Cost of living comparison

Peru

compared to

Mexico

Xalapa vs. Lima Cost of Living Summary

Xalapa is 25.6% cheaper than Lima.

Restaurants: pay 15.7% more in Xalapa
Groceries: pay 9.5% more in Xalapa
Transportation: pay 26.4% less in Xalapa
Housing: pay 53.7% less in Xalapa
Childcare: pay 15.5% less in Xalapa
Entertainment and Sports: pay 11.2% less in Xalapa
Clothing: pay 7.9% more in Xalapa

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

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Xalapa vs. Lima Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 15.7% more for restaurants

	Lima	Xalapa
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$4.36 PEN15.00	$6.06 MX$112.06	+39.1%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$6.94 PEN23.91	$6.68 MX$123.46	-3.8%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.09 PEN3.75	$0.98 MX$18.17	-9.8%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.63 PEN2.18	$0.78 MX$14.39	+23.0%
Average			+15.7%

Lima vs. Xalapa - Cost of restaurants

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pay 9.5% more for groceries

	Lima	Xalapa
Bread 1 loaf	$2.57 PEN8.87	$2.24 MX$41.48	-12.9%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$4.53 PEN15.62	$3.22 MX$59.47	-29.1%
Milk (1 gallon)	$6.09 PEN20.97	$4.93 MX$91.10	-19.1%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.91 PEN10.03	$2.32 MX$42.91	-20.3%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.68 PEN9.25	$3.18 MX$58.72	+18.3%
Apples (1 lb)	$0.91 PEN3.14	$1.43 MX$26.42	+56.9%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.48 PEN1.64	$0.60 MX$11.04	+25.2%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.63 PEN2.18	$0.71 MX$13.05	+11.8%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.68 PEN2.33	$0.64 MX$11.89	-5.0%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.42 PEN1.44	$0.87 MX$16.17	+108.7%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.40 PEN1.38	$0.53 MX$9.79	+32.2%
Average			+9.5%

Lima vs. Xalapa - Cost of groceries

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pay 26.4% less for transportation

	Lima	Xalapa
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$6.39 PEN22.00	$5.61 MX$103.72	-12.2%
Monthly public transit pass	$26.51 PEN91.33	$15.00 MX$277.39	-43.4%
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	$6.54 MX$120.88	-67.6%
Average			-26.4%

Lima vs. Xalapa - Cost of transportation

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pay 53.7% less for housing

	Lima	Xalapa
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$27.55 PEN94.90	$24.10 MX$445.60	-12.5%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$734.53 PEN2,530.34	$235.80 MX$4,360.69	-67.9%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$337.21 PEN1,161.65	$165.17 MX$3,054.50	-51.0%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$55.42 PEN190.93	$47.71 MX$882.34	-13.9%
Average			-53.7%

Lima vs. Xalapa - Cost of housing

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pay 15.5% less for childcare

	Lima	Xalapa
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$179.06 PEN616.82	$139.08 MX$2,571.98	-22.3%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$13,095.48 PEN45,111.65	$12,045.70 MX$223K	-8.0%
Average			-15.5%

Lima vs. Xalapa - Cost of childcare

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pay 11.2% less for entertainment and sports

	Lima	Xalapa
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$2.61 PEN9.00	$2.23 MX$41.15	-14.8%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.24 PEN11.16	$3.80 MX$70.36	+17.5%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$5.76 PEN19.85	$4.17 MX$77.16	-27.6%
Monthly membership at local gym	$32.49 PEN111.92	$25.00 MX$462.32	-23.0%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$7.26 PEN25.01	$6.68 MX$123.46	-8.0%
Average			-11.2%

Lima vs. Xalapa - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 7.9% more for clothing

	Lima	Xalapa
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$52.80 PEN181.88	$37.25 MX$688.91	-29.4%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$34.89 PEN120.20	$53.64 MX$991.98	+53.7%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$83.72 PEN288.40	$109.04 MX$2,016.43	+30.2%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$78.93 PEN271.88	$75.63 MX$1,398.65	-4.2%
Average			+7.9%

Lima vs. Xalapa - 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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