Cost of living comparison

compared to

Popayan vs. Mexico City Cost of Living Summary

Popayan is 47.2% cheaper than Mexico City.

Restaurants: pay 56.3% less in Popayan
Groceries: pay 24.1% less in Popayan
Transportation: pay 19.8% less in Popayan
Housing: pay 81.0% less in Popayan
Entertainment and Sports: pay 54.6% less in Popayan

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

Popayan vs. Mexico City Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 56.3% less for restaurants

	Mexico City	Popayan
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$10.86 MX$195.57	$4.10 COP15,574.90	-62.3%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$8.82 MX$158.90	??
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.73 MX$31.20	$0.77 COP2,920.29	-55.7%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$1.30 MX$23.49	$0.64 COP2,433.58	-50.9%
Average			-56.3%

Mexico City vs. Popayan - Cost of restaurants

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 24.1% less for groceries

	Mexico City	Popayan
Bread 1 loaf	$2.63 MX$47.29	??
Local cheese (8 oz)	$5.04 MX$90.79	??
Milk (1 gallon)	$6.54 MX$117.78	$4.46 COP16,950.26	-31.8%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.61 MX$46.96	$2.18 COP8,274.16	-16.5%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$3.80 MX$68.54	??
Apples (1 lb)	$1.37 MX$24.66	??
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.80 MX$14.41	??
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.97 MX$17.53	??
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.91 MX$16.32	??
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.96 MX$17.27	??
Onions (1 lb)	$0.99 MX$17.91	??
Average			-24.1%

Mexico City vs. Popayan - Cost of groceries

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 19.8% less for transportation

	Mexico City	Popayan
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$5.14 MX$92.54	$4.12 COP15,660.56	-19.8%
Monthly public transit pass	$19.54 MX$352.03	??
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$20,030.45 MX$360,826.57	??
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$4.42 MX$79.70	??
Average			-19.8%

Mexico City vs. Popayan - Cost of transportation

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 81.0% less for housing

	Mexico City	Popayan
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$30.93 MX$557.23	??
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$1,079.15 MX$19,439.65	$204.80 COP778,744.84	-81.0%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$677.25 MX$12,199.84	$128.00 COP486,715.52	-81.1%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$37.36 MX$673.03	??
Average			-81.0%

Mexico City vs. Popayan - Cost of housing

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay (unknown) more for childcare

	Mexico City	Popayan
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$430.39 MX$7,752.95	??
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$10,897.53 MX$196,307.02	??

Mexico City vs. Popayan - Cost of childcare

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 54.6% less for entertainment and sports

	Mexico City	Popayan
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$3.26 MX$58.67	??
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.81 MX$68.70	$1.54 COP5,840.59	-59.7%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$4.34 MX$78.23	??
Monthly membership at local gym	$58.44 MX$1,052.82	$19.20 COP73,007.33	-67.1%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$6.51 MX$117.34	$4.10 COP15,574.90	-37.1%
Average			-54.6%

Mexico City vs. Popayan - Cost of entertainment and sports

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay (unknown) more for clothing

	Mexico City	Popayan
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$60.95 MX$1,097.86	??
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$48.08 MX$866.05	??
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$105.72 MX$1,904.43	??
Men's business shoes (leather)	$110.91 MX$1,997.92	??

Mexico City vs. Popayan - Cost of clothing

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

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

More cost comparisons

Mexico City vs.

Canberra

Mexico City vs.

Dublin

Mexico City vs.

Athens

Mexico City vs.

Paris

Mexico City vs.

Berlin

Mexico City vs.

Warsaw

Mexico City vs.

Phnom Penh

Mexico City vs.

Wellington

Share this

Compare countries by overall cost of living

See the cost of living in Mexico vs. Colombia. This provides a comparison of the average cost of living from cities within Mexico and Colombia.

Help us improve these prices

MyLifeElsewhere is a collaborative project. Please enter price information for your location to help assist us in making these comparisons more accurate. Learn more

Add prices for Mexico City

Add prices for Popayan

ASK THE ELSEWHERE COMMUNITY

Join the Elsewhere community and ask a question about Popayan or Mexico City. It's a free, question-and-answer based forum to discuss what life is like in countries and cities around the world.