Cost of living comparison

compared to

San Miguel de Allende vs. Beijing Cost of Living Summary

San Miguel de Allende is 68.6% more expensive than Beijing.

Restaurants: pay 2.7 times more in San Miguel de Allende
Groceries: pay 2.0 times more in San Miguel de Allende
Transportation: pay 2.4 times more in San Miguel de Allende
Housing: pay 68.9% more in San Miguel de Allende
Childcare: pay 64.8% less in San Miguel de Allende
Entertainment and Sports: pay 30.1% more in San Miguel de Allende
Clothing: pay 35.4% more in San Miguel de Allende

The cost of restaurants, transportation, groceries, housing, clothing, and entertainment and sports in San Miguel de Allende are more expensive than in Beijing. Notably, restaurants, transportation, and groceries are significantly more expensive in San Miguel de Allende.

San Miguel de Allende vs. Beijing Cost Breakdown

If you lived in San Miguel de Allende instead of Beijing, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 2.7 times more for restaurants

	Beijing	San Miguel de Allende
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$4.21 CN¥29.74	$12.00 MX$218.10	+185.3%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$4.91 CN¥34.69	$8.12 MX$147.63	+65.5%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.48 CN¥3.39	$1.41 MX$25.59	+193.5%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.31 CN¥2.17	$1.02 MX$18.54	+232.3%
Average			+169.2%

Beijing vs. San Miguel de Allende - Cost of restaurants

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pay 2.0 times more for groceries

	Beijing	San Miguel de Allende
Bread 1 loaf	$1.71 CN¥12.07	$3.87 MX$70.39	+126.9%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$7.47 CN¥52.80	$4.12 MX$74.80	-44.9%
Milk (1 gallon)	$6.64 CN¥46.96	$5.37 MX$97.56	-19.2%
Eggs 1 dozen	$1.78 CN¥12.56	$2.65 MX$48.23	+49.4%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$1.53 CN¥10.83	$5.53 MX$100.50	+261.1%
Apples (1 lb)	$0.98 CN¥6.95	$1.91 MX$34.73	+94.5%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.77 CN¥5.44	$0.75 MX$13.71	-1.9%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.80 CN¥5.66	$1.29 MX$23.44	+61.1%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.60 CN¥4.26	$1.28 MX$23.23	+112.3%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.35 CN¥2.46	$1.14 MX$20.77	+227.8%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.41 CN¥2.92	$1.41 MX$25.68	+242.6%
Average			+100.9%

Beijing vs. San Miguel de Allende - Cost of groceries

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pay 2.4 times more for transportation

	Beijing	San Miguel de Allende
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$4.21 CN¥29.77	$4.99 MX$90.63	+18.4%
Monthly public transit pass	$31.54 CN¥223.02	$6.50 MX$118.11	-79.4%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$18,225.66 CN¥128,857.25	$18,953.96 MX$344,480.68	+4.0%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$4.63 CN¥32.71	$33.33 MX$605.75	+620.4%
Average			+140.8%

Beijing vs. San Miguel de Allende - Cost of transportation

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pay 68.9% more for housing

	Beijing	San Miguel de Allende
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$12.93 CN¥91.43	$35.42 MX$643.69	+173.9%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$935.23 CN¥6,612.19	$1,180.62 MX$21,457.31	+26.2%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$504.41 CN¥3,566.20	$778.19 MX$14,143.26	+54.3%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$39.27 CN¥277.61	$47.64 MX$865.87	+21.3%
Average			+68.9%

Beijing vs. San Miguel de Allende - Cost of housing

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pay 64.8% less for childcare

	Beijing	San Miguel de Allende
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$710.76 CN¥5,025.17	$352.00 MX$6,397.50	-50.5%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$23,242.73 CN¥164,328.40	$4,873.88 MX$88,580.75	-79.0%
Average			-64.8%

Beijing vs. San Miguel de Allende - Cost of childcare

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pay 30.1% more for entertainment and sports

	Beijing	San Miguel de Allende
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$1.12 CN¥7.93	$3.01 MX$54.62	+168.0%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.90 CN¥20.52	$3.62 MX$65.82	+24.8%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$4.21 CN¥29.74	$4.33 MX$78.74	+3.0%
Monthly membership at local gym	$57.84 CN¥408.91	$44.65 MX$811.54	-22.8%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$8.41 CN¥59.47	$6.50 MX$118.11	-22.7%
Average			+30.1%

Beijing vs. San Miguel de Allende - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 35.4% more for clothing

	Beijing	San Miguel de Allende
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$62.30 CN¥440.46	$64.99 MX$1,181.08	+4.3%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$36.37 CN¥257.16	$59.57 MX$1,082.65	+63.8%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$81.74 CN¥577.91	$111.92 MX$2,034.08	+36.9%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$105.53 CN¥746.11	$144.41 MX$2,624.61	+36.8%
Average			+35.4%

Beijing vs. San Miguel de Allende - Cost of clothing

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The statistics used to build this comparison are calculated using data from users just like you. We average the price of thousands of data points entered by users across the world. Learn more about our data sources. Page last updated: December 2025

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