Last update: Oct 2026

Cost of Living Comparison Between Zihuatanejo and Rio de Janeiro

For one person, living is cheaper in Zihuatanejo: $1,131 a month against $1,273 in Rio de Janeiro, rent and utilities included – about $1,700 less a year. Higher rent and utilities in Rio de Janeiro outweigh lower spending on other living expenses.

55

Cost of Living Index in Zihuatanejo
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Zihuatanejo Living Index
62

Cost of Living Index in Rio de Janeiro
Learn more

Rio de Janeiro Living Index

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Zihuatanejo

🇲🇽 Mexico

$1,131

/mo nomad

Rio de Janeiro

🇧🇷 Brazil

$1,273

/mo nomad

Monthly Cost of Living

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

Monthly costs for one person with rent: $1,131 in Zihuatanejo versus $1,273 in Rio de Janeiro.

Zihuatanejo $1,131
Rio de Janeiro $1,273

Estimated couple costs with rent: $1,824 in Zihuatanejo versus $1,841 in Rio de Janeiro.

Zihuatanejo $1,824
Rio de Janeiro $1,841

Monthly costs for a family of three with rent: $2,517 in Zihuatanejo versus $2,409 in Rio de Janeiro.

Zihuatanejo $2,517
Rio de Janeiro $2,409

Living in Zihuatanejo costs roughly 11% less than in Rio de Janeiro, and outside of rent the biggest gap is in transport.

Both cities sit below the global median: Zihuatanejo 17% lower, Rio de Janeiro 6% lower.

Meal at Budget Restaurant

$10.86 MX$203

$9.38 R$46.86

15.78%

Three-Course Dinner for Two, Mid-Range

$44.16 MX$827

$40.00 R$200

10.40%

Fast Food Meal (McDonalds, etc)

$8.74 MX$164

$8.34 R$41.68

4.80%

Cappuccino

$3.48 MX$65.2

$2.29 R$11.45

51.97%

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

$1.36 MX$25.45

$1.59 R$7.93

-14.47%

Water (0.33 liter bottle)

$1.02 MX$19.08

$1.01 R$5.03

0.99%

Local Beer (0.5 liter draught)

$2.45 MX$45.89

$2.14 R$10.69

14.49%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$3.98 MX$74.4

$3.66 R$18.28

8.74%

Milk (1 liter)

$1.66 MX$31.05

$1.13 R$5.63

46.90%

White Bread (500g)

$2.55 MX$47.69

$2.09 R$10.45

22.01%

Rice (white) (1kg)

$1.65 MX$30.90

$1.25 R$6.27

32.00%

Eggs

$2.44 MX$45.61

$2.25 R$11.23

8.44%

Local Cheese (1kg)

$8.11 MX$152

$10.92 R$54.5

-25.73%

Chicken Fillets (1kg)

$8.52 MX$159

$4.36 R$21.79

95.41%

Beef Round Steak (1kg)

$11.56 MX$216

$9.60 R$47.96

20.42%

Apples (1kg)

$2.72 MX$51.0

$2.85 R$14.26

-4.56%

Banana (1kg)

$1.56 MX$29.27

$1.81 R$9.03

-13.81%

Oranges (1kg)

$1.94 MX$36.39

$1.58 R$7.91

22.78%

Tomato (1kg)

$1.77 MX$33.10

$1.83 R$9.15

-3.28%

Potato (1kg)

$1.94 MX$36.24

$1.20 R$6.01

61.67%

Onion (1kg)

$1.88 MX$35.15

$1.06 R$5.28

77.36%

Lettuce (1 head)

$1.43 MX$26.71

$0.75 R$3.76

90.67%

Water (1.5 liter bottle)

$1.09 MX$20.47

$0.68 R$3.40

60.29%

Cigarettes 20 Pack (Marlboro, Camel)

$4.28 MX$80.1

$2.94 R$14.68

45.58%

Wine (Bottle)

$10.27 MX$192

$7.98 R$39.85

28.70%

Local Beer (0.5 liter bottle)

$1.82 MX$34.04

$1.18 R$5.89

54.24%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$3.06 MX$57.3

$2.42 R$12.09

26.45%

One-way Ticket (Public Transport)

$0.68 MX$12.77

$0.94 R$4.71

-27.66%

Public Transport Monthly Pass (Regular Price)

$50.3 R$251

Taxi Start (Normal Tariff)

$2.61 MX$48.93

$1.20 R$6.01

117.50%

Taxi (Normal Tariff) (1km)

$2.02 MX$37.88

$0.83 R$4.14

143.37%

Taxi 1hour Waiting (Normal Tariff)

$11.18 MX$209

$8.97 R$44.83

24.64%

Gasoline (1 liter)

