North America · Mexico City
Cost of living in Mexico
Mexico is 45% cheaper than the US, ranking #72 of 203 countries we cover for cost of living. The local currency is MXN (MX$).
World Bank data through 2024 · last reviewed 2026-06.
What drives the cost here
Price levels by category, where the world average = 100. Above 100 is pricier than the global norm; below it is cheaper.
In Mexico, food & groceries is the priciest category relative to the world (100), while communication is the most affordable (69).
Category price levels: World Bank ICP 2021 (world average = 100) · source
What your money is worth here
A $100,000 US lifestyle would cost roughly $55,000 in Mexico.
Quality of life
64/100 · #135 of 198Beyond cost — health, safety, and connectivity. The score is a transparent, equal-weight composite of the verified metrics below (see methodology).
About Mexico
Mexico was the site of several advanced Amerindian civilizations -- including the Olmec, Toltec, Teotihuacan, Zapotec, Maya, and Aztec -- until Spain conquered and colonized the area in the early 16th century. Administered as the Viceroyalty of New Spain for three centuries, it achieved independence early in the 19th century. Elections held in 2000 marked the first time since Mexican Revolution in 1910 that an opposition candidate -- Vicente FOX of the National Action Party (PAN) -- defeated the party in government, the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI). He was succeeded in 2006 by another PAN candidate Felipe CALDERON, but Enrique PEÑA NIETO regained the presidency for the PRI in 2012. Left-leaning anti-establishment politician and former mayor of Mexico City (2000-05) Andrés Manuel LÓPEZ OBRADOR, from the National Regeneration Movement (MORENA), became president in 2018.
Read the full background
The US-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA, or T-MEC by its Spanish acronym) entered into force in 2020 and replaced its predecessor, the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). Mexico amended its constitution in 2019 to facilitate the implementation of the labor components of USMCA.
Mexico is currently the US's second-largest goods trading partner, after Canada. Ongoing economic and social concerns include low real wages, high underemployment, inequitable income distribution, and few advancement opportunities, particularly for the largely indigenous population in the impoverished southern states. Since 2007, Mexico's powerful transnational criminal organizations have engaged in a struggle to control criminal markets, resulting in tens of thousands of drug-related homicides and forced disappearances.
Background from the CIA World Factbook (public domain), archived 2026-06-03.
Frequently asked
Is Mexico expensive to live in?
Mexico is 45% cheaper than the US, ranking #72 of the 203 countries we track. Its most expensive category relative to the world is food & groceries; communication costs the least.
How much money do you need to live in Mexico?
A lifestyle that costs $100,000 in the United States would cost roughly $55,000 in Mexico, going by overall price levels. The salary translator turns your own figure into a local equivalent.
Is Mexico cheaper than the United States?
Yes. Its overall price level is 55.0, against 100 for the United States.
What is the quality of life in Mexico?
Mexico scores 64 out of 100 on our quality-of-life index (#135 of 198), a composite of life expectancy, safety, health, and connectivity, with life expectancy around 75 years.
Every number, sourced.
We cite the exact source and year for each figure. Derived values are computed at build time, never hand-entered.
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