Cost of living comparison

China

compared to

Mexico

Monterrey vs. Shanghai Cost of Living Summary

Monterrey is 27.5% more expensive than Shanghai.

Restaurants: pay 2.7 times more in Monterrey
Groceries: pay 50.8% more in Monterrey
Transportation: pay 18.9% more in Monterrey
Housing: pay 21.7% more in Monterrey
Childcare: pay 54.5% less in Monterrey
Entertainment and Sports: pay 11.0% less in Monterrey
Clothing: pay 27.6% more in Monterrey

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

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Monterrey vs. Shanghai Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 2.7 times more for restaurants

	Shanghai	Monterrey
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$4.47 CN¥29.94	$13.91 MX$257.20	+210.8%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$5.22 CN¥34.93	$11.13 MX$205.76	+113.1%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.60 CN¥4.01	$1.68 MX$30.99	+179.6%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.37 CN¥2.47	$1.03 MX$19.03	+178.2%
Average			+166.5%

Shanghai vs. Monterrey - Cost of restaurants

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pay 50.8% more for groceries

	Shanghai	Monterrey
Bread 1 loaf	$1.98 CN¥13.22	$2.95 MX$54.63	+49.5%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$8.60 CN¥57.52	$6.13 MX$113.44	-28.6%
Milk (1 gallon)	$6.88 CN¥46.02	$7.20 MX$133.19	+4.7%
Eggs 1 dozen	$1.70 CN¥11.36	$2.56 MX$47.39	+51.0%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$1.48 CN¥9.89	$4.28 MX$79.19	+189.7%
Apples (1 lb)	$0.99 CN¥6.65	$1.52 MX$28.05	+52.6%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.77 CN¥5.16	$0.71 MX$13.19	-7.4%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.90 CN¥6.05	$0.98 MX$18.19	+8.8%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.77 CN¥5.15	$1.12 MX$20.72	+45.6%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.36 CN¥2.40	$1.06 MX$19.52	+194.8%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.43 CN¥2.90	$1.23 MX$22.77	+184.2%
Average			+50.8%

Shanghai vs. Monterrey - Cost of groceries

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pay 18.9% more for transportation

	Shanghai	Monterrey
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$4.96 CN¥33.21	$5.91 MX$109.36	+19.1%
Monthly public transit pass	$29.83 CN¥199.59	$32.04 MX$592.58	+7.4%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$19,374.76 CN¥130K	$21,528.95 MX$398K	+11.1%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$5.67 CN¥37.92	$10.57 MX$195.47	+86.5%
Average			+18.9%

Shanghai vs. Monterrey - Cost of transportation

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pay 21.7% more for housing

	Shanghai	Monterrey
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$10.55 CN¥70.59	$26.79 MX$495.42	+153.9%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$1,036.96 CN¥6,938.07	$981.90 MX$18,158.20	-5.3%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$588.71 CN¥3,938.93	$685.94 MX$12,685.02	+16.5%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$44.06 CN¥294.77	$91.91 MX$1,699.66	+108.6%
Average			+21.7%

Shanghai vs. Monterrey - Cost of housing

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pay 54.5% less for childcare

	Shanghai	Monterrey
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$1,413.50 CN¥9,457.42	$703.26 MX$13,005.38	-50.2%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$27,686.22 CN¥185K	$11,496.80 MX$213K	-58.5%
Average			-54.5%

Shanghai vs. Monterrey - Cost of childcare

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pay 11.0% less for entertainment and sports

	Shanghai	Monterrey
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$1.19 CN¥7.98	$2.36 MX$43.72	+98.2%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.35 CN¥22.41	$4.04 MX$74.68	+20.6%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$3.73 CN¥24.95	$4.90 MX$90.53	+31.3%
Monthly membership at local gym	$65.69 CN¥439.52	$31.22 MX$577.27	-52.5%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$8.95 CN¥59.88	$5.29 MX$97.74	-40.9%
Average			-11.0%

Shanghai vs. Monterrey - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 27.6% more for clothing

	Shanghai	Monterrey
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$54.37 CN¥363.79	$73.56 MX$1,360.29	+35.3%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$37.09 CN¥248.19	$42.76 MX$790.75	+15.3%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$75.49 CN¥505.08	$112.51 MX$2,080.57	+49.0%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$105.70 CN¥707.25	$120.67 MX$2,231.48	+14.2%
Average			+27.6%

Shanghai 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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