Cost of living comparison

Mexico

compared to

South Korea

Seoul vs. Mexico City Cost of Living Summary

Seoul is 18.6% more expensive than Mexico City.

Restaurants: pay 25.1% less in Seoul
Groceries: pay 60.8% more in Seoul
Transportation: pay 37.0% more in Seoul
Housing: pay 5.9% more in Seoul
Childcare: pay 2.9 times more in Seoul
Entertainment and Sports: pay 13.4% more in Seoul
Clothing: pay 30.9% less in Seoul

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

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Seoul vs. Mexico City Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 25.1% less for restaurants

	Mexico City	Seoul
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$11.13 MX$205.76	$8.96 ₩11,955	-19.5%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$11.07 MX$204.73	$7.46 ₩9,962	-32.6%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.63 MX$30.14	$1.58 ₩2,112	-2.9%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$1.30 MX$24.06	$0.79 ₩1,049	-39.6%
Average			-25.1%

Mexico City vs. Seoul - Cost of restaurants

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pay 60.8% more for groceries

	Mexico City	Seoul
Bread 1 loaf	$3.03 MX$56.07	$3.10 ₩4,134	+2.2%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$6.02 MX$111.38	$8.84 ₩11,798	+46.8%
Milk (1 gallon)	$6.73 MX$124.42	$7.79 ₩10,403	+15.8%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.87 MX$53.00	$3.61 ₩4,813	+25.8%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$4.39 MX$81.13	$4.74 ₩6,328	+8.1%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.43 MX$26.42	$3.46 ₩4,624	+142.4%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.90 MX$16.67	$1.57 ₩2,091	+73.8%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.93 MX$17.19	$2.59 ₩3,462	+179.1%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.04 MX$19.27	$2.83 ₩3,782	+172.0%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.91 MX$16.90	$1.66 ₩2,211	+81.3%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.85 MX$15.71	$1.16 ₩1,542	+36.0%
Average			+60.8%

Mexico City vs. Seoul - Cost of groceries

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pay 37.0% more for transportation

	Mexico City	Seoul
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$5.76 MX$106.56	$5.53 ₩7,384	-4.0%
Monthly public transit pass	$20.03 MX$370.37	$46.28 ₩61,767	+131.1%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$21,528.95 MX$398K	$29,385.60 ₩39M	+36.5%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$6.54 MX$120.88	$8.51 ₩11,357	+30.2%
Average			+37.0%

Mexico City vs. Seoul - Cost of transportation

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pay 5.9% more for housing

	Mexico City	Seoul
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$34.66 MX$640.87	$20.82 ₩27,787	-39.9%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$1,053.82 MX$19,488.15	$886.39 ₩1M	-15.9%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$672.38 MX$12,434.27	$620.25 ₩828K	-7.8%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$47.71 MX$882.34	$162.69 ₩217K	+241.0%
Average			+5.9%

Mexico City vs. Seoul - Cost of housing

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pay 2.9 times more for childcare

	Mexico City	Seoul
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$435.78 MX$8,058.88	$1,927.59 ₩3M	+342.3%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$12,045.70 MX$223K	$22,602.27 ₩30M	+87.6%
Average			+188.1%

Mexico City vs. Seoul - Cost of childcare

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pay 13.4% more for entertainment and sports

	Mexico City	Seoul
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$3.34 MX$61.73	$3.73 ₩4,981	+11.8%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.80 MX$70.36	$4.10 ₩5,473	+7.8%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$5.29 MX$97.74	$3.36 ₩4,483	-36.4%
Monthly membership at local gym	$57.09 MX$1,055.72	$58.22 ₩77,707	+2.0%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$6.68 MX$123.46	$11.20 ₩14,944	+67.7%
Average			+13.4%

Mexico City vs. Seoul - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 30.9% less for clothing

	Mexico City	Seoul
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$70.61 MX$1,305.78	$57.88 ₩77,255	-18.0%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$53.64 MX$991.98	$32.77 ₩43,743	-38.9%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$109.04 MX$2,016.43	$69.99 ₩93,417	-35.8%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$115.97 MX$2,144.64	$82.45 ₩110K	-28.9%
Average			-30.9%

Mexico City vs. Seoul - Cost of clothing

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We average the price of thousands of data points entered by users across the world. Sources: MyLifeElsewhere's cost-of-living dataset (prices updated October 2026). How we calculate this

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Mexico City is about 2.5 times bigger than Seoul.

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