Cost of living comparison

Mexico

compared to

China

Shanghai vs. Mexico City Cost of Living Summary

Shanghai is 17.5% cheaper than Mexico City.

Restaurants: pay 59.3% less in Shanghai
Groceries: pay 31.3% less in Shanghai
Transportation: pay 0.2% more in Shanghai
Housing: pay 12.3% less in Shanghai
Childcare: pay 2.7 times more in Shanghai
Entertainment and Sports: pay 14.6% less in Shanghai
Clothing: pay 23.9% less in Shanghai

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

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Shanghai vs. Mexico City Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 59.3% less for restaurants

	Mexico City	Shanghai
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$11.13 MX$205.76	$4.47 CN¥29.94	-59.8%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$11.07 MX$204.73	$5.22 CN¥34.93	-52.8%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.63 MX$30.14	$0.60 CN¥4.01	-63.2%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$1.30 MX$24.06	$0.37 CN¥2.47	-71.6%
Average			-59.3%

Mexico City vs. Shanghai - Cost of restaurants

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pay 31.3% less for groceries

	Mexico City	Shanghai
Bread 1 loaf	$3.03 MX$56.07	$1.98 CN¥13.22	-34.8%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$6.02 MX$111.38	$8.60 CN¥57.52	+42.7%
Milk (1 gallon)	$6.73 MX$124.42	$6.88 CN¥46.02	+2.2%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.87 MX$53.00	$1.70 CN¥11.36	-40.8%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$4.39 MX$81.13	$1.48 CN¥9.89	-66.3%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.43 MX$26.42	$0.99 CN¥6.65	-30.5%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.90 MX$16.67	$0.77 CN¥5.16	-14.5%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.93 MX$17.19	$0.90 CN¥6.05	-2.7%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.04 MX$19.27	$0.77 CN¥5.15	-26.2%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.91 MX$16.90	$0.36 CN¥2.40	-60.8%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.85 MX$15.71	$0.43 CN¥2.90	-49.0%
Average			-31.3%

Mexico City vs. Shanghai - Cost of groceries

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pay 0.2% more for transportation

	Mexico City	Shanghai
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$5.76 MX$106.56	$4.96 CN¥33.21	-13.9%
Monthly public transit pass	$20.03 MX$370.37	$29.83 CN¥199.59	+48.9%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$21,528.95 MX$398K	$19,374.76 CN¥130K	-10.0%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$6.54 MX$120.88	$5.67 CN¥37.92	-13.3%
Average			+0.2%

Mexico City vs. Shanghai - Cost of transportation

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pay 12.3% less for housing

	Mexico City	Shanghai
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$34.66 MX$640.87	$10.55 CN¥70.59	-69.6%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$1,053.82 MX$19,488.15	$1,036.96 CN¥6,938.07	-1.6%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$672.38 MX$12,434.27	$588.71 CN¥3,938.93	-12.4%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$47.71 MX$882.34	$44.06 CN¥294.77	-7.7%
Average			-12.3%

Mexico City vs. Shanghai - Cost of housing

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pay 2.7 times more for childcare

	Mexico City	Shanghai
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$435.78 MX$8,058.88	$1,413.50 CN¥9,457.42	+224.4%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$12,045.70 MX$223K	$27,686.22 CN¥185K	+129.8%
Average			+173.0%

Mexico City vs. Shanghai - Cost of childcare

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pay 14.6% less for entertainment and sports

	Mexico City	Shanghai
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$3.34 MX$61.73	$1.19 CN¥7.98	-64.3%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.80 MX$70.36	$3.35 CN¥22.41	-12.0%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$5.29 MX$97.74	$3.73 CN¥24.95	-29.4%
Monthly membership at local gym	$57.09 MX$1,055.72	$65.69 CN¥439.52	+15.1%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$6.68 MX$123.46	$8.95 CN¥59.88	+34.1%
Average			-14.6%

Mexico City vs. Shanghai - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 23.9% less for clothing

	Mexico City	Shanghai
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$70.61 MX$1,305.78	$54.37 CN¥363.79	-23.0%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$53.64 MX$991.98	$37.09 CN¥248.19	-30.8%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$109.04 MX$2,016.43	$75.49 CN¥505.08	-30.8%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$115.97 MX$2,144.64	$105.70 CN¥707.25	-8.9%
Average			-23.9%

Mexico City vs. Shanghai - 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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Size Comparison · See true size

Mexico City is about 4.3 times smaller than Shanghai.

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