Cost of living comparison

Mexico

compared to

Saudi Arabia

Riyadh vs. Monterrey Cost of Living Summary

Riyadh is 1.9% cheaper than Monterrey.

Restaurants: pay 42.2% less in Riyadh
Groceries: pay 19.6% less in Riyadh
Transportation: pay 8.5% less in Riyadh
Housing: pay 20.4% more in Riyadh
Childcare: pay 18.6% less in Riyadh
Entertainment and Sports: pay 70.3% more in Riyadh
Clothing: pay 5.7% less in Riyadh

The cost of entertainment and sports and housing in Riyadh are more expensive than in Monterrey. Expenses including restaurants, groceries, childcare, transportation, and clothing are lower in Riyadh.

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Riyadh vs. Monterrey Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Riyadh instead of Monterrey, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 42.2% less for restaurants

	Monterrey	Riyadh
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$13.91 MX$257.20	$7.99 SAR30.00	-42.5%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$11.13 MX$205.76	$7.99 SAR30.00	-28.1%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.68 MX$30.99	$0.87 SAR3.28	-47.8%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$1.03 MX$19.03	$0.31 SAR1.18	-69.5%
Average			-42.2%

Monterrey vs. Riyadh - Cost of restaurants

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pay 19.6% less for groceries

	Monterrey	Riyadh
Bread 1 loaf	$2.95 MX$54.63	$1.29 SAR4.83	-56.4%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$6.13 MX$113.44	$5.27 SAR19.78	-14.1%
Milk (1 gallon)	$7.20 MX$133.19	$6.76 SAR25.39	-6.1%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.56 MX$47.39	$3.08 SAR11.57	+20.3%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$4.28 MX$79.19	$4.34 SAR16.27	+1.3%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.52 MX$28.05	$1.30 SAR4.88	-14.3%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.71 MX$13.19	$0.87 SAR3.28	+22.5%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.98 MX$18.19	$1.13 SAR4.23	+14.5%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.12 MX$20.72	$0.80 SAR2.99	-29.0%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$1.06 MX$19.52	$0.54 SAR2.04	-48.5%
Onions (1 lb)	$1.23 MX$22.77	$0.59 SAR2.21	-52.1%
Average			-19.6%

Monterrey vs. Riyadh - Cost of groceries

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pay 8.5% less for transportation

	Monterrey	Riyadh
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$5.91 MX$109.36	$2.35 SAR8.82	-60.3%
Monthly public transit pass	$32.04 MX$592.58	$37.31 SAR140.01	+16.4%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$21,528.95 MX$398K	$34,642.08 SAR130K	+60.9%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$10.57 MX$195.47	$18.12 SAR68.00	+71.4%
Average			-8.5%

Monterrey vs. Riyadh - Cost of transportation

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pay 20.4% more for housing

	Monterrey	Riyadh
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$26.79 MX$495.42	$71.73 SAR269.20	+167.8%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$981.90 MX$18,158.20	$1,186.87 SAR4,454.14	+20.9%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$685.94 MX$12,685.02	$833.69 SAR3,128.72	+21.5%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$91.91 MX$1,699.66	$81.86 SAR307.20	-10.9%
Average			+20.4%

Monterrey vs. Riyadh - Cost of housing

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pay 18.6% less for childcare

	Monterrey	Riyadh
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$703.26 MX$13,005.38	$530.73 SAR1,991.76	-24.5%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$11,496.80 MX$213K	$10,105.80 SAR37,925.40	-12.1%
Average			-18.6%

Monterrey vs. Riyadh - Cost of childcare

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pay 70.3% more for entertainment and sports

	Monterrey	Riyadh
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$2.36 MX$43.72	$2.13 SAR8.00	-9.8%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$4.04 MX$74.68	$4.28 SAR16.07	+6.0%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$4.90 MX$90.53	$7.73 SAR29.00	+57.9%
Monthly membership at local gym	$31.22 MX$577.27	$89.94 SAR337.52	+188.1%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$5.29 MX$97.74	$13.32 SAR50.00	+152.1%
Average			+70.3%

Monterrey vs. Riyadh - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 5.7% less for clothing

	Monterrey	Riyadh
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$73.56 MX$1,360.29	$58.30 SAR218.78	-20.7%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$42.76 MX$790.75	$54.26 SAR203.65	+26.9%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$112.51 MX$2,080.57	$102.59 SAR385.02	-8.8%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$120.67 MX$2,231.48	$103.93 SAR390.02	-13.9%
Average			-5.7%

Monterrey vs. Riyadh - 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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