$1.44 MX$26.93

$1.29 R$6.44

11.63%

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

$21.3K MX$398.4K

$22.8K R$113.8K

-6.54%

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

$23.9K MX$447.0K

$34.0K R$169.7K

-29.68%

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

$57.3 MX$1,072

$134 R$671

-57.37%

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

$23.00 MX$431

$10.73 R$53.6

114.35%

Internet (50+ Mbps, Unlimited Data)

$29.80 MX$558

$22.84 R$114

30.47%

Gym Membership (Monthly)

$34.76 MX$651

$30.16 R$151

15.25%

Tennis Court (1 Hour on Weekend)

$20.02 MX$375

$31.49 R$157

-36.42%

Cinema Ticket

$5.14 MX$96.2

$7.73 R$38.60

-33.51%

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

$216 MX$4,041

$584 R$2,917

-63.02%

International Primary School, 1 Child (Yearly)

$4,526 MX$84.7K

$12.8K R$64.0K

-64.65%

Jeans (Levis 501 Or Similar)

$55.5 MX$1,038

$41.12 R$205

34.92%

Summer Dress (H&M, Zara, etc)

$40.25 MX$753

$49.26 R$246

-18.29%

Sport Shoes (Adidas, Nike)

$98.5 MX$1,844

$73.7 R$368

33.76%

Men's Leather Business Shoes

$90.0 MX$1,684

$65.9 R$329

36.48%

1-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$596 MX$11.1K

$900 R$4,495

-33.79%

1-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$384 MX$7,182

$527 R$2,634

-27.22%

3-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$1,053 MX$19.7K

$1,332 R$6,657

-20.98%

3-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$759 MX$14.2K

$748 R$3,736

1.48%

Buy Apartment in City Center (m2)

$1,915 MX$35.8K

$3,990 R$19.9K

-51.99%

Buy Apartment Outside City Center (m2)

$1,149 MX$21.5K

$1,560 R$7,794

-26.33%

Average Monthly Net Salary (After Tax)

$640 R$3,200

20-Year Fixed Mortgage Interest Rate (Annual %)

11.3

11.93

-5.28%

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

Last update for Zihuatanejo: October 19, 2026

Last update for Rio de Janeiro: October 18, 2026

Monthly budget structure

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

Accommodation & Living

Zihuatanejo

$384 34%

Rio de Janeiro

$527 41.4% 37.4% $144

Groceries & Markets

Zihuatanejo

$264 23.3%

Rio de Janeiro

$214 16.8% 19% $50

Eating Out

Zihuatanejo

$185 16.3%

Rio de Janeiro

$156 12.3% 15.5% $29

Clothing & Footwear

Zihuatanejo

$128 11.3%

Rio de Janeiro

$103 8.1% 19.1% $24

Monthly Utilities & Internet

Zihuatanejo

$110 9.7%

Rio de Janeiro

$168 13.2% 52.5% $58

Sport & Entertainment

Zihuatanejo

$45 4%

Rio de Janeiro

$46 3.6% 1.3% $0.6

Getting Around

Zihuatanejo

$15 * 1.4%

Rio de Janeiro

$59 4.7% 285% $44

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 $900 in Rio de Janeiro. Housing cost is often the main lever when comparing two cities.

Dining out: $44 in Zihuatanejo vs $40 in Rio de Janeiro for a mid-range dinner for two. Groceries echo the gap at $264 vs $214 per month, with Rio de Janeiro cheaper across the board.

Good to know

🇲🇽 Zihuatanejo

🇧🇷 Rio de Janeiro

🕒 Local time

04:53 4:53 AM

07:53 7:53 AM

3 h ahead of Zihuatanejo

🌤 Weather

👥 Population

67,408

6,211,223

💱 Currency

Mexican Peso MXN $

Brazilian Real BRL R$

📈 Exchange rate

100 MXN = 5.34 USD

100 MXN = 4.76 EUR

1 BRL = 0.2 USD

1 BRL = 0.178 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 26, 2026: 1 USD = 18.72 MXN (100 MXN = 5.34 USD). 1 EUR = 21 MXN (100 MXN = 4.76 EUR).

Brazilian Real exchange rates as of October 26, 2026: 1 USD = 5 BRL (1 BRL = 0.2 USD). 1 EUR = 5.61 BRL (1 BRL = 0.178 EUR).

USD to MXN in detail →

On the map

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Between locations

Zihuatanejo Rio de Janeiro 7,780 km ≈ 10 h nonstop flight

From you

Zihuatanejo
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

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

Zihuatanejo and Rio de Janeiro differ by about 13% in total monthly costs ($1,131 vs $1,273 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 $1,910 in Rio de Janeiro 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 $900 in Rio de Janeiro. Housing is usually the single largest factor when comparing overall living costs between the two.

Childcare runs $216 in Zihuatanejo versus $584 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 Rio de Janeiro – a meal for two runs $40 versus $44 in Zihuatanejo. If you eat out regularly, this makes a real dent in your monthly spending.

Either city works on $1,500 a month, though Zihuatanejo gives you more room to save. At this income level, the choice is more about lifestyle than financial pressure.

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.