Cost of living comparison

compared to

Mexico City vs. Koh Samui Cost of Living Summary

Mexico City is 35.8% more expensive than Koh Samui.

Restaurants: pay 2.6 times more in Mexico City
Groceries: pay 35.6% more in Mexico City
Transportation: pay 35.3% less in Mexico City
Housing: pay 45.3% more in Mexico City
Childcare: pay 24.6% less in Mexico City
Entertainment and Sports: pay 44.5% more in Mexico City
Clothing: pay 25.4% more in Mexico City

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

Mexico City vs. Koh Samui Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Mexico City instead of Koh Samui, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 2.6 times more for restaurants

	Koh Samui	Mexico City
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$3.10 THB97.53	$10.86 MX$187.42	+250.1%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$8.99 THB282.84	$8.82 MX$152.28	-1.9%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.71 THB22.38	$1.73 MX$29.90	+143.3%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.38 THB11.85	$1.30 MX$22.51	+246.0%
Average			+159.4%

Koh Samui vs. Mexico City - Cost of restaurants

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pay 35.6% more for groceries

	Koh Samui	Mexico City
Bread 1 loaf	$1.73 THB54.26	$2.63 MX$45.32	+52.2%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$8.53 THB268.30	$5.04 MX$87.01	-40.9%
Milk (1 gallon)	$6.58 THB207.01	$6.54 MX$112.88	-0.7%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.28 THB71.69	$2.61 MX$45.01	+14.4%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$1.07 THB33.51	$3.80 MX$65.68	+257.0%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.51 THB47.48	$1.37 MX$23.64	-9.3%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.56 THB17.60	$0.80 MX$13.81	+42.9%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.03 THB32.46	$0.97 MX$16.80	-5.7%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.98 THB30.82	$0.91 MX$15.64	-7.5%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.73 THB22.84	$0.96 MX$16.55	+32.0%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.63 THB19.83	$0.99 MX$17.16	+57.6%
Average			+35.6%

Koh Samui vs. Mexico City - Cost of groceries

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pay 35.3% less for transportation

	Koh Samui	Mexico City
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$5.04 THB158.36	$5.14 MX$88.69	+2.0%
Monthly public transit pass	$46.52 THB1,462.96	$19.54 MX$337.36	-58.0%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$27,911.74 THB878K	$20,030.45 MX$346K	-28.2%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$10.30 THB323.80	$4.42 MX$76.38	-57.0%
Average			-35.3%

Koh Samui vs. Mexico City - Cost of transportation

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pay 45.3% more for housing

	Koh Samui	Mexico City
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$17.79 THB559.58	$30.93 MX$534.02	+73.8%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$554.27 THB17,430.84	$1,079.15 MX$18,629.97	+94.7%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$413.51 THB13,004.08	$677.25 MX$11,691.70	+63.8%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$76.59 THB2,408.67	$37.36 MX$644.99	-51.2%
Average			+45.3%

Koh Samui vs. Mexico City - Cost of housing

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pay 24.6% less for childcare

	Koh Samui	Mexico City
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$623.36 THB19,603.66	$430.39 MX$7,430.03	-31.0%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$13,335.61 THB419K	$10,897.53 MX$188K	-18.3%
Average			-24.6%

Koh Samui vs. Mexico City - Cost of childcare

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pay 44.5% more for entertainment and sports

	Koh Samui	Mexico City
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$2.17 THB68.27	$3.26 MX$56.23	+50.0%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.31 THB72.54	$3.81 MX$65.84	+65.3%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$4.34 THB136.54	$4.34 MX$74.97
Monthly membership at local gym	$34.11 THB1,072.84	$58.44 MX$1,008.97	+71.3%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$7.13 THB224.32	$6.51 MX$112.45	-8.7%
Average			+44.5%

Koh Samui vs. Mexico City - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 25.4% more for clothing

	Koh Samui	Mexico City
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$52.72 THB1,658.02	$60.95 MX$1,052.13	+15.6%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$29.92 THB941.01	$48.08 MX$829.98	+60.7%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$102.34 THB3,218.51	$105.72 MX$1,825.11	+3.3%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$90.82 THB2,856.25	$110.91 MX$1,914.71	+22.1%
Average			+25.4%

Koh Samui 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: February 2026

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