Cost of living comparison

compared to

Mexico City vs. Durham Cost of Living Summary

Mexico City is 24.0% cheaper than Durham.

Restaurants: pay 28.2% less in Mexico City
Groceries: pay 42.5% less in Mexico City
Transportation: pay 1.3% more in Mexico City
Housing: pay 55.2% less in Mexico City
Childcare: pay 67.4% less in Mexico City
Entertainment and Sports: pay 26.1% less in Mexico City
Clothing: pay 50.3% more in Mexico City

The cost of clothing and transportation in Mexico City are more expensive than in Durham. Expenses including childcare, housing, groceries, restaurants, and entertainment and sports are lower in Mexico City.

Mexico City vs. Durham Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Mexico City instead of Durham, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 28.2% less for restaurants

	Durham	Mexico City
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$15.00	$10.86 MX$198.62	-27.6%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$10.00	$8.82 MX$161.38	-11.8%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$2.79	$1.73 MX$31.68	-37.8%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$2.02	$1.30 MX$23.86	-35.6%
Average			-28.2%

Durham vs. Mexico City - Cost of restaurants

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pay 42.5% less for groceries

	Durham	Mexico City
Bread 1 loaf	$4.55	$2.63 MX$48.03	-42.2%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$9.88	$5.04 MX$92.21	-49.0%
Milk (1 gallon)	$4.35	$6.54 MX$119.62	+50.4%
Eggs 1 dozen	$5.42	$2.61 MX$47.69	-51.9%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$8.75	$3.80 MX$69.61	-56.5%
Apples (1 lb)	$3.31	$1.37 MX$25.05	-58.7%
Bananas (1 lb)	$1.17	$0.80 MX$14.63	-31.9%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.47	$0.97 MX$17.81	-33.6%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$3.01	$0.91 MX$16.58	-69.9%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$3.62	$0.96 MX$17.54	-73.5%
Onions (1 lb)	$2.01	$0.99 MX$18.19	-50.5%
Average			-42.5%

Durham vs. Mexico City - Cost of groceries

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pay 1.3% more for transportation

	Durham	Mexico City
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$3.05	$5.14 MX$93.99	+68.4%
Monthly public transit pass	$25.00	$19.54 MX$357.52	-21.8%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$35,000.00	$20,030.45 MX$366,457.13	-42.8%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	??	$4.42 MX$80.95
Average			+1.3%

Durham vs. Mexico City - Cost of transportation

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pay 55.2% less for housing

	Durham	Mexico City
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$59.17	$30.93 MX$565.92	-47.7%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$1,850.00	$1,079.15 MX$19,743.00	-41.7%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$1,433.33	$677.25 MX$12,390.21	-52.8%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$173.52	$37.36 MX$683.53	-78.5%
Average			-55.2%

Durham vs. Mexico City - Cost of housing

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pay 67.4% less for childcare

	Durham	Mexico City
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$1,318.67	$430.39 MX$7,873.93	-67.4%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	??	$10,897.53 MX$199,370.32
Average			-67.4%

Durham vs. Mexico City - Cost of childcare

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pay 26.1% less for entertainment and sports

	Durham	Mexico City
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$6.00	$3.26 MX$59.59	-45.7%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$4.83	$3.81 MX$69.77	-21.1%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$9.00	$4.34 MX$79.45	-51.7%
Monthly membership at local gym	$43.75	$58.44 MX$1,069.25	+33.6%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$12.00	$6.51 MX$119.17	-45.7%
Average			-26.1%

Durham vs. Mexico City - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 50.3% more for clothing

	Durham	Mexico City
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$36.66	$60.95 MX$1,114.99	+66.2%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$22.33	$48.08 MX$879.56	+115.3%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$95.50	$105.72 MX$1,934.15	+10.7%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$101.67	$110.91 MX$2,029.10	+9.1%
Average			+50.3%

Durham vs. Mexico City - 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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