Cost of living comparison

compared to

Puerto Vallarta vs. Cabo San Lucas Cost of Living Summary

Puerto Vallarta is 10.5% more expensive than Cabo San Lucas.

Restaurants: pay 21.1% more in Puerto Vallarta
Groceries: pay 19.0% more in Puerto Vallarta
Transportation: pay 26.4% less in Puerto Vallarta
Housing: pay 6.1% more in Puerto Vallarta
Childcare: pay 39.7% more in Puerto Vallarta
Entertainment and Sports: pay 15.7% more in Puerto Vallarta
Clothing: pay 1.9% less in Puerto Vallarta

The cost of childcare, restaurants, groceries, entertainment and sports, and housing in Puerto Vallarta are more expensive than in Cabo San Lucas. Expenses including transportation and clothing are lower in Puerto Vallarta.

Puerto Vallarta vs. Cabo San Lucas Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Puerto Vallarta instead of Cabo San Lucas, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 21.1% more for restaurants

	Cabo San Lucas	Puerto Vallarta
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$10.29 MX$185.35	$10.86 MX$195.57	+5.5%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$8.66 MX$156.08	$9.17 MX$165.26	+5.9%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.45 MX$26.20	$1.91 MX$34.35	+31.1%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$1.01 MX$18.12	$1.43 MX$25.69	+41.8%
Average			+21.1%

Cabo San Lucas vs. Puerto Vallarta - Cost of restaurants

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pay 19.0% more for groceries

	Cabo San Lucas	Puerto Vallarta
Bread 1 loaf	$3.05 MX$54.87	$3.59 MX$64.68	+17.9%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$5.78 MX$104.06	$5.78 MX$104.08
Milk (1 gallon)	$6.66 MX$120.02	$6.24 MX$112.48	-6.3%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.29 MX$41.22	$2.09 MX$37.72	-8.5%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$4.42 MX$79.65	$4.85 MX$87.45	+9.8%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.19 MX$21.39	$1.10 MX$19.85	-7.2%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.70 MX$12.54	$0.65 MX$11.74	-6.4%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.72 MX$12.98	$0.76 MX$13.63	+5.0%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.75 MX$13.57	$1.01 MX$18.25	+34.5%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.55 MX$9.96	$1.02 MX$18.46	+85.5%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.84 MX$15.19	$1.40 MX$25.15	+65.6%
Average			+19.0%

Cabo San Lucas vs. Puerto Vallarta - Cost of groceries

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pay 26.4% less for transportation

	Cabo San Lucas	Puerto Vallarta
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$5.02 MX$90.44	$5.02 MX$90.50	+0.1%
Monthly public transit pass	$51.99 MX$936.51	$16.28 MX$293.35	-68.7%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$22,378.40 MX$403,122.29	$15,199.26 MX$273,797.94	-32.1%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$28.56 MX$514.48	$27.14 MX$488.92	-5.0%
Average			-26.4%

Cabo San Lucas vs. Puerto Vallarta - Cost of transportation

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pay 6.1% more for housing

	Cabo San Lucas	Puerto Vallarta
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$26.48 MX$477.03	$32.90 MX$592.58	+24.2%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$880.01 MX$15,852.33	$990.97 MX$17,851.19	+12.6%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$852.93 MX$15,364.57	$687.02 MX$12,375.86	-19.5%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$64.23 MX$1,157.03	$68.93 MX$1,241.69	+7.3%
Average			+6.1%

Cabo San Lucas vs. Puerto Vallarta - Cost of housing

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pay 39.7% more for childcare

	Cabo San Lucas	Puerto Vallarta
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$135.39 MX$2,438.82	$280.46 MX$5,052.22	+107.2%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$8,123.13 MX$146,329.19	$5,862.57 MX$105,607.78	-27.8%
Average			+39.7%

Cabo San Lucas vs. Puerto Vallarta - Cost of childcare

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pay 15.7% more for entertainment and sports

	Cabo San Lucas	Puerto Vallarta
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$2.44 MX$43.90	$2.44 MX$44.00	+0.2%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.52 MX$63.41	$3.80 MX$68.45	+7.9%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$4.87 MX$87.80	$4.29 MX$77.25	-12.0%
Monthly membership at local gym	$45.13 MX$812.94	$36.91 MX$664.94	-18.2%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$4.06 MX$73.16	$8.14 MX$146.68	+100.5%
Average			+15.7%

Cabo San Lucas vs. Puerto Vallarta - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 1.9% less for clothing

	Cabo San Lucas	Puerto Vallarta
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$72.21 MX$1,300.70	$54.28 MX$977.85	-24.8%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$51.45 MX$926.75	$34.38 MX$619.30	-33.2%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$93.87 MX$1,690.92	$101.78 MX$1,833.47	+8.4%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$66.79 MX$1,203.15	$95.00 MX$1,711.24	+42.2%
Average			-1.9%

Cabo San Lucas vs. Puerto Vallarta - 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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