Cost of living comparison

compared to

Puerto Vallarta vs. Mexico Cost of Living Summary

Puerto Vallarta is 13.3% more expensive than Mexico overall.

Restaurants: pay 23.0% more in Puerto Vallarta
Groceries: pay 12.8% more in Puerto Vallarta
Transportation: pay 10.1% less in Puerto Vallarta
Housing: pay 43.9% more in Puerto Vallarta
Childcare: pay 11.8% more in Puerto Vallarta
Entertainment and Sports: pay 11.0% more in Puerto Vallarta
Clothing: pay 0.6% more in Puerto Vallarta

The cost of housing, restaurants, groceries, childcare, entertainment and sports, and clothing in Puerto Vallarta are more expensive than in Mexico.

Puerto Vallarta vs. Mexico Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 23.0% more for restaurants

	Mexico	Puerto Vallarta
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$10.13 MX$182.57	$10.86 MX$195.57	+7.1%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$8.37 MX$150.74	$9.17 MX$165.26	+9.6%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.38 MX$24.79	$1.91 MX$34.35	+38.5%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$1.04 MX$18.78	$1.43 MX$25.69	+36.8%
Average			+23.0%

Mexico vs. Puerto Vallarta - Cost of restaurants

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pay 12.8% more for groceries

	Mexico	Puerto Vallarta
Bread 1 loaf	$2.62 MX$47.15	$3.59 MX$64.68	+37.2%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$4.26 MX$76.76	$5.78 MX$104.08	+35.6%
Milk (1 gallon)	$5.95 MX$107.16	$6.24 MX$112.48	+5.0%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.45 MX$44.13	$2.09 MX$37.72	-14.5%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$3.68 MX$66.21	$4.85 MX$87.45	+32.1%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.27 MX$22.83	$1.10 MX$19.85	-13.0%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.67 MX$12.12	$0.65 MX$11.74	-3.1%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.93 MX$16.69	$0.76 MX$13.63	-18.3%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.83 MX$14.86	$1.01 MX$18.25	+22.8%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.90 MX$16.17	$1.02 MX$18.46	+14.2%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.98 MX$17.63	$1.40 MX$25.15	+42.6%
Average			+12.8%

Mexico vs. Puerto Vallarta - Cost of groceries

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pay 10.1% less for transportation

	Mexico	Puerto Vallarta
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$5.00 MX$90.12	$5.02 MX$90.50	+0.4%
Monthly public transit pass	$28.70 MX$517.01	$16.28 MX$293.35	-43.3%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$23,996.60 MX$432,272.31	$15,199.26 MX$273,797.94	-36.7%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$19.51 MX$351.48	$27.14 MX$488.92	+39.1%
Average			-10.1%

Mexico vs. Puerto Vallarta - Cost of transportation

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pay 43.9% more for housing

	Mexico	Puerto Vallarta
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$29.35 MX$528.75	$32.90 MX$592.58	+12.1%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$587.67 MX$10,586.16	$990.97 MX$17,851.19	+68.6%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$443.50 MX$7,989.08	$687.02 MX$12,375.86	+54.9%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$49.22 MX$886.72	$68.93 MX$1,241.69	+40.0%
Average			+43.9%

Mexico vs. Puerto Vallarta - Cost of housing

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pay 11.8% more for childcare

	Mexico	Puerto Vallarta
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$236.91 MX$4,267.68	$280.46 MX$5,052.22	+18.4%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$5,569.03 MX$100,319.97	$5,862.57 MX$105,607.78	+5.3%
Average			+11.8%

Mexico vs. Puerto Vallarta - Cost of childcare

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pay 11.0% more for entertainment and sports

	Mexico	Puerto Vallarta
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$2.44 MX$43.88	$2.44 MX$44.00	+0.3%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.34 MX$60.15	$3.80 MX$68.45	+13.8%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$4.42 MX$79.56	$4.29 MX$77.25	-2.9%
Monthly membership at local gym	$39.27 MX$707.36	$36.91 MX$664.94	-6.0%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$5.43 MX$97.88	$8.14 MX$146.68	+49.9%
Average			+11.0%

Mexico vs. Puerto Vallarta - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 0.6% more for clothing

	Mexico	Puerto Vallarta
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$53.04 MX$955.43	$54.28 MX$977.85	+2.3%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$40.66 MX$732.36	$34.38 MX$619.30	-15.4%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$95.33 MX$1,717.34	$101.78 MX$1,833.47	+6.8%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$87.49 MX$1,576.01	$95.00 MX$1,711.24	+8.6%
Average			+0.6%

Mexico vs. Puerto Vallarta - Cost of clothing

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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

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