Cost of living comparison

compared to

San Salvador vs. Mexico City Cost of Living Summary

San Salvador is 11.1% more expensive than Mexico City.

Restaurants: pay 30.2% less in San Salvador
Groceries: pay 2.2% more in San Salvador
Transportation: pay 2.4 times more in San Salvador
Housing: pay 38.9% more in San Salvador
Childcare: pay 51.7% less in San Salvador
Entertainment and Sports: pay 25.6% less in San Salvador
Clothing: pay 5.3% more in San Salvador

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

San Salvador vs. Mexico City Cost Breakdown

If you lived in San Salvador instead of Mexico City, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 30.2% less for restaurants

	Mexico City	San Salvador
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$10.86 MX$195.57	$7.00 SVC61.15	-35.5%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$8.82 MX$158.90	$7.00 SVC61.15	-20.6%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.73 MX$31.20	$1.14 SVC9.92	-34.5%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$1.30 MX$23.49	$0.91 SVC7.96	-30.1%
Average			-30.2%

Mexico City vs. San Salvador - Cost of restaurants

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 2.2% more for groceries

	Mexico City	San Salvador
Bread 1 loaf	$2.63 MX$47.29	$1.95 SVC17.04	-25.7%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$5.04 MX$90.79	$3.77 SVC32.90	-25.3%
Milk (1 gallon)	$6.54 MX$117.78	$6.84 SVC59.75	+4.6%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.61 MX$46.96	$3.01 SVC26.29	+15.5%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$3.80 MX$68.54	$2.99 SVC26.09	-21.5%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.37 MX$24.66	$1.77 SVC15.48	+29.4%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.80 MX$14.41	$0.76 SVC6.61	-5.4%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.97 MX$17.53	$1.17 SVC10.18	+19.7%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.91 MX$16.32	$1.22 SVC10.62	+34.1%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.96 MX$17.27	$0.97 SVC8.45	+0.9%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.99 MX$17.91	$0.98 SVC8.52	-1.9%
Average			+2.2%

Mexico City vs. San Salvador - Cost of groceries

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 2.4 times more for transportation

	Mexico City	San Salvador
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$5.14 MX$92.54	$3.82 SVC33.38	-25.6%
Monthly public transit pass	$19.54 MX$352.03	$15.00 SVC131.04	-23.2%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$20,030.45 MX$360,826.57	$25,500.00 SVC222,770.86	+27.3%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$4.42 MX$79.70	$29.93 SVC261.45	+576.4%
Average			+138.7%

Mexico City vs. San Salvador - Cost of transportation

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 38.9% more for housing

	Mexico City	San Salvador
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$30.93 MX$557.23	$43.33 SVC378.56	+40.1%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$1,079.15 MX$19,439.65	$900.00 SVC7,862.50	-16.6%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$677.25 MX$12,199.84	$758.33 SVC6,624.88	+12.0%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$37.36 MX$673.03	$82.16 SVC717.73	+119.9%
Average			+38.9%

Mexico City vs. San Salvador - Cost of housing

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 51.7% less for childcare

	Mexico City	San Salvador
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$430.39 MX$7,752.95	$162.67 SVC1,421.07	-62.2%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$10,897.53 MX$196,307.02	$6,420.00 SVC56,085.84	-41.1%
Average			-51.7%

Mexico City vs. San Salvador - Cost of childcare

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 25.6% less for entertainment and sports

	Mexico City	San Salvador
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$3.26 MX$58.67	$2.00 SVC17.47	-38.6%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.81 MX$68.70	$3.25 SVC28.39	-14.8%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$4.34 MX$78.23	$4.00 SVC34.94	-7.9%
Monthly membership at local gym	$58.44 MX$1,052.82	$30.80 SVC269.07	-47.3%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$6.51 MX$117.34	$5.25 SVC45.86	-19.4%
Average			-25.6%

Mexico City vs. San Salvador - Cost of entertainment and sports

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 5.3% more for clothing

	Mexico City	San Salvador
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$60.95 MX$1,097.86	$62.60 SVC546.88	+2.7%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$48.08 MX$866.05	$45.83 SVC400.41	-4.7%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$105.72 MX$1,904.43	$131.80 SVC1,151.42	+24.7%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$110.91 MX$1,997.92	$109.17 SVC953.69	-1.6%
Average			+5.3%

Mexico City vs. San Salvador - 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.

Dublin

Mexico City vs.

Delhi

Mexico City vs.

Kiev

Mexico City vs.

Hong Kong

Mexico City vs.

Madrid

Mexico City vs.

Paris

Mexico City vs.

London

Mexico City vs.

Singapore

Share this

Compare countries by overall cost of living

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

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 Salvador

ASK THE ELSEWHERE COMMUNITY

Join the Elsewhere community and ask a question about San Salvador 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.