Mexico City vs Tijuana - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 11, 2026

	Mexico City	Tijuana
🚶 Cost of living one person	$1428	$1295
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$3399	$3053
🏠 One person rent	$774	$616
🏘️ Family rent	$1379	$1076
🍽️ Food expenses	$431	$416
🚐 Transport expenses	$103	$156
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$1028	$1025
😷 Air quality	Moderate	Moderate
✈️ Airport proximity	8 km	5 km
🎓 Higher education	93	22
😀 Quality of life	72	62
🏙️ Population	9.21M	1.96M

The cost of living in Mexico City is 10% more expensive than in Tijuana. Cities ranked 4274th and 4578th ($1428 vs $1295) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 6th and 9th in Mexico.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 0.7 months in Mexico City compared to 0.8 months in Tijuana. Ranked 1st vs 6th best cities to live in Mexico, and 3354th vs 5712th among the 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/tijuana.jpg" alt="Cost of living in Mexico City vs Tijuana infographic" style="max-width: 100%; height: auto;"><p>Source: <a href="https://livingcost.org/cost/mexico-city/tijuana" target="_blank">Mexico City vs Tijuana - Cost of Living Comparison</a></p>

Prices in Mexico City vs Tijuana

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

	Mexico City	Tijuana
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$11.7	$12
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$43.4	$34.7
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$10.2	$9.96
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$3.53	$2.9
☕ Cappuccino	$4.24	$4.63
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$1.8	$1.33
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1035	$768
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$623	$500
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1886	$1368
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1143	$905
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$34.6	$30.8
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$53.1	$46.9
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$33.7	$31.5
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	11.35%	12.01%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$3740	$3269
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$2224	$2686
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$0.35	$1.1
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$24.4	$37.9
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$6.19	$19.3
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.44	$1.46
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.83	$2.1
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$2.4	$2.84
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.77	$1.86
🥚 Eggs, x12	$2.93	$3.29
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$11	$7.47
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$8.89	$9.46
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$13.4	$12.2
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.98	$2.78
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.84	$1.74
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.29	$1.97
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.89	$1.83
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.11	$1.62
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.23	$1.86
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.87	$0.7
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$2.4	$2.29
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$13.8	$8.74
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.83	$2.37
🚬 Cigarette pack	$4.92	$4.65
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$6.97	$8.04
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$4.47	$4.27
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$1.97	$2.07
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$1.84	$2.84
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$56.2	$42.6
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$6.33	$6.86
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$50.8	$48.2
💇 Haircut, simple	$17.3	$12.9
👖 Brand Jeans	$65.6	$56.8
👟 Brand Sneakers	$113	$104
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$473	$220
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$11420	$4857

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 Tijuana

Distance	City	Cost of living
11 km or 6.5 mi	Imperial Beach	$2933
11 km or 6.9 mi	Chula Vista	$2995
15 km or 9.5 mi	Las Delicias	$1141
18 km or 11 mi	National	$3053
21 km or 13 mi	Rosarito Beach	$1138
22 km or 14 mi	Coronado	$3220
23 km or 15 mi	Lemon Grove	$2995
24 km or 15 mi	San Diego	$3507
27 km or 17 mi	La Mesa	$2963
30 km or 19 mi	El Cajon	$3040
38 km or 24 mi	Santee	$2948
42 km or 26 mi	La Jolla	$3033
48 km or 30 mi	Poway	$2995
62 km or 38 mi	Encinitas	$3243
66 km or 41 mi	Escondido	$3261
69 km or 43 mi	San Marcos	$2995
76 km or 47 mi	Carlsbad	$3245
77 km or 48 mi	Vista	$2976
81 km or 50 mi	Oceanside	$3251
84 km or 52 mi	Ensenada	$968
96 km or 59 mi	Fallbrook	$2927
109 km or 67 mi	Temecula	$2676
115 km or 72 mi	San Clemente	$2963
117 km or 73 mi	Murrieta	$3070
119 km or 74 mi	French Valley	$2758
121 km or 75 mi	Wildomar	$2815
122 km or 76 mi	Dana Point	$3030
123 km or 77 mi	San Juan Capistrano	$3085
128 km or 80 mi	Laguna Niguel	$3513
128 km or 80 mi	Menifee	$2621
131 km or 82 mi	Laguna Beach	$3122
131 km or 82 mi	Lake Elsinore	$2669
134 km or 83 mi	Mission Viejo	$3544
135 km or 84 mi	Rancho Santa Margarita	$2980
135 km or 84 mi	Laguna Hills	$3027
135 km or 84 mi	Hemet	$2767
138 km or 86 mi	Aliso Viejo	$3449
138 km or 86 mi	Lake Forest	$2554
139 km or 87 mi	El Centro	$2752
140 km or 87 mi	San Jacinto	$2667