Last update: Oct 2026

Cost of Living Comparison Between Zihuatanejo and Monterrey

For one person, living is cheaper in Zihuatanejo: $1,131 a month against $1,599 in Monterrey, rent and utilities included – about $5,600 less a year. Rent and utilities account for most of the difference.

55

Cost of Living Index in Zihuatanejo
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Zihuatanejo Living Index
77

Cost of Living Index in Monterrey
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Monterrey Living Index

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Zihuatanejo

🇲🇽 Mexico

$1,131

/mo nomad

Monterrey

🇲🇽 Mexico

$1,599

/mo nomad

Monthly Cost of Living

How much you'll spend in Zihuatanejo 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 Zihuatanejo and in Monterrey actually costs, broken down by who's living it.

Monthly costs for one person with rent: $1,131 in Zihuatanejo versus $1,599 in Monterrey.

Zihuatanejo $1,131
Monterrey $1,599

Estimated couple costs with rent: $1,824 in Zihuatanejo versus $2,493 in Monterrey.

Zihuatanejo $1,824
Monterrey $2,493

Monthly costs for a family of three with rent: $2,517 in Zihuatanejo versus $3,387 in Monterrey.

Zihuatanejo $2,517
Monterrey $3,387

Living in Zihuatanejo costs roughly 29% less than in Monterrey, and outside of rent the biggest gap is in groceries.

The two cities straddle the global median: Zihuatanejo is 17% below, Monterrey is 18% above.

Meal at Budget Restaurant

$10.86 MX$203

$13.80 MX$258

-21.30%

Three-Course Dinner for Two, Mid-Range

$44.16 MX$827

$47.99 MX$898

-7.98%

Fast Food Meal (McDonalds, etc)

$8.74 MX$164

$10.65 MX$199

-17.93%

Cappuccino

$3.48 MX$65.2

$3.99 MX$74.6

-12.78%

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

$1.36 MX$25.45

$1.66 MX$31.16

-18.07%

Water (0.33 liter bottle)

$1.02 MX$19.08

$0.99 MX$18.45

3.03%

Local Beer (0.5 liter draught)

$2.45 MX$45.89

$2.36 MX$44.21

3.81%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$3.98 MX$74.4

$4.43 MX$82.9

-10.16%

Milk (1 liter)

$1.66 MX$31.05

$1.82 MX$34.01

-8.79%

White Bread (500g)

$2.55 MX$47.69

$2.83 MX$53.0

-9.89%

Rice (white) (1kg)

$1.65 MX$30.90

$1.92 MX$35.90

-14.06%

Eggs

$2.44 MX$45.61

$2.48 MX$46.37

-1.61%

Local Cheese (1kg)

$8.11 MX$152

$11.74 MX$220

-30.92%

Chicken Fillets (1kg)

$8.52 MX$159

$9.10 MX$170

-6.37%

Beef Round Steak (1kg)

$11.56 MX$216

$12.53 MX$235

-7.74%

Apples (1kg)

$2.72 MX$51.0

$3.34 MX$62.4

-18.56%

Banana (1kg)

$1.56 MX$29.27

$1.57 MX$29.47

-0.64%

Oranges (1kg)

$1.94 MX$36.39

$2.16 MX$40.37

-10.19%

Tomato (1kg)

$1.77 MX$33.10

$2.47 MX$46.24

-28.34%

Potato (1kg)

$1.94 MX$36.24

$2.31 MX$43.19

-16.02%

Onion (1kg)

$1.88 MX$35.15

$2.68 MX$50.1

-29.85%

Lettuce (1 head)

$1.43 MX$26.71

$1.46 MX$27.24

-2.05%

Water (1.5 liter bottle)

$1.09 MX$20.47

$1.19 MX$22.35

-8.40%

Cigarettes 20 Pack (Marlboro, Camel)

$4.28 MX$80.1

$4.75 MX$88.9

-9.89%

Wine (Bottle)

$10.27 MX$192

$13.58 MX$254

-24.37%

Local Beer (0.5 liter bottle)

$1.82 MX$34.04

$1.92 MX$35.98

-5.21%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$3.06 MX$57.3

$2.88 MX$53.9

6.25%

One-way Ticket (Public Transport)

$0.68 MX$12.77

$0.79 MX$14.85

-13.92%

Public Transport Monthly Pass (Regular Price)

$31.36 MX$587

Taxi Start (Normal Tariff)

$2.61 MX$48.93

$1.59 MX$29.82

64.15%

Taxi (Normal Tariff) (1km)

$2.02 MX$37.88

$1.06 MX$19.83

90.57%

Taxi 1hour Waiting (Normal Tariff)

$11.18 MX$209

$10.80 MX$202

3.52%

Gasoline (1 liter)

$1.44 MX$26.93

$1.55 MX$28.95

-7.10%

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

$21.3K MX$398.4K

$24.2K MX$452.1K

-11.88%

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

$23.9K MX$447.0K

$24.3K MX$455.2K

-1.80%

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

$57.3 MX$1,072

$117 MX$2,186

-50.98%

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

$23.00 MX$431

$26.38 MX$494

-12.81%

Internet (50+ Mbps, Unlimited Data)

