Dinner for Two, Mid-Range

$42.85 MX$792

$32.26 ฿1,078

32.83%

Fast Food Meal (McDonalds, etc)

$9.09 MX$168

$8.76 ฿293

3.77%

Cappuccino

$3.14 MX$58.0

$2.83 ฿94.5

10.95%

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

$1.26 MX$23.24

$0.90 ฿30.14

40.00%

Water (0.33 liter bottle)

$0.76 MX$13.97

$0.47 ฿15.56

61.70%

Local Beer (0.5 liter draught)

$2.14 MX$39.49

$2.55 ฿85.2

-16.08%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$3.29 MX$60.8

$3.83 ฿128

-14.10%

Milk (1 liter)

$1.77 MX$32.71

$1.73 ฿57.7

2.31%

White Bread (500g)

$3.12 MX$57.7

$1.47 ฿49.11

112.24%

Rice (white) (1kg)

$2.18 MX$40.28

$1.51 ฿50.6

44.37%

Eggs

$3.05 MX$56.3

$2.17 ฿72.7

40.55%

Local Cheese (1kg)

$7.94 MX$147

$19.70 ฿658

-59.70%

Chicken Fillets (1kg)

$8.36 MX$155

$3.34 ฿112

150.30%

Beef Round Steak (1kg)

$8.91 MX$165

$11.16 ฿373

-20.16%

Apples (1kg)

$4.08 MX$75.3

$2.85 ฿95.1

43.16%

Banana (1kg)

$2.11 MX$39.00

$1.70 ฿56.9

24.12%

Oranges (1kg)

$2.22 MX$41.07

$2.19 ฿73.3

1.37%

Tomato (1kg)

$2.28 MX$42.16

$2.05 ฿68.4

11.22%

Potato (1kg)

$2.82 MX$52.2

$1.45 ฿48.57

94.48%

Onion (1kg)

$2.30 MX$42.58

$1.38 ฿46.16

66.67%

Lettuce (1 head)

$1.64 MX$30.26

$1.07 ฿35.69

53.27%

Water (1.5 liter bottle)

$1.03 MX$19.07

$0.51 ฿16.91

101.96%

Cigarettes 20 Pack (Marlboro, Camel)

$4.87 MX$90.0

$4.26 ฿142

14.32%

Wine (Bottle)

$12.25 MX$226

$18.58 ฿621

-34.07%

Local Beer (0.5 liter bottle)

$1.99 MX$36.76

$1.78 ฿59.7

11.80%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$3.65 MX$67.5

$2.85 ฿95.2

28.07%

One-way Ticket (Public Transport)

$0.75 MX$13.92

$2.26 ฿75.6

-66.81%

Public Transport Monthly Pass (Regular Price)

$22.10 ฿738

Taxi Start (Normal Tariff)

$3.20 MX$59.0

$3.01 ฿101

6.31%

Taxi (Normal Tariff) (1km)

$2.01 MX$37.22

$1.06 ฿35.34

89.62%

Taxi 1hour Waiting (Normal Tariff)

$10.17 MX$188

$3.86 ฿129

163.47%

Gasoline (1 liter)

$1.44 MX$26.66

$1.45 ฿48.45

-0.69%

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

$24.6K MX$454.6K

$26.3K ฿879.9K

-6.56%

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

$23.5K MX$433.9K

$26.9K ฿900.4K

-12.84%

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

$58.1 MX$1,074

$96.4 ฿3,221

-39.71%

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

$25.04 MX$463

$11.04 ฿369

126.81%

Internet (50+ Mbps, Unlimited Data)

$31.71 MX$586

$17.14 ฿573

85.01%

Gym Membership (Monthly)

$48.08 MX$889

$52.2 ฿1,744

-7.86%

Tennis Court (1 Hour on Weekend)

$22.66 MX$419

$11.16 ฿373

103.05%

Cinema Ticket

$6.95 MX$128

$7.81 ฿261

-11.01%

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

$224 MX$4,131

$556 ฿18.6K

-59.79%

International Primary School, 1 Child (Yearly)

$5,244 MX$96.9K

$11.6K ฿387.0K

-54.72%

Jeans (Levis 501 Or Similar)

$66.7 MX$1,233

$64.2 ฿2,146

3.91%

Summer Dress (H&M, Zara, etc)

$53.7 MX$992

$28.69 ฿959

87.14%

Sport Shoes (Adidas, Nike)

