Cost of living comparison

Peru

compared to

Mexico

Puerto Vallarta vs. Lima Cost of Living Summary

Puerto Vallarta is 45.5% more expensive than Lima.

Restaurants: pay 2.3 times more in Puerto Vallarta
Groceries: pay 52.9% more in Puerto Vallarta
Transportation: pay 5.0% less in Puerto Vallarta
Housing: pay 76.6% more in Puerto Vallarta
Childcare: pay 5.2% less in Puerto Vallarta
Entertainment and Sports: pay 14.1% more in Puerto Vallarta
Clothing: pay 13.1% more in Puerto Vallarta

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

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Puerto Vallarta vs. Lima Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Puerto Vallarta instead of Lima, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 2.3 times more for restaurants

	Lima	Puerto Vallarta
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$4.36 PEN15.00	$13.91 MX$257.20	+219.3%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$6.94 PEN23.91	$11.13 MX$205.76	+60.3%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.09 PEN3.75	$1.94 MX$35.86	+78.1%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.63 PEN2.18	$1.42 MX$26.22	+124.0%
Average			+128.4%

Lima vs. Puerto Vallarta - Cost of restaurants

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pay 52.9% more for groceries

	Lima	Puerto Vallarta
Bread 1 loaf	$2.57 PEN8.87	$3.55 MX$65.67	+37.9%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$4.53 PEN15.62	$5.06 MX$93.52	+11.5%
Milk (1 gallon)	$6.09 PEN20.97	$7.13 MX$131.83	+17.1%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.91 PEN10.03	$2.26 MX$41.74	-22.4%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.68 PEN9.25	$5.08 MX$93.87	+89.1%
Apples (1 lb)	$0.91 PEN3.14	$1.32 MX$24.34	+44.5%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.48 PEN1.64	$0.71 MX$13.21	+49.8%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.63 PEN2.18	$0.90 MX$16.70	+43.0%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.68 PEN2.33	$0.96 MX$17.69	+41.4%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.42 PEN1.44	$1.08 MX$19.94	+157.5%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.40 PEN1.38	$1.43 MX$26.48	+257.5%
Average			+52.9%

Lima vs. Puerto Vallarta - Cost of groceries

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pay 5.0% less for transportation

	Lima	Puerto Vallarta
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$6.39 PEN22.00	$5.81 MX$107.37	-9.1%
Monthly public transit pass	$26.51 PEN91.33	$21.81 MX$403.29	-17.7%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$21,990.00 PEN75,751.70	$21,528.95 MX$398K	-2.1%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$20.18 PEN69.52	$29.21 MX$540.12	+44.7%
Average			-5.0%

Lima vs. Puerto Vallarta - Cost of transportation

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pay 76.6% more for housing

	Lima	Puerto Vallarta
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$27.55 PEN94.90	$32.68 MX$604.29	+18.6%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$734.53 PEN2,530.34	$1,324.04 MX$24,485.27	+80.3%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$337.21 PEN1,161.65	$706.52 MX$13,065.67	+109.5%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$55.42 PEN190.93	$67.00 MX$1,239.09	+20.9%
Average			+76.6%

Lima vs. Puerto Vallarta - Cost of housing

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pay 5.2% less for childcare

	Lima	Puerto Vallarta
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$179.06 PEN616.82	$333.79 MX$6,172.76	+86.4%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$13,095.48 PEN45,111.65	$6,316.08 MX$117K	-51.8%
Average			-5.2%

Lima vs. Puerto Vallarta - Cost of childcare

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pay 14.1% more for entertainment and sports

	Lima	Puerto Vallarta
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$2.61 PEN9.00	$3.06 MX$56.58	+17.1%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.24 PEN11.16	$4.17 MX$77.16	+28.8%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$5.76 PEN19.85	$4.42 MX$81.79	-23.3%
Monthly membership at local gym	$32.49 PEN111.92	$37.09 MX$685.86	+14.2%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$7.26 PEN25.01	$8.62 MX$159.46	+18.8%
Average			+14.1%

Lima vs. Puerto Vallarta - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 13.1% more for clothing

	Lima	Puerto Vallarta
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$52.80 PEN181.88	$55.63 MX$1,028.79	+5.4%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$34.89 PEN120.20	$35.23 MX$651.57	+1.0%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$83.72 PEN288.40	$104.31 MX$1,928.99	+24.6%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$78.93 PEN271.88	$97.36 MX$1,800.39	+23.4%
Average			+13.1%

Lima vs. Puerto Vallarta - 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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