Cost of living comparison

compared to

Cabo San Lucas vs. Puerto Vallarta Cost of Living Summary

Cabo San Lucas is 5.4% more expensive than Puerto Vallarta.

Restaurants: pay 16.0% less in Cabo San Lucas
Groceries: pay 11.0% less in Cabo San Lucas
Transportation: pay 67.9% more in Cabo San Lucas
Housing: pay 3.3% less in Cabo San Lucas
Childcare: pay 6.6% less in Cabo San Lucas
Entertainment and Sports: pay 4.3% less in Cabo San Lucas
Clothing: pay 11.3% more in Cabo San Lucas

The cost of transportation and clothing in Cabo San Lucas are more expensive than in Puerto Vallarta. Expenses including restaurants, groceries, childcare, entertainment and sports, and housing are lower in Cabo San Lucas.

Cabo San Lucas vs. Puerto Vallarta Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Cabo San Lucas instead of Puerto Vallarta, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 16.0% less for restaurants

	Puerto Vallarta	Cabo San Lucas
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$10.86 MX$195.57	$10.29 MX$185.35	-5.2%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$9.17 MX$165.26	$8.66 MX$156.08	-5.6%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.91 MX$34.35	$1.45 MX$26.20	-23.7%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$1.43 MX$25.69	$1.01 MX$18.12	-29.5%
Average			-16.0%

Puerto Vallarta vs. Cabo San Lucas - Cost of restaurants

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pay 11.0% less for groceries

	Puerto Vallarta	Cabo San Lucas
Bread 1 loaf	$3.59 MX$64.68	$3.05 MX$54.87	-15.2%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$5.78 MX$104.08	$5.78 MX$104.06
Milk (1 gallon)	$6.24 MX$112.48	$6.66 MX$120.02	+6.7%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.09 MX$37.72	$2.29 MX$41.22	+9.3%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$4.85 MX$87.45	$4.42 MX$79.65	-8.9%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.10 MX$19.85	$1.19 MX$21.39	+7.8%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.65 MX$11.74	$0.70 MX$12.54	+6.8%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.76 MX$13.63	$0.72 MX$12.98	-4.8%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.01 MX$18.25	$0.75 MX$13.57	-25.6%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$1.02 MX$18.46	$0.55 MX$9.96	-46.1%
Onions (1 lb)	$1.40 MX$25.15	$0.84 MX$15.19	-39.6%
Average			-11.0%

Puerto Vallarta vs. Cabo San Lucas - Cost of groceries

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pay 67.9% more for transportation

	Puerto Vallarta	Cabo San Lucas
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$5.02 MX$90.50	$5.02 MX$90.44	-0.1%
Monthly public transit pass	$16.28 MX$293.35	$51.99 MX$936.51	+219.2%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$15,199.26 MX$273,797.94	$22,378.40 MX$403,122.29	+47.2%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$27.14 MX$488.92	$28.56 MX$514.48	+5.2%
Average			+67.9%

Puerto Vallarta vs. Cabo San Lucas - Cost of transportation

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pay 3.3% less for housing

	Puerto Vallarta	Cabo San Lucas
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$32.90 MX$592.58	$26.48 MX$477.03	-19.5%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$990.97 MX$17,851.19	$880.01 MX$15,852.33	-11.2%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$687.02 MX$12,375.86	$852.93 MX$15,364.57	+24.1%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$68.93 MX$1,241.69	$64.23 MX$1,157.03	-6.8%
Average			-3.3%

Puerto Vallarta vs. Cabo San Lucas - Cost of housing

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pay 6.6% less for childcare

	Puerto Vallarta	Cabo San Lucas
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$280.46 MX$5,052.22	$135.39 MX$2,438.82	-51.7%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$5,862.57 MX$105,607.78	$8,123.13 MX$146,329.19	+38.6%
Average			-6.6%

Puerto Vallarta vs. Cabo San Lucas - Cost of childcare

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pay 4.3% less for entertainment and sports

	Puerto Vallarta	Cabo San Lucas
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$2.44 MX$44.00	$2.44 MX$43.90	-0.2%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.80 MX$68.45	$3.52 MX$63.41	-7.4%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$4.29 MX$77.25	$4.87 MX$87.80	+13.7%
Monthly membership at local gym	$36.91 MX$664.94	$45.13 MX$812.94	+22.3%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$8.14 MX$146.68	$4.06 MX$73.16	-50.1%
Average			-4.3%

Puerto Vallarta vs. Cabo San Lucas - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 11.3% more for clothing

	Puerto Vallarta	Cabo San Lucas
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$54.28 MX$977.85	$72.21 MX$1,300.70	+33.0%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$34.38 MX$619.30	$51.45 MX$926.75	+49.6%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$101.78 MX$1,833.47	$93.87 MX$1,690.92	-7.8%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$95.00 MX$1,711.24	$66.79 MX$1,203.15	-29.7%
Average			+11.3%

Puerto Vallarta vs. Cabo San Lucas - 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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