Cost of living comparison

Peru

compared to

Mexico

Monterrey vs. Lima Cost of Living Summary

Monterrey is 44.9% more expensive than Lima.

Restaurants: pay 2.2 times more in Monterrey
Groceries: pay 55.5% more in Monterrey
Transportation: pay 4.9% less in Monterrey
Housing: pay 60.7% more in Monterrey
Childcare: pay 85.7% more in Monterrey
Entertainment and Sports: pay 7.8% less in Monterrey
Clothing: pay 36.9% more in Monterrey

The cost of restaurants, childcare, housing, groceries, and clothing in Monterrey are more expensive than in Lima. Expenses including entertainment and sports and transportation are lower in Monterrey. Notably, restaurants and childcare are significantly more expensive in Monterrey.

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Monterrey vs. Lima Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Monterrey instead of Lima, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 2.2 times more for restaurants

	Lima	Monterrey
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$4.36 PEN14.95	$13.91 MX$259.64	+219.3%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$6.94 PEN23.82	$11.13 MX$207.71	+60.3%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.09 PEN3.74	$1.68 MX$31.29	+53.9%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.63 PEN2.17	$1.03 MX$19.21	+62.6%
Average			+118.0%

Lima vs. Monterrey - Cost of restaurants

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pay 55.5% more for groceries

	Lima	Monterrey
Bread 1 loaf	$2.57 PEN8.84	$2.95 MX$55.15	+14.7%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$4.53 PEN15.56	$6.13 MX$114.52	+35.3%
Milk (1 gallon)	$6.09 PEN20.89	$7.20 MX$134.45	+18.3%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.91 PEN9.99	$2.56 MX$47.84	-11.9%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.68 PEN9.21	$4.28 MX$79.94	+59.5%
Apples (1 lb)	$0.91 PEN3.13	$1.52 MX$28.31	+66.5%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.48 PEN1.64	$0.71 MX$13.32	+49.6%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.63 PEN2.17	$0.98 MX$18.36	+55.8%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.68 PEN2.32	$1.12 MX$20.92	+65.6%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.42 PEN1.44	$1.06 MX$19.70	+152.0%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.40 PEN1.37	$1.23 MX$22.99	+207.5%
Average			+55.5%

Lima vs. Monterrey - Cost of groceries

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pay 4.9% less for transportation

	Lima	Monterrey
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$6.39 PEN21.92	$5.91 MX$110.39	-7.4%
Monthly public transit pass	$26.51 PEN90.98	$32.04 MX$598.21	+20.9%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$21,990.00 PEN75,466.91	$21,528.95 MX$402K	-2.1%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$20.18 PEN69.26	$10.57 MX$197.33	-47.6%
Average			-4.9%

Lima vs. Monterrey - Cost of transportation

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pay 60.7% more for housing

	Lima	Monterrey
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$27.55 PEN94.54	$26.79 MX$500.12	-2.8%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$734.53 PEN2,520.82	$981.90 MX$18,330.52	+33.7%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$337.21 PEN1,157.28	$685.94 MX$12,805.40	+103.4%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$55.42 PEN190.21	$91.91 MX$1,715.79	+65.8%
Average			+60.7%

Lima vs. Monterrey - Cost of housing

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pay 85.7% more for childcare

	Lima	Monterrey
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$179.06 PEN614.50	$703.26 MX$13,128.81	+292.8%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$13,095.48 PEN44,942.05	$11,496.80 MX$215K	-12.2%
Average			+85.7%

Lima vs. Monterrey - Cost of childcare

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pay 7.8% less for entertainment and sports

	Lima	Monterrey
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$2.61 PEN8.97	$2.36 MX$44.14	-9.5%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.24 PEN11.11	$4.04 MX$75.39	+24.7%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$5.76 PEN19.78	$4.90 MX$91.39	-15.1%
Monthly membership at local gym	$32.49 PEN111.50	$31.22 MX$582.75	-3.9%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$7.26 PEN24.91	$5.29 MX$98.66	-27.2%
Average			-7.8%

Lima vs. Monterrey - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 36.9% more for clothing

	Lima	Monterrey
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$52.80 PEN181.20	$73.56 MX$1,373.20	+39.3%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$34.89 PEN119.75	$42.76 MX$798.25	+22.5%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$83.72 PEN287.31	$112.51 MX$2,100.32	+34.4%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$78.93 PEN270.86	$120.67 MX$2,252.66	+52.9%
Average			+36.9%

Lima vs. Monterrey - Cost of clothing

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We average the price of thousands of data points entered by users across the world. Sources: MyLifeElsewhere's cost-of-living dataset (prices updated October 2026). How we calculate this

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