Mexico City vs Sao Paulo - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 11, 2026

	Mexico City	Sao Paulo
🚶 Cost of living one person	$1428	$1115
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$3399	$2824
🏠 One person rent	$774	$537
🏘️ Family rent	$1379	$943
🍽️ Food expenses	$431	$318
🚐 Transport expenses	$103	$147
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$1028	$794
😷 Air quality	Moderate	Moderate
✈️ Airport proximity	8 km	5 km
🎓 Higher education	93	96
😀 Quality of life	72	74
🏙️ Population	9.21M	11.5M

The cost of living in Mexico City is 28% more expensive than in Sao Paulo. Cities ranked 4274th and 5003rd ($1428 vs $1115) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 6th and 1st in Mexico and Brazil, respectively. Check Mexico vs Brazil comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 0.7 months in Mexico City compared to 0.7 months in Sao Paulo. Mexico City ranked 1st best city to live in Mexico vs Sao Paulo ranked 1st in Brazil, while ranked 3354th and 2408th among best cities to live in the world.

Salary adjustment calculator
the estimated difference in money purchasing power

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<img src="https://livingcost.org/assets/photo/cost/mexico-city/sao-paulo.jpg" alt="Cost of living in Mexico City vs Sao Paulo infographic" style="max-width: 100%; height: auto;"><p>Source: <a href="https://livingcost.org/cost/mexico-city/sao-paulo" target="_blank">Mexico City vs Sao Paulo - Cost of Living Comparison</a></p>

Prices in Mexico City vs Sao Paulo

Prices for goods and services in Mexico City and Sao Paulo are partly crowdsourced by our visitors, just like yourself. Please consider telling us about your city.

	Mexico City	Sao Paulo
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$11.7	$7.85
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$43.4	$38.2
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$10.2	$7.52
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$3.53	$2.45
☕ Cappuccino	$4.24	$2.66
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$1.8	$1.26
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1035	$631
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$623	$419
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1886	$1111
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1143	$769
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$34.6	$56.1
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$53.1	$85.4
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$33.7	$19.9
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	11.35%	11.97%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$3740	$2842
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$2224	$2178
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$0.35	$1
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$24.4	$49.2
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$6.19	$7.86
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.44	$1.15
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.83	$1.13
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$2.4	$1.63
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.77	$1.28
🥚 Eggs, x12	$2.93	$2.81
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$11	$12.2
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$8.89	$5.07
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$13.4	$10.3
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.98	$2.7
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.84	$1.82
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.29	$1.63
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.89	$1.86
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.11	$1.34
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.23	$1.18
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.87	$0.54
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$2.4	$2.25
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$13.8	$9.77
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.83	$1.45
🚬 Cigarette pack	$4.92	$2.76
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$6.97	$5.92
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$4.47	$3.82
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$1.97	$1.68
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$1.84	$1.29
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$56.2	$31.9
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$6.33	$8.87
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$50.8	$55.2
💇 Haircut, simple	$17.3	$11.3
👖 Brand Jeans	$65.6	$61.4
👟 Brand Sneakers	$113	$105
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$473	$494
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$11420	$16798

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

Cost of Living in the nearest cities

Cities near Mexico City

Distance	City	Cost of living
11 km or 7.1 mi	Naucalpan	$975
14 km or 8.7 mi	Tlalnepantla	$1008
17 km or 10 mi	Ciudad Nezahualcoyotl	$969
19 km or 12 mi	Ciudad Lopez Mateos	$1015
22 km or 14 mi	Ecatepec de Morelos	$842
25 km or 16 mi	Tultitlan de Mariano Escobedo	$941
25 km or 16 mi	Chicoloapan de Juarez	$1040
26 km or 16 mi	Cuautitlan Izcalli	$880
29 km or 18 mi	Texcoco de Mora	$982
30 km or 19 mi	Tultepec	$917
31 km or 19 mi	Chalco de Diaz Covarrubias	$1015
42 km or 26 mi	Zumpango	$934
55 km or 34 mi	Toluca	$986
56 km or 35 mi	Cuernavaca	$887
60 km or 37 mi	Jiutepec	$907
70 km or 44 mi	Cuautla	$1032
89 km or 55 mi	Pachuca	$771
93 km or 58 mi	Atlixco	$987
105 km or 65 mi	San Jose Villa de Allende	$971
106 km or 66 mi	Puebla	$1075
107 km or 67 mi	Taxco	$981
126 km or 79 mi	Iguala	$1004
140 km or 87 mi	San Juan del Rio	$1041
184 km or 114 mi	Queretaro	$1241
192 km or 119 mi	Teziutlan	$950
211 km or 131 mi	Chilpancingo	$766
213 km or 132 mi	Tehuacan	$926
214 km or 133 mi	Celaya	$803
216 km or 134 mi	Poza Rica	$928
217 km or 135 mi	Morelia	$926
224 km or 139 mi	Cortazar	$894
224 km or 139 mi	Orizaba	$944
225 km or 140 mi	Yuriria	$952
229 km or 143 mi	Coatepec	$846
234 km or 145 mi	Xalapa	$670
236 km or 146 mi	San Miguel de Allende	$1469
239 km or 149 mi	Cordoba	$962
250 km or 155 mi	Salamanca	$950
269 km or 167 mi	Irapuato	$910
281 km or 174 mi	Zacapu	$1023

Cities near Sao Paulo

Distance	City	Cost of living
12 km or 7.3 mi	Sao Caetano do Sul	$795
13 km or 8.3 mi	Taboao da Serra	$754
14 km or 8.6 mi	Guarulhos	$753
15 km or 9.4 mi	Diadema	$753
16 km or 9.7 mi	Santo Andre	$742
16 km or 10 mi	Osasco	$782
17 km or 11 mi	Sao Bernardo do Campo	$699
21 km or 13 mi	Carapicuiba	$645
22 km or 14 mi	Maua	$746
23 km or 15 mi	Caieiras	$741
25 km or 15 mi	Embu das Artes	$753
25 km or 16 mi	Barueri	$883
26 km or 16 mi	Mairipora	$724
26 km or 16 mi	Franco da Rocha	$752
27 km or 17 mi	Ferraz de Vasconcelos	$687
28 km or 17 mi	Jandira	$750
29 km or 18 mi	Ribeirao Pires	$716
29 km or 18 mi	Itapecerica da Serra	$754
30 km or 18 mi	Poa	$684
30 km or 18 mi	Cotia	$841
30 km or 19 mi	Itaquaquecetuba	$723
31 km or 19 mi	Itapevi	$700
31 km or 19 mi	Santana de Parnaiba	$741
32 km or 20 mi	Francisco Morato	$753
33 km or 20 mi	Itanhaem	$715
33 km or 20 mi	Cajamar	$741
36 km or 22 mi	Embu-Guacu	$727
36 km or 22 mi	Aruja	$713
41 km or 26 mi	Campo Limpo Paulista	$739
43 km or 26 mi	Varzea Paulista	$737
44 km or 27 mi	Cubatao	$695
45 km or 28 mi	Mogi das Cruzes	$789
48 km or 30 mi	Jundiai	$783
49 km or 30 mi	Atibaia	$651
51 km or 32 mi	Sao Roque	$725
52 km or 32 mi	Sao Vicente	$655
55 km or 34 mi	Santos	$882
56 km or 35 mi	Praia Grande	$691
61 km or 38 mi	Bertioga	$703
61 km or 38 mi	Ibiuna	$719