Cost of living comparison

Saudi Arabia

compared to

Mexico

Monterrey vs. Riyadh Cost of Living Summary

Monterrey is 1.9% more expensive than Riyadh.

Restaurants: pay 73.1% more in Monterrey
Groceries: pay 24.4% more in Monterrey
Transportation: pay 9.3% more in Monterrey
Housing: pay 17.0% less in Monterrey
Childcare: pay 22.8% more in Monterrey
Entertainment and Sports: pay 41.3% less in Monterrey
Clothing: pay 6.1% more in Monterrey

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

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Monterrey vs. Riyadh Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 73.1% more for restaurants

	Riyadh	Monterrey
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$7.99 SAR30.00	$13.91 MX$257.20	+74.0%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$7.99 SAR30.00	$11.13 MX$205.76	+39.2%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.87 SAR3.28	$1.68 MX$30.99	+91.7%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.31 SAR1.18	$1.03 MX$19.03	+228.3%
Average			+73.1%

Riyadh vs. Monterrey - Cost of restaurants

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pay 24.4% more for groceries

	Riyadh	Monterrey
Bread 1 loaf	$1.29 SAR4.83	$2.95 MX$54.63	+129.4%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$5.27 SAR19.78	$6.13 MX$113.44	+16.4%
Milk (1 gallon)	$6.76 SAR25.39	$7.20 MX$133.19	+6.5%
Eggs 1 dozen	$3.08 SAR11.57	$2.56 MX$47.39	-16.9%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$4.34 SAR16.27	$4.28 MX$79.19	-1.2%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.30 SAR4.88	$1.52 MX$28.05	+16.7%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.87 SAR3.28	$0.71 MX$13.19	-18.4%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.13 SAR4.23	$0.98 MX$18.19	-12.7%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.80 SAR2.99	$1.12 MX$20.72	+40.8%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.54 SAR2.04	$1.06 MX$19.52	+94.0%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.59 SAR2.21	$1.23 MX$22.77	+109.0%
Average			+24.4%

Riyadh vs. Monterrey - Cost of groceries

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pay 9.3% more for transportation

	Riyadh	Monterrey
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$2.35 SAR8.82	$5.91 MX$109.36	+151.7%
Monthly public transit pass	$37.31 SAR140.01	$32.04 MX$592.58	-14.1%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$34,642.08 SAR130K	$21,528.95 MX$398K	-37.9%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$18.12 SAR68.00	$10.57 MX$195.47	-41.7%
Average			+9.3%

Riyadh vs. Monterrey - Cost of transportation

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pay 17.0% less for housing

	Riyadh	Monterrey
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$71.73 SAR269.20	$26.79 MX$495.42	-62.7%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$1,186.87 SAR4,454.14	$981.90 MX$18,158.20	-17.3%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$833.69 SAR3,128.72	$685.94 MX$12,685.02	-17.7%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$81.86 SAR307.20	$91.91 MX$1,699.66	+12.3%
Average			-17.0%

Riyadh vs. Monterrey - Cost of housing

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pay 22.8% more for childcare

	Riyadh	Monterrey
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$530.73 SAR1,991.76	$703.26 MX$13,005.38	+32.5%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$10,105.80 SAR37,925.40	$11,496.80 MX$213K	+13.8%
Average			+22.8%

Riyadh vs. Monterrey - Cost of childcare

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pay 41.3% less for entertainment and sports

	Riyadh	Monterrey
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$2.13 SAR8.00	$2.36 MX$43.72	+10.9%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$4.28 SAR16.07	$4.04 MX$74.68	-5.7%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$7.73 SAR29.00	$4.90 MX$90.53	-36.6%
Monthly membership at local gym	$89.94 SAR337.52	$31.22 MX$577.27	-65.3%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$13.32 SAR50.00	$5.29 MX$97.74	-60.3%
Average			-41.3%

Riyadh vs. Monterrey - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 6.1% more for clothing

	Riyadh	Monterrey
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$58.30 SAR218.78	$73.56 MX$1,360.29	+26.2%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$54.26 SAR203.65	$42.76 MX$790.75	-21.2%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$102.59 SAR385.02	$112.51 MX$2,080.57	+9.7%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$103.93 SAR390.02	$120.67 MX$2,231.48	+16.1%
Average			+6.1%

Riyadh vs. Monterrey - 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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