Cost of living comparison

compared to

Puerto Rico vs. Mexico Cost of Living Summary

Puerto Rico is 53.4% more expensive than Mexico overall.

Restaurants
pay 29.0% more in Puerto Rico
Groceries
pay 60.5% more in Puerto Rico
Transportation
pay 9.2% more in Puerto Rico
Housing
pay 98.7% more in Puerto Rico
Childcare
pay 2.3 times more in Puerto Rico
Entertainment and Sports
pay 11.6% more in Puerto Rico
Clothing
pay 4.4% more in Puerto Rico

The cost of childcare, housing, groceries, restaurants, entertainment and sports, and transportation in Puerto Rico are more expensive than in Mexico. Notably, childcare and housing are significantly more expensive in Puerto Rico.

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Puerto Rico vs. Mexico Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Puerto Rico instead of Mexico, you would:

pay 29.0% more for restaurants

 
Mexico
Puerto Rico
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant $10.46
MX$193.35
$16.34
 
Fast food combo meal
McDonalds, or similar
 $9.03
MX$166.91
$9.24
 
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz) $1.43
MX$26.47
$1.74
 
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pay 60.5% more for groceries

 
Mexico
Puerto Rico
Bread
1 loaf
 $2.72
MX$50.21
$3.37
 
Local cheese (8 oz) $4.30
MX$79.55
$5.35
 
Milk (1 gallon) $6.19
MX$114.55
$7.71
 
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pay 9.2% more for transportation

 
Mexico
Puerto Rico
Gasoline (1 gallon) $5.55
MX$102.60
$4.08
 
Monthly public transit pass $30.03
MX$555.39
$37.75
 
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition) $21,794.64
MX$403K
$38,571.43
 
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pay 98.7% more for housing

 
Mexico
Puerto Rico
Internet connection
50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl
 $30.02
MX$555.11
$66.43
 
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area $634.01
MX$11,724.61
$1,098.02
 
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center $441.86
MX$8,171.36
$722.33
 
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pay 2.3 times more for childcare

 
Mexico
Puerto Rico
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly $244.36
MX$4,518.93
$700.71
 
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters $5,712.49
MX$106K
$10,819.51
 
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pay 11.6% more for entertainment and sports

 
Mexico
Puerto Rico
Domestic/local beer (1 pint) $2.63
MX$48.58
$2.61
 
Cappuccino in mid-range area $3.45
MX$63.89
$2.78
 
Pack of cigarettes
Marlboro or similar
 $4.64
MX$85.88
$11.22
 
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pay 4.4% more for clothing

 
Mexico
Puerto Rico
Regular jeans
Levi's brand
 $55.30
MX$1,022.71
$52.28
 
Regular dress
from H&M or similar store
 $42.67
MX$789.09
$47.82
 
Running shoes
Nike or Adidas
 $96.26
MX$1,780.17
$96.61
 
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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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Compare further: Mexico vs. Puerto Rico

Salary Calculator · Free tool
What salary would you need in Puerto Rico?
→
Quality of Life Comparison · 13 statistics
Make 2.9 times more money in Puerto Rico
→
Size Comparison · See true size
Mexico is about 216 times bigger than Puerto Rico.
→
Moving from Mexico to Puerto Rico · UN DESA 2020
1,831 people born in Mexico live in Puerto Rico.
→
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