Cost of living comparison

compared to

La Serena vs. Mexico City Cost of Living Summary

La Serena is 6.5% more expensive than Mexico City.

Restaurants: pay 29.3% less in La Serena
Groceries: pay 16.7% less in La Serena
Transportation: pay 96.1% more in La Serena
Housing: pay 15.1% less in La Serena
Entertainment and Sports: pay 7.4% more in La Serena
Clothing: pay 3.2% less in La Serena

The cost of transportation and entertainment and sports in La Serena are more expensive than in Mexico City. Expenses including restaurants, groceries, housing, and clothing are lower in La Serena. Notably, transportation is significantly more expensive in La Serena.

La Serena vs. Mexico City Cost Breakdown

If you lived in La Serena instead of Mexico City, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 29.3% less for restaurants

	Mexico City	La Serena
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$10.86 MX$197.31	$7.82 CLF0.1800	-28.0%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$8.82 MX$160.32	$8.44 CLF0.2000	-4.3%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.73 MX$31.47	$1.09 CLF0.0300	-36.8%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$1.30 MX$23.70	$0.68 CLF0.0200	-48.1%
Average			-29.3%

Mexico City vs. La Serena - Cost of restaurants

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pay 16.7% less for groceries

	Mexico City	La Serena
Bread 1 loaf	$2.63 MX$47.71	$2.42 CLF0.0600	-7.7%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$5.04 MX$91.60	$6.29 CLF0.1500	+24.7%
Milk (1 gallon)	$6.54 MX$118.83	$4.64 CLF0.1100	-29.0%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.61 MX$47.38	$3.86 CLF0.0900	+47.9%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$3.80 MX$69.15	$2.69 CLF0.0600	-29.2%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.37 MX$24.88	$0.85 CLF0.0200	-38.0%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.80 MX$14.54	$0.80 CLF0.0200	+0.3%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.97 MX$17.69	$0.60 CLF0.0100	-38.5%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.91 MX$16.47	$0.66 CLF0.0200	-27.2%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.96 MX$17.42	$0.54 CLF0.0100	-44.1%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.99 MX$18.07	$0.57 CLF0.0100	-42.9%
Average			-16.7%

Mexico City vs. La Serena - Cost of groceries

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pay 96.1% more for transportation

	Mexico City	La Serena
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$5.14 MX$93.37	$5.33 CLF0.1300	+3.7%
Monthly public transit pass	$19.54 MX$355.17	$36.47 CLF0.8600	+86.6%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$20,030.45 MX$364,045.47	$20,205.70 CLF474.5700	+0.9%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$4.42 MX$80.42	$17.40 CLF0.4100	+293.3%
Average			+96.1%

Mexico City vs. La Serena - Cost of transportation

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pay 15.1% less for housing

	Mexico City	La Serena
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$30.93 MX$562.20	$21.50 CLF0.5100	-30.5%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$1,079.15 MX$19,613.07	$434.20 CLF10.2000	-59.8%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$677.25 MX$12,308.67	$323.04 CLF7.5900	-52.3%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$37.36 MX$679.03	$68.04 CLF1.6000	+82.1%
Average			-15.1%

Mexico City vs. La Serena - Cost of housing

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pay (unknown) more for childcare

	Mexico City	La Serena
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$430.39 MX$7,822.12	??
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$10,897.53 MX$198,058.25	??

Mexico City vs. La Serena - Cost of childcare

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pay 7.4% more for entertainment and sports

	Mexico City	La Serena
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$3.26 MX$59.19	$2.08 CLF0.0500	-36.0%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.81 MX$69.31	$2.92 CLF0.0700	-23.5%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$4.34 MX$78.93	$5.21 CLF0.1200	+20.0%
Monthly membership at local gym	$58.44 MX$1,062.21	$86.84 CLF2.0400	+48.6%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$6.51 MX$118.39	$8.34 CLF0.2000	+28.0%
Average			+7.4%

Mexico City vs. La Serena - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 3.2% less for clothing

	Mexico City	La Serena
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$60.95 MX$1,107.65	$44.29 CLF1.0400	-27.3%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$48.08 MX$873.77	$62.52 CLF1.4700	+30.1%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$105.72 MX$1,921.42	$93.79 CLF2.2000	-11.3%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$110.91 MX$2,015.75	$105.94 CLF2.4900	-4.5%
Average			-3.2%

Mexico City vs. La Serena - 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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