$104 MX$1,920

$95.4 ฿3,187

8.98%

Men's Leather Business Shoes

$104 MX$1,923

$88.0 ฿2,940

18.30%

1-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$705 MX$13.0K

$737 ฿24.6K

-4.43%

1-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$289 MX$5,345

$462 ฿15.5K

-37.45%

3-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$972 MX$18.0K

$2,095 ฿70.0K

-53.59%

3-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$703 MX$13.0K

$1,201 ฿40.1K

-41.50%

Buy Apartment in City Center (m2)

$1,296 MX$24.0K

$3,488 ฿116.6K

-62.83%

Buy Apartment Outside City Center (m2)

$915 MX$16.9K

$2,523 ฿84.3K

-63.73%

Average Monthly Net Salary (After Tax)

$1,273 MX$23.5K

$501 ฿16.7K

154.17%

20-Year Fixed Mortgage Interest Rate (Annual %)

11.07

5.57

98.74%

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

Last update for Toluca: October 19, 2026

Last update for Phuket: October 19, 2026

Monthly budget structure

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

Groceries & Markets

Toluca

$289 26.4%

Phuket

$269 22.2% 7.1% $21

Accommodation & Living

Toluca

$289 26.3%

Phuket

$462 38.3% 59.9% $173

Eating Out

Toluca

$178 16.3%

Phuket

$121 10% 32.1% $57

Clothing & Footwear

Toluca

$148 13.5%

Phuket

$124 10.3% 15.9% $23

Monthly Utilities & Internet

Toluca

$115 10.5%

Phuket

$125 10.3% 8.4% $9.7

Sport & Entertainment

Toluca

$62 5.7%

Phuket

$68 5.6% 9.4% $5.8

Getting Around

Toluca

$16 * 1.5%

Phuket

$39 3.3% 142% $23

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 $737 in Phuket. Housing cost is often the main lever when comparing two cities.

Toluca pays 154% 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 $32.00 in Phuket for a mid-range dinner for two. Groceries echo the gap at $289 vs $269 per month, with Phuket cheaper across the board.

Good to know

🇲🇽 Toluca

🇹🇭 Phuket

🕒 Local time

08:53 8:53 AM

21:53 9:53 PM

13 h ahead of Toluca

🌤 Weather

👥 Population

223,876

79,308

💱 Currency

Mexican Peso MXN $

Thai Baht THB ฿

📈 Exchange rate

100 MXN = 5.41 USD

100 MXN = 4.81 EUR

100 THB = 2.99 USD

100 THB = 2.66 EUR

Exchange rates and currency converter

THB, USD, EUR to MXN – Mexican Peso Converter

🇺🇸 United States Dollar ($)

🇲🇽 Mexican Peso ($)

Mexican Peso exchange rates as of October 22, 2026: 1 USD = 18.48 MXN (100 MXN = 5.41 USD). 1 EUR = 20.77 MXN (100 MXN = 4.81 EUR).

Thai Baht exchange rates as of October 22, 2026: 1 USD = 33.42 THB (100 THB = 2.99 USD). 1 EUR = 37.57 THB (100 THB = 2.66 EUR).

USD to MXN in detail →

On the map

Lowest

Highest

Between locations

Toluca Phuket 16,400 km ≈ 21 h nonstop flight

From you

Toluca
Phuket

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 Phuket: Cost of Living - Frequently Asked Questions

Toluca is cheaper overall, especially in leisure and transport. The 10% gap adds up to real monthly savings that compound significantly over time.

Average pay runs 154% 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 $737 in Phuket. Housing is usually the single largest factor when comparing overall living costs between the two.

Childcare runs $224 in Toluca versus $556 in Phuket. 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 $32.00 in Phuket. If you eat out regularly, this makes a real dent in your monthly spending.

At $1,098 in Toluca versus $1,208 in Phuket, a $1,500 budget is realistic in Toluca but tight or insufficient in Phuket. The gap between the two cities makes Toluca the clear choice for anyone on this budget.

For families, Toluca is more practical. Housing and childcare are both notably cheaper than in Phuket, and the savings on those two alone free up budget for education, activities, and family trips.

Safety-wise, Toluca and Phuket are on par. Petty crime is typical for cities this size, and most residents feel comfortable going about their daily routines in either place.

Expats usually find Toluca gentler on the wallet – expenses run 10% less than in Phuket. Beyond cost, consider language, visa policies, and how big the international community is in each city.