Cost of living comparison

Dominican Republic

compared to

Mexico

Mexico City vs. Santiago Cost of Living Summary

Mexico City is 49.9% more expensive than Santiago.

Restaurants: pay 64.1% more in Mexico City
Groceries: pay 44.7% more in Mexico City
Transportation: pay 7.8% less in Mexico City
Housing: pay 61.4% more in Mexico City
Childcare: pay 2.5 times more in Mexico City
Entertainment and Sports: pay 64.8% more in Mexico City
Clothing: pay 76.0% more in Mexico City

The cost of childcare, clothing, entertainment and sports, restaurants, housing, and groceries in Mexico City are more expensive than in Santiago. Notably, childcare and clothing are significantly more expensive in Mexico City.

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Mexico City vs. Santiago Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Mexico City instead of Santiago, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 64.1% more for restaurants

	Santiago	Mexico City
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$8.29 DOP509.30	$11.13 MX$205.76	+34.2%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$7.05 DOP432.90	$11.07 MX$204.73	+57.1%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.70 DOP42.78	$1.63 MX$30.14	+134.0%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.39 DOP24.19	$1.30 MX$24.06	+230.5%
Average			+64.1%

Santiago vs. Mexico City - Cost of restaurants

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pay 44.7% more for groceries

	Santiago	Mexico City
Bread 1 loaf	$1.51 DOP93.03	$3.03 MX$56.07	+100.2%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$3.15 DOP193.81	$6.02 MX$111.38	+90.9%
Milk (1 gallon)	$4.50 DOP276.65	$6.73 MX$124.42	+49.4%
Eggs 1 dozen	$1.48 DOP90.65	$2.87 MX$53.00	+94.2%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$1.63 DOP99.87	$4.39 MX$81.13	+169.9%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.45 DOP88.96	$1.43 MX$26.42	-1.3%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.37 DOP22.53	$0.90 MX$16.67	+145.8%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.24 DOP75.89	$0.93 MX$17.19	-24.8%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.83 DOP51.09	$1.04 MX$19.27	+25.3%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.91 DOP56.14	$0.91 MX$16.90
Onions (1 lb)	$1.00 DOP61.45	$0.85 MX$15.71	-15.1%
Average			+44.7%

Santiago vs. Mexico City - Cost of groceries

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pay 7.8% less for transportation

	Santiago	Mexico City
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$5.35 DOP328.96	$5.76 MX$106.56	+7.6%
Monthly public transit pass	$30.28 DOP1,860.04	$20.03 MX$370.37	-33.9%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$14,922.51 DOP917K	$21,528.95 MX$398K	+44.3%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$20.39 DOP1,252.87	$6.54 MX$120.88	-67.9%
Average			-7.8%

Santiago vs. Mexico City - Cost of transportation

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pay 61.4% more for housing

	Santiago	Mexico City
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$36.30 DOP2,230.04	$34.66 MX$640.87	-4.5%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$676.34 DOP41,549.82	$1,053.82 MX$19,488.15	+55.8%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$271.33 DOP16,668.79	$672.38 MX$12,434.27	+147.8%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$70.91 DOP4,356.44	$47.71 MX$882.34	-32.7%
Average			+61.4%

Santiago vs. Mexico City - Cost of housing

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pay 2.5 times more for childcare

	Santiago	Mexico City
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$149.23 DOP9,167.36	$435.78 MX$8,058.88	+192.0%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$5,471.59 DOP336K	$12,045.70 MX$223K	+120.2%
Average			+153.6%

Santiago vs. Mexico City - Cost of childcare

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pay 64.8% more for entertainment and sports

	Santiago	Mexico City
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$2.49 DOP152.79	$3.34 MX$61.73	+34.2%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$1.80 DOP110.35	$3.80 MX$70.36	+111.8%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$4.81 DOP295.39	$5.29 MX$97.74	+9.9%
Monthly membership at local gym	$24.87 DOP1,527.89	$57.09 MX$1,055.72	+129.5%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$4.97 DOP305.58	$6.68 MX$123.46	+34.2%
Average			+64.8%

Santiago vs. Mexico City - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 76.0% more for clothing

	Santiago	Mexico City
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$26.53 DOP1,629.75	$70.61 MX$1,305.78	+166.2%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$45.60 DOP2,801.14	$53.64 MX$991.98	+17.6%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$62.18 DOP3,819.73	$109.04 MX$2,016.43	+75.4%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$66.32 DOP4,074.38	$115.97 MX$2,144.64	+74.9%
Average			+76.0%

Santiago vs. Mexico City - 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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