Cost of living comparison

compared to

San Miguel de Allende vs. Madrid Cost of Living Summary

San Miguel de Allende is 19.9% cheaper than Madrid.

Restaurants: pay 43.1% less in San Miguel de Allende
Groceries: pay 20.2% more in San Miguel de Allende
Transportation: pay 15.2% less in San Miguel de Allende
Housing: pay 30.1% less in San Miguel de Allende
Childcare: pay 55.3% less in San Miguel de Allende
Entertainment and Sports: pay 23.1% less in San Miguel de Allende
Clothing: pay 7.3% more in San Miguel de Allende

The cost of groceries and clothing in San Miguel de Allende are more expensive than in Madrid. Expenses including childcare, restaurants, housing, entertainment and sports, and transportation are lower in San Miguel de Allende.

San Miguel de Allende vs. Madrid Cost Breakdown

If you lived in San Miguel de Allende instead of Madrid, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 43.1% less for restaurants

	Madrid	San Miguel de Allende
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$18.10 €15.55	$12.00 MX$218.10	-33.7%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$11.68 €10.03	$8.12 MX$147.63	-30.4%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$3.13 €2.69	$1.41 MX$25.59	-55.0%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$2.19 €1.88	$1.02 MX$18.54	-53.4%
Average			-43.1%

Madrid vs. San Miguel de Allende - Cost of restaurants

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pay 20.2% more for groceries

	Madrid	San Miguel de Allende
Bread 1 loaf	$1.71 €1.47	$3.87 MX$70.39	+126.4%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$7.25 €6.22	$4.12 MX$74.80	-43.2%
Milk (1 gallon)	$4.61 €3.96	$5.37 MX$97.56	+16.5%
Eggs 1 dozen	$3.36 €2.88	$2.65 MX$48.23	-21.0%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$4.05 €3.48	$5.53 MX$100.50	+36.4%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.18 €1.01	$1.91 MX$34.73	+62.1%
Bananas (1 lb)	$1.02 €0.88	$0.75 MX$13.71	-26.1%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.19 €1.03	$1.29 MX$23.44	+8.0%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.26 €1.08	$1.28 MX$23.23	+1.4%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.94 €0.81	$1.14 MX$20.77	+21.6%
Onions (1 lb)	$1.01 €0.87	$1.41 MX$25.68	+39.9%
Average			+20.2%

Madrid vs. San Miguel de Allende - Cost of groceries

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pay 15.2% less for transportation

	Madrid	San Miguel de Allende
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$7.08 €6.08	$4.99 MX$90.63	-29.5%
Monthly public transit pass	$45.84 €39.37	$6.50 MX$118.11	-85.8%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$38,541.72 €33,100.05	$18,953.96 MX$344,480.68	-50.8%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$16.23 €13.94	$33.33 MX$605.75	+105.3%
Average			-15.2%

Madrid vs. San Miguel de Allende - Cost of transportation

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pay 30.1% less for housing

	Madrid	San Miguel de Allende
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$34.54 €29.66	$35.42 MX$643.69	+2.5%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$1,540.98 €1,323.41	$1,180.62 MX$21,457.31	-23.4%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$1,118.82 €960.85	$778.19 MX$14,143.26	-30.4%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$153.78 €132.07	$47.64 MX$865.87	-69.0%
Average			-30.1%

Madrid vs. San Miguel de Allende - Cost of housing

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pay 55.3% less for childcare

	Madrid	San Miguel de Allende
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$673.20 €578.15	$352.00 MX$6,397.50	-47.7%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$13,119.76 €11,267.39	$4,873.88 MX$88,580.75	-62.9%
Average			-55.3%

Madrid vs. San Miguel de Allende - Cost of childcare

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pay 23.1% less for entertainment and sports

	Madrid	San Miguel de Allende
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$4.50 €3.86	$3.01 MX$54.62	-33.2%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.20 €2.75	$3.62 MX$65.82	+13.0%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$7.01 €6.02	$4.33 MX$78.74	-38.2%
Monthly membership at local gym	$51.05 €43.85	$44.65 MX$811.54	-12.5%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$11.68 €10.03	$6.50 MX$118.11	-44.4%
Average			-23.1%

Madrid vs. San Miguel de Allende - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 7.3% more for clothing

	Madrid	San Miguel de Allende
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$98.88 €84.92	$64.99 MX$1,181.08	-34.3%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$41.27 €35.44	$59.57 MX$1,082.65	+44.4%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$107.49 €92.31	$111.92 MX$2,034.08	+4.1%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$125.44 €107.73	$144.41 MX$2,624.61	+15.1%
Average			+7.3%

Madrid vs. San Miguel de Allende - 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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