Cost of living comparison

compared to

Puerto Vallarta vs. Mexico City Cost of Living Summary

Puerto Vallarta is 12.7% more expensive than Mexico City.

Restaurants: pay 7.8% more in Puerto Vallarta
Groceries: pay 4.9% more in Puerto Vallarta
Transportation: pay 2.2 times more in Puerto Vallarta
Housing: pay 21.0% more in Puerto Vallarta
Childcare: pay 40.5% less in Puerto Vallarta
Entertainment and Sports: pay 7.7% less in Puerto Vallarta
Clothing: pay 14.3% less in Puerto Vallarta

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

Puerto Vallarta vs. Mexico City Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Puerto Vallarta instead of Mexico City, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 7.8% more for restaurants

	Mexico City	Puerto Vallarta
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$10.86 MX$197.31	$10.86 MX$197.31
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$8.82 MX$160.32	$9.17 MX$166.73	+4.0%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.73 MX$31.47	$1.91 MX$34.65	+10.1%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$1.30 MX$23.70	$1.43 MX$25.92	+9.3%
Average			+7.8%

Mexico City vs. Puerto Vallarta - Cost of restaurants

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pay 4.9% more for groceries

	Mexico City	Puerto Vallarta
Bread 1 loaf	$2.63 MX$47.71	$3.59 MX$65.25	+36.8%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$5.04 MX$91.60	$5.78 MX$105.00	+14.6%
Milk (1 gallon)	$6.54 MX$118.83	$6.24 MX$113.48	-4.5%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.61 MX$47.38	$2.09 MX$38.06	-19.7%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$3.80 MX$69.15	$4.85 MX$88.23	+27.6%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.37 MX$24.88	$1.10 MX$20.03	-19.5%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.80 MX$14.54	$0.65 MX$11.84	-18.5%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.97 MX$17.69	$0.76 MX$13.76	-22.2%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.91 MX$16.47	$1.01 MX$18.41	+11.8%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.96 MX$17.42	$1.02 MX$18.63	+6.9%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.99 MX$18.07	$1.40 MX$25.38	+40.4%
Average			+4.9%

Mexico City vs. Puerto Vallarta - Cost of groceries

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pay 2.2 times more for transportation

	Mexico City	Puerto Vallarta
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$5.14 MX$93.37	$5.02 MX$91.31	-2.2%
Monthly public transit pass	$19.54 MX$355.17	$16.28 MX$295.97	-16.7%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$20,030.45 MX$364,045.47	$15,199.26 MX$276,240.46	-24.1%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$4.42 MX$80.42	$27.14 MX$493.29	+513.4%
Average			+117.6%

Mexico City vs. Puerto Vallarta - Cost of transportation

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pay 21.0% more for housing

	Mexico City	Puerto Vallarta
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$30.93 MX$562.20	$32.90 MX$597.86	+6.3%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$1,079.15 MX$19,613.07	$990.97 MX$18,010.44	-8.2%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$677.25 MX$12,308.67	$687.02 MX$12,486.27	+1.4%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$37.36 MX$679.03	$68.93 MX$1,252.76	+84.5%
Average			+21.0%

Mexico City vs. Puerto Vallarta - Cost of housing

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pay 40.5% less for childcare

	Mexico City	Puerto Vallarta
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$430.39 MX$7,822.12	$280.46 MX$5,097.29	-34.8%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$10,897.53 MX$198,058.25	$5,862.57 MX$106,549.89	-46.2%
Average			-40.5%

Mexico City vs. Puerto Vallarta - Cost of childcare

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pay 7.7% less for entertainment and sports

	Mexico City	Puerto Vallarta
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$3.26 MX$59.19	$2.44 MX$44.40	-25.0%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.81 MX$69.31	$3.80 MX$69.06	-0.4%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$4.34 MX$78.93	$4.29 MX$77.94	-1.2%
Monthly membership at local gym	$58.44 MX$1,062.21	$36.91 MX$670.87	-36.8%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$6.51 MX$118.39	$8.14 MX$147.99	+25.0%
Average			-7.7%

Mexico City vs. Puerto Vallarta - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 14.3% less for clothing

	Mexico City	Puerto Vallarta
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$60.95 MX$1,107.65	$54.28 MX$986.57	-10.9%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$48.08 MX$873.77	$34.38 MX$624.83	-28.5%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$105.72 MX$1,921.42	$101.78 MX$1,849.82	-3.7%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$110.91 MX$2,015.75	$95.00 MX$1,726.50	-14.3%
Average			-14.3%

Mexico City vs. Puerto Vallarta - 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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