Cost of living comparison

compared to

San Juan Del Sur vs. Mexico City Cost of Living Summary

San Juan Del Sur is 19.3% cheaper than Mexico City.

Restaurants: pay 50.1% less in San Juan Del Sur
Groceries: pay 10.7% less in San Juan Del Sur
Transportation: pay 14.2% more in San Juan Del Sur
Housing: pay 23.3% less in San Juan Del Sur
Childcare: pay 58.0% less in San Juan Del Sur
Entertainment and Sports: pay 32.4% less in San Juan Del Sur
Clothing: pay 25.2% more in San Juan Del Sur

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

San Juan Del Sur vs. Mexico City Cost Breakdown

If you lived in San Juan Del Sur instead of Mexico City, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 50.1% less for restaurants

	Mexico City	San Juan Del Sur
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$10.86 MX$195.57	$4.21 NIO154.61	-61.2%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$8.82 MX$158.90	$5.61 NIO206.14	-36.4%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.73 MX$31.20	$0.82 NIO30.09	-52.7%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$1.30 MX$23.49	$0.65 NIO23.88	-50.2%
Average			-50.1%

Mexico City vs. San Juan Del Sur - Cost of restaurants

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 10.7% less for groceries

	Mexico City	San Juan Del Sur
Bread 1 loaf	$2.63 MX$47.29	$1.50 NIO55.08	-42.9%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$5.04 MX$90.79	$3.93 NIO144.38	-22.0%
Milk (1 gallon)	$6.54 MX$117.78	$4.68 NIO172.10	-28.4%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.61 MX$46.96	$1.92 NIO70.59	-26.3%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$3.80 MX$68.54	$2.87 NIO105.48	-24.6%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.37 MX$24.66	$1.77 NIO65.04	+29.3%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.80 MX$14.41	$0.39 NIO14.46	-50.8%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.97 MX$17.53	$0.82 NIO30.00	-16.1%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.91 MX$16.32	$1.01 NIO37.22	+11.8%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.96 MX$17.27	$1.45 NIO53.35	+51.5%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.99 MX$17.91	$1.00 NIO36.77	+0.6%
Average			-10.7%

Mexico City vs. San Juan Del Sur - Cost of groceries

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 14.2% more for transportation

	Mexico City	San Juan Del Sur
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$5.14 MX$92.54	$4.80 NIO176.45	-6.5%
Monthly public transit pass	$19.54 MX$352.03	??
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$20,030.45 MX$360,826.57	$22,973.64 NIO844,188.92	+14.7%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$4.42 MX$79.70	$5.94 NIO218.40	+34.3%
Average			+14.2%

Mexico City vs. San Juan Del Sur - Cost of transportation

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 23.3% less for housing

	Mexico City	San Juan Del Sur
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$30.93 MX$557.23	$36.00 NIO1,322.86	+16.4%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$1,079.15 MX$19,439.65	$466.67 NIO17,148.13	-56.8%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$677.25 MX$12,199.84	$408.33 NIO15,004.61	-39.7%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$37.36 MX$673.03	$32.50 NIO1,194.24	-13.0%
Average			-23.3%

Mexico City vs. San Juan Del Sur - Cost of housing

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 58.0% less for childcare

	Mexico City	San Juan Del Sur
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$430.39 MX$7,752.95	$124.17 NIO4,562.63	-71.2%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$10,897.53 MX$196,307.02	$6,000.00 NIO220,475.92	-44.9%
Average			-58.0%

Mexico City vs. San Juan Del Sur - Cost of childcare

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 32.4% less for entertainment and sports

	Mexico City	San Juan Del Sur
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$3.26 MX$58.67	$1.36 NIO49.97	-58.2%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.81 MX$68.70	$2.31 NIO84.76	-39.5%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$4.34 MX$78.23	$2.66 NIO97.72	-38.8%
Monthly membership at local gym	$58.44 MX$1,052.82	$30.29 NIO1,113.17	-48.2%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$6.51 MX$117.34	$8.00 NIO293.97	+22.8%
Average			-32.4%

Mexico City vs. San Juan Del Sur - Cost of entertainment and sports

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 25.2% more for clothing

	Mexico City	San Juan Del Sur
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$60.95 MX$1,097.86	$77.43 NIO2,845.41	+27.1%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$48.08 MX$866.05	$72.50 NIO2,664.08	+50.8%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$105.72 MX$1,904.43	$132.64 NIO4,874.14	+25.5%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$110.91 MX$1,997.92	$108.16 NIO3,974.42	-2.5%
Average			+25.2%

Mexico City vs. San Juan Del Sur - 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.

Quito

Mexico City vs.

London

Mexico City vs.

Beijing

Mexico City vs.

Berlin

Mexico City vs.

Vienna

Mexico City vs.

Moscow

Mexico City vs.

Delhi

Mexico City vs.

Reykjavik

Share this

Compare countries by overall cost of living

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

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 San Juan Del Sur

ASK THE ELSEWHERE COMMUNITY

Join the Elsewhere community and ask a question about San Juan Del Sur 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.