$29.80 MX$558

$26.04 MX$487

14.44%

Gym Membership (Monthly)

$34.76 MX$651

$30.26 MX$566

14.87%

Tennis Court (1 Hour on Weekend)

$20.02 MX$375

$21.25 MX$398

-5.79%

Cinema Ticket

$5.14 MX$96.2

$5.23 MX$97.8

-1.72%

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

$216 MX$4,041

$673 MX$12.6K

-67.90%

International Primary School, 1 Child (Yearly)

$4,526 MX$84.7K

$11.1K MX$207.8K

-59.24%

Jeans (Levis 501 Or Similar)

$55.5 MX$1,038

$72.1 MX$1,349

-23.03%

Summer Dress (H&M, Zara, etc)

$40.25 MX$753

$42.38 MX$793

-5.03%

Sport Shoes (Adidas, Nike)

$98.5 MX$1,844

$112 MX$2,092

-11.85%

Men's Leather Business Shoes

$90.0 MX$1,684

$119 MX$2,228

-24.41%

1-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$596 MX$11.1K

$949 MX$17.8K

-37.23%

1-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$384 MX$7,182

$666 MX$12.5K

-42.42%

3-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$1,053 MX$19.7K

$1,821 MX$34.1K

-42.20%

3-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$759 MX$14.2K

$1,271 MX$23.8K

-40.31%

Buy Apartment in City Center (m2)

$1,915 MX$35.8K

$4,050 MX$75.8K

-52.71%

Buy Apartment Outside City Center (m2)

$1,149 MX$21.5K

$2,348 MX$43.9K

-51.04%

Average Monthly Net Salary (After Tax)

$1,155 MX$21.6K

20-Year Fixed Mortgage Interest Rate (Annual %)

11.3

11.79

-4.16%

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

Last update for Zihuatanejo: October 19, 2026

Last update for Monterrey: October 18, 2026

Monthly budget structure

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

Accommodation & Living

Zihuatanejo

$384 34%

Monterrey

$666 41.7% 73.7% $283

Groceries & Markets

Zihuatanejo

$264 23.3%

Monterrey

$304 19% 15.4% $41

Eating Out

Zihuatanejo

$185 16.3%

Monterrey

$221 13.9% 20% $37

Clothing & Footwear

Zihuatanejo

$128 11.3%

Monterrey

$155 9.7% 21.5% $27

Monthly Utilities & Internet

Zihuatanejo

$110 9.7%

Monterrey

$169 10.6% 53.8% $59

Sport & Entertainment

Zihuatanejo

$45 4%

Monterrey

$41 2.6% 9.6% $4.3

Getting Around

Zihuatanejo

$15 * 1.4%

Monterrey

$41 2.6% 168% $26

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 $596 in Zihuatanejo and $949 in Monterrey. Housing cost is often the main lever when comparing two cities.

Dining out: $44 in Zihuatanejo vs $48 in Monterrey for a mid-range dinner for two. Groceries echo the gap at $264 vs $304 per month, with Zihuatanejo cheaper across the board.

Good to know

🇲🇽 Zihuatanejo

🇲🇽 Monterrey

🕒 Local time

02:18 2:18 AM

Same time as Zihuatanejo

🌤 Weather

👥 Population

67,408

1,142,994

💱 Currency

Mexican Peso MXN $

📈 Exchange rate

100 MXN = 5.34 USD

100 MXN = 4.76 EUR

100 MXN = 5.34 USD

100 MXN = 4.76 EUR

Exchange rates and currency converter

On the map

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Between locations

Zihuatanejo Monterrey 900 km ≈ 1 h 45 min nonstop flight

From you

Zihuatanejo
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

Zihuatanejo vs Monterrey: Cost of Living - Frequently Asked Questions

Zihuatanejo and Monterrey differ by about 41% in total monthly costs ($1,131 vs $1,599 including rent). Zihuatanejo is meaningfully more affordable – a gap that matters a lot on a fixed or modest income.

You’d need roughly $1,696 in Zihuatanejo and $2,399 in Monterrey to live well. The gap comes down to housing and overall price levels. Both cities are liveable on less, but these numbers represent actual comfort.

Rent for a central apartment: $596 in Zihuatanejo versus $949 in Monterrey. Housing is usually the single largest factor when comparing overall living costs between the two.

Childcare runs $216 in Zihuatanejo 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 Zihuatanejo – a meal for two runs $44 versus $48 in Monterrey. If you eat out regularly, this makes a real dent in your monthly spending.

At $1,131 in Zihuatanejo versus $1,599 in Monterrey, a $1,500 budget is realistic in Zihuatanejo but tight or insufficient in Monterrey. The gap between the two cities makes Zihuatanejo the clear choice for anyone on this budget.

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