Cost of living comparison

compared to

Nicaragua vs. Mexico City Cost of Living Summary

Nicaragua is 25.1% cheaper than Mexico City.

Restaurants: pay 46.9% less in Nicaragua
Groceries: pay 16.5% less in Nicaragua
Transportation: pay 9.4% less in Nicaragua
Housing: pay 15.2% less in Nicaragua
Childcare: pay 58.8% less in Nicaragua
Entertainment and Sports: pay 32.3% less in Nicaragua
Clothing: pay 3.4% more in Nicaragua

Expenses including childcare, restaurants, entertainment and sports, groceries, housing, and transportation are lower in Nicaragua.

Nicaragua vs. Mexico City Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 46.9% less for restaurants

	Mexico City	Nicaragua
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$10.86 MX$187.11	$4.57 NIO167.77	-57.9%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$8.82 MX$152.03	$6.80 NIO250.04	-22.9%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.73 MX$29.85	$0.82 NIO30.09	-52.7%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$1.30 MX$22.48	$0.60 NIO22.04	-54.0%
Average			-46.9%

Mexico City vs. Nicaragua - Cost of restaurants

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pay 16.5% less for groceries

	Mexico City	Nicaragua
Bread 1 loaf	$2.63 MX$45.25	$1.74 NIO64.08	-33.6%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$5.04 MX$86.87	$3.29 NIO121.04	-34.6%
Milk (1 gallon)	$6.54 MX$112.69	$4.55 NIO167.13	-30.4%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.61 MX$44.93	$1.98 NIO72.68	-24.1%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$3.80 MX$65.57	$2.48 NIO90.95	-34.9%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.37 MX$23.60	$1.77 NIO65.04	+29.3%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.80 MX$13.79	$0.39 NIO14.46	-50.8%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.97 MX$16.78	$0.82 NIO30.00	-16.1%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.91 MX$15.62	$0.87 NIO32.08	-3.7%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.96 MX$16.52	$1.24 NIO45.73	+29.8%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.99 MX$17.14	$0.88 NIO32.16	-12.0%
Average			-16.5%

Mexico City vs. Nicaragua - Cost of groceries

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pay 9.4% less for transportation

	Mexico City	Nicaragua
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$5.14 MX$88.54	$4.95 NIO181.88	-3.6%
Monthly public transit pass	$19.54 MX$336.80	$5.00 NIO183.86	-74.4%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$20,030.45 MX$345K	$22,973.64 NIO844K	+14.7%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$4.42 MX$76.26	$5.56 NIO204.45	+25.8%
Average			-9.4%

Mexico City vs. Nicaragua - Cost of transportation

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pay 15.2% less for housing

	Mexico City	Nicaragua
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$30.93 MX$533.13	$36.35 NIO1,335.77	+17.5%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$1,079.15 MX$18,598.89	$326.67 NIO12,003.16	-69.7%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$677.25 MX$11,672.20	$283.96 NIO10,433.87	-58.1%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$37.36 MX$643.92	$55.87 NIO2,052.90	+49.5%
Average			-15.2%

Mexico City vs. Nicaragua - Cost of housing

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pay 58.8% less for childcare

	Mexico City	Nicaragua
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$430.39 MX$7,417.64	$118.12 NIO4,340.43	-72.6%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$10,897.53 MX$188K	$6,000.00 NIO220K	-44.9%
Average			-58.8%

Mexico City vs. Nicaragua - Cost of childcare

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pay 32.3% less for entertainment and sports

	Mexico City	Nicaragua
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$3.26 MX$56.13	$1.31 NIO47.99	-59.9%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.81 MX$65.73	$2.16 NIO79.41	-43.3%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$4.34 MX$74.84	$2.66 NIO97.71	-38.8%
Monthly membership at local gym	$58.44 MX$1,007.28	$33.69 NIO1,238.08	-42.3%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$6.51 MX$112.27	$8.00 NIO293.95	+22.8%
Average			-32.3%

Mexico City vs. Nicaragua - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 3.4% more for clothing

	Mexico City	Nicaragua
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$60.95 MX$1,050.38	$61.83 NIO2,271.76	+1.4%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$48.08 MX$828.59	$61.88 NIO2,273.56	+28.7%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$105.72 MX$1,822.07	$108.23 NIO3,976.96	+2.4%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$110.91 MX$1,911.51	$89.99 NIO3,306.79	-18.9%
Average			+3.4%

Mexico City vs. Nicaragua - 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: March 2026

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