Cost of living comparison
compared to
Mexico City vs. Palo Alto Cost of Living Summary
Mexico City is 56.5% cheaper than Palo Alto.
Mexico City vs. Palo Alto Cost Breakdown
If you lived in Mexico City instead of Palo Alto, you would:
pay 42.8% less for restaurants
|
Palo Alto
|
Mexico City
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant |
$25.00
|
$11.13
MX$207.71
|
|
|
Fast food combo meal
McDonalds, or similar
|
$13.00
|
$11.07
MX$206.67
|
|
| Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz) |
$3.13
|
$1.63
MX$30.42
|
|
| Bottle of water (11 fl. oz) |
$2.70
|
$1.30
MX$24.29
|
|
Palo Alto vs. Mexico City - Cost of restaurants
pay 38.5% less for groceries
|
Palo Alto
|
Mexico City
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Bread
1 loaf
|
$5.31
|
$3.03
MX$56.60
|
|
| Local cheese (8 oz) |
$8.16
|
$6.02
MX$112.44
|
|
| Milk (1 gallon) |
$6.38
|
$6.73
MX$125.60
|
|
|
Eggs
1 dozen
|
$5.84
|
$2.87
MX$53.50
|
|
| Boneless chicken breast (1 lb) |
$6.46
|
$4.39
MX$81.90
|
|
| Apples (1 lb) |
$2.39
|
$1.43
MX$26.68
|
|
| Bananas (1 lb) |
$0.90
|
$0.90
MX$16.82
|
|
| Oranges (1 lb) |
$2.00
|
$0.93
MX$17.35
|
|
| Tomatoes (1 lb) |
$3.00
|
$1.04
MX$19.45
|
|
| Potatoes (1 lb) |
$1.40
|
$0.91
MX$17.06
|
|
| Onions (1 lb) |
$1.67
|
$0.85
MX$15.86
|
|
Palo Alto vs. Mexico City - Cost of groceries
pay 31.4% less for transportation
|
Palo Alto
|
Mexico City
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Gasoline (1 gallon) |
$5.86
|
$5.76
MX$107.57
|
|
| Monthly public transit pass | ?? |
$20.03
MX$373.88
|
|
| New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition) |
$36,998.00
|
$21,528.95
MX$402K
|
|
| Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles) |
$20.39
|
$6.54
MX$122.03
|
|
Palo Alto vs. Mexico City - Cost of transportation
pay 74.6% less for housing
|
Palo Alto
|
Mexico City
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Internet connection
50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl
|
$76.29
|
$34.66
MX$646.96
|
|
| 1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area |
$3,600.00
|
$1,053.82
MX$19,673.10
|
|
| 1-Bedroom apartment outside city center |
$3,148.75
|
$672.38
MX$12,552.27
|
|
|
Utilities for two
(700 sq ft apartment)
including electric, gas, water, heating
|
$209.55
|
$47.71
MX$890.71
|
|
Palo Alto vs. Mexico City - Cost of housing
pay 79.5% less for childcare
|
Palo Alto
|
Mexico City
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Private preschool for 1 child, monthly |
$2,942.94
|
$435.78
MX$8,135.36
|
|
| Middle school for 1 child, two semesters |
$42,562.50
|
$12,045.70
MX$225K
|
|
Palo Alto vs. Mexico City - Cost of childcare
pay 56.9% less for entertainment and sports
|
Palo Alto
|
Mexico City
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Domestic/local beer (1 pint) |
$8.00
|
$3.34
MX$62.31
|
|
| Cappuccino in mid-range area |
$5.80
|
$3.80
MX$71.02
|
|
|
Pack of cigarettes
Marlboro or similar
|
$11.71
|
$5.29
MX$98.66
|
|
| Monthly membership at local gym |
$167.25
|
$57.09
MX$1,065.74
|
|
| Movie ticket to theater/cinema |
$17.00
|
$6.68
MX$124.63
|
|
Palo Alto vs. Mexico City - Cost of entertainment and sports
pay 5.4% more for clothing
|
Palo Alto
|
Mexico City
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Regular jeans
Levi's brand
|
$67.50
|
$70.61
MX$1,318.17
|
|
|
Regular dress
from H&M or similar store
|
$47.67
|
$53.64
MX$1,001.39
|
|
|
Running shoes
Nike or Adidas
|
$100.40
|
$109.04
MX$2,035.57
|
|
| Men's business shoes (leather) |
$119.91
|
$115.97
MX$2,164.99
|
|
Palo Alto vs. Mexico City - Cost of clothing
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: Palo Alto vs. Mexico City
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cost of living in United States vs. Mexico.
This provides a comparison of the average cost of living from cities within United States and Mexico.
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