Cost of living comparison

Mexico

compared to

South Korea

South Korea vs. Mexico Cost of Living Summary

South Korea is 21.7% more expensive than Mexico overall.

Restaurants: pay 27.4% less in South Korea
Groceries: pay 78.6% more in South Korea
Transportation: pay 6.8% more in South Korea
Housing: pay 6.2% more in South Korea
Childcare: pay 2.8 times more in South Korea
Entertainment and Sports: pay 35.1% more in South Korea
Clothing: pay 8.9% more in South Korea

The cost of childcare, groceries, entertainment and sports, clothing, transportation, and housing in South Korea are more expensive than in Mexico. Notably, childcare and groceries are significantly more expensive in South Korea.

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South Korea vs. Mexico Cost Breakdown

If you lived in South Korea instead of Mexico, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 27.4% less for restaurants

	Mexico	South Korea
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$10.46 MX$193.35	$7.06 ₩9,422	-32.5%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$9.03 MX$166.91	$6.17 ₩8,230	-31.7%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.43 MX$26.47	$1.53 ₩2,039	+6.7%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$1.04 MX$19.32	$0.88 ₩1,181	-15.3%
Average			-27.4%

Mexico vs. South Korea - Cost of restaurants

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pay 78.6% more for groceries

	Mexico	South Korea
Bread 1 loaf	$2.72 MX$50.21	$3.04 ₩4,055	+11.9%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$4.30 MX$79.55	$6.12 ₩8,174	+42.4%
Milk (1 gallon)	$6.19 MX$114.55	$8.23 ₩10,982	+32.8%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.55 MX$47.12	$2.94 ₩3,923	+15.4%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$3.66 MX$67.67	$4.11 ₩5,484	+12.3%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.30 MX$23.98	$4.00 ₩5,342	+208.6%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.70 MX$12.93	$1.55 ₩2,069	+121.7%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.94 MX$17.44	$3.00 ₩4,000	+217.8%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.84 MX$15.45	$2.63 ₩3,513	+215.0%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.90 MX$16.67	$2.03 ₩2,715	+125.7%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.91 MX$16.80	$1.26 ₩1,685	+39.0%
Average			+78.6%

Mexico vs. South Korea - Cost of groceries

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pay 6.8% more for transportation

	Mexico	South Korea
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$5.55 MX$102.60	$5.01 ₩6,685	-9.7%
Monthly public transit pass	$30.03 MX$555.39	$46.10 ₩61,538	+53.5%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$21,794.64 MX$403K	$28,394.53 ₩38M	+30.3%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$20.12 MX$372.17	$8.59 ₩11,470	-57.3%
Average			+6.8%

Mexico vs. South Korea - Cost of transportation

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pay 6.2% more for housing

	Mexico	South Korea
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$30.02 MX$555.11	$24.34 ₩32,490	-18.9%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$634.01 MX$11,724.61	$561.73 ₩750K	-11.4%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$441.86 MX$8,171.36	$387.83 ₩518K	-12.2%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$49.08 MX$907.55	$153.72 ₩205K	+213.2%
Average			+6.2%

Mexico vs. South Korea - Cost of housing

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pay 2.8 times more for childcare

	Mexico	South Korea
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$244.36 MX$4,518.93	$545.93 ₩729K	+123.4%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$5,712.49 MX$106K	$20,214.53 ₩27M	+253.9%
Average			+181.2%

Mexico vs. South Korea - Cost of childcare

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pay 35.1% more for entertainment and sports

	Mexico	South Korea
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$2.63 MX$48.58	$3.30 ₩4,403	+25.6%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.45 MX$63.89	$3.66 ₩4,888	+6.0%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$4.64 MX$85.88	$3.35 ₩4,467	-27.9%
Monthly membership at local gym	$39.21 MX$725.11	$57.32 ₩76,507	+46.2%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$5.46 MX$100.90	$11.28 ₩15,062	+106.8%
Average			+35.1%

Mexico vs. South Korea - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 8.9% more for clothing

	Mexico	South Korea
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$55.30 MX$1,022.71	$67.53 ₩90,139	+22.1%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$42.67 MX$789.09	$53.43 ₩71,316	+25.2%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$96.26 MX$1,780.17	$78.10 ₩104K	-18.9%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$90.77 MX$1,678.66	$102.84 ₩137K	+13.3%
Average			+8.9%

Mexico vs. South Korea - 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

Compare further: Mexico vs. South Korea

Salary Calculator · Free tool

What salary would you need in South Korea?

Quality of Life Comparison · 21 statistics

Make 2.6 times more money in South Korea

Size Comparison · See true size

Mexico is about 20 times bigger than South Korea.

Moving from Mexico to South Korea · OECD 2023

567 people moved from Mexico to South Korea.

City Size Comparison · See true size

Compare the size of Mexico City vs Seoul

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