Cost of living comparison

Mexico

compared to

China

Beijing vs. Mexico City Cost of Living Summary

Beijing is 21.9% cheaper than Mexico City.

Restaurants: pay 61.1% less in Beijing
Groceries: pay 34.3% less in Beijing
Transportation: pay 1.7% more in Beijing
Housing: pay 17.8% less in Beijing
Childcare: pay 73.8% more in Beijing
Entertainment and Sports: pay 25.1% less in Beijing
Clothing: pay 10.2% less in Beijing

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

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Beijing vs. Mexico City Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Beijing instead of Mexico City, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 61.1% less for restaurants

	Mexico City	Beijing
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$11.13 MX$205.76	$4.47 CN¥29.94	-59.8%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$11.07 MX$204.73	$5.22 CN¥34.93	-52.8%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.63 MX$30.14	$0.52 CN¥3.49	-68.0%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$1.30 MX$24.06	$0.27 CN¥1.82	-79.1%
Average			-61.1%

Mexico City vs. Beijing - Cost of restaurants

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pay 34.3% less for groceries

	Mexico City	Beijing
Bread 1 loaf	$3.03 MX$56.07	$1.73 CN¥11.56	-43.0%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$6.02 MX$111.38	$7.22 CN¥48.28	+19.8%
Milk (1 gallon)	$6.73 MX$124.42	$6.41 CN¥42.88	-4.8%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.87 MX$53.00	$2.02 CN¥13.53	-29.5%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$4.39 MX$81.13	$1.47 CN¥9.81	-66.6%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.43 MX$26.42	$0.93 CN¥6.25	-34.6%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.90 MX$16.67	$0.79 CN¥5.28	-12.4%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.93 MX$17.19	$0.93 CN¥6.21	-0.2%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.04 MX$19.27	$0.71 CN¥4.75	-31.8%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.91 MX$16.90	$0.32 CN¥2.15	-64.8%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.85 MX$15.71	$0.40 CN¥2.66	-53.3%
Average			-34.3%

Mexico City vs. Beijing - Cost of groceries

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pay 1.7% more for transportation

	Mexico City	Beijing
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$5.76 MX$106.56	$4.96 CN¥33.20	-13.9%
Monthly public transit pass	$20.03 MX$370.37	$34.30 CN¥229.53	+71.3%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$21,528.95 MX$398K	$19,374.76 CN¥130K	-10.0%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$6.54 MX$120.88	$4.68 CN¥31.34	-28.4%
Average			+1.7%

Mexico City vs. Beijing - Cost of transportation

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pay 17.8% less for housing

	Mexico City	Beijing
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$34.66 MX$640.87	$14.27 CN¥95.47	-58.8%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$1,053.82 MX$19,488.15	$936.67 CN¥6,267.07	-11.1%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$672.38 MX$12,434.27	$530.98 CN¥3,552.67	-21.0%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$47.71 MX$882.34	$44.49 CN¥297.65	-6.8%
Average			-17.8%

Mexico City vs. Beijing - Cost of housing

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pay 73.8% more for childcare

	Mexico City	Beijing
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$435.78 MX$8,058.88	$653.29 CN¥4,371.01	+49.9%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$12,045.70 MX$223K	$24,281.96 CN¥162K	+101.6%
Average			+73.8%

Mexico City vs. Beijing - Cost of childcare

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pay 25.1% less for entertainment and sports

	Mexico City	Beijing
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$3.34 MX$61.73	$1.19 CN¥7.98	-64.3%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.80 MX$70.36	$3.60 CN¥24.09	-5.4%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$5.29 MX$97.74	$4.33 CN¥28.94	-18.2%
Monthly membership at local gym	$57.09 MX$1,055.72	$41.45 CN¥277.32	-27.4%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$6.68 MX$123.46	$7.46 CN¥49.90	+11.7%
Average			-25.1%

Mexico City vs. Beijing - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 10.2% less for clothing

	Mexico City	Beijing
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$70.61 MX$1,305.78	$70.55 CN¥472.03	-0.1%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$53.64 MX$991.98	$40.41 CN¥270.36	-24.7%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$109.04 MX$2,016.43	$86.99 CN¥582.00	-20.2%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$115.97 MX$2,144.64	$125.40 CN¥839.02	+8.1%
Average			-10.2%

Mexico City vs. Beijing - 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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Size Comparison · See true size

Mexico City is about 11 times smaller than Beijing.

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