Cost of living comparison

Cape Town, South Africa

compared to

Mexico City, Mexico

Mexico City vs. Cape Town Cost of Living Summary

Mexico City is 17.1% more expensive than Cape Town.

Restaurants: pay 17.5% more in Mexico City
Groceries: pay 37.3% more in Mexico City
Transportation: pay 34.2% less in Mexico City
Housing: pay 19.9% less in Mexico City
Childcare: pay 89.8% more in Mexico City
Entertainment and Sports: pay 17.9% more in Mexico City
Clothing: pay 11.3% more in Mexico City

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

Mexico City vs. Cape Town Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Mexico City instead of Cape Town, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 17.5% more for restaurants

	Cape Town	Mexico City
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$8.52 ZAR151.51	$9.93 MX$189.72	+16.5%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$5.11 ZAR90.90	$7.45 MX$142.29	+45.7%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.99 ZAR17.66	$1.08 MX$20.63	+8.7%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.78 ZAR13.88	$0.77 MX$14.77	-1.0%
Average			+17.5%

Cape Town vs. Mexico City - Cost of restaurants

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pay 37.3% more for groceries

	Cape Town	Mexico City
Bread 1 loaf	$1.07 ZAR19.07	$2.45 MX$46.85	+128.6%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$4.13 ZAR73.47	$4.87 MX$92.99	+17.8%
Milk (1 gallon)	$4.25 ZAR75.63	$5.51 MX$105.24	+29.5%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.53 ZAR45.05	$2.18 MX$41.71	-13.8%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.30 ZAR40.84	$3.57 MX$68.23	+55.5%
Apples (1 lb)	$0.73 ZAR13.00	$1.22 MX$23.35	+67.1%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.70 ZAR12.37	$0.67 MX$12.79	-3.8%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.69 ZAR12.23	$0.80 MX$15.27	+16.2%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.70 ZAR12.42	$0.83 MX$15.81	+18.4%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.55 ZAR9.76	$0.85 MX$16.26	+55.0%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.59 ZAR10.56	$0.83 MX$15.81	+39.3%
Average			+37.3%

Cape Town vs. Mexico City - Cost of groceries

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pay 34.2% less for transportation

	Cape Town	Mexico City
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$5.09 ZAR90.52	$4.64 MX$88.61	-8.9%
Monthly public transit pass	$42.60 ZAR757.54	$17.87 MX$341.49	-58.1%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$19,879.98 ZAR353,517.66	$18,615.02 MX$355,719.96	-6.4%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$9.54 ZAR169.69	$3.47 MX$66.40	-63.6%
Average			-34.2%

Cape Town vs. Mexico City - Cost of transportation

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pay 19.9% less for housing

	Cape Town	Mexico City
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$43.29 ZAR769.76	$24.38 MX$465.87	-43.7%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$784.43 ZAR13,949.15	$893.52 MX$17,074.56	+13.9%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$505.72 ZAR8,993.06	$544.24 MX$10,399.96	+7.6%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$71.33 ZAR1,268.36	$30.31 MX$579.23	-57.5%
Average			-19.9%

Cape Town vs. Mexico City - Cost of housing

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pay 89.8% more for childcare

	Cape Town	Mexico City
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$207.06 ZAR3,682.09	$381.33 MX$7,286.87	+84.2%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$4,312.73 ZAR76,691.62	$8,426.99 MX$161,033.86	+95.4%
Average			+89.8%

Cape Town vs. Mexico City - Cost of childcare

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pay 17.9% more for entertainment and sports

	Cape Town	Mexico City
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$2.56 ZAR45.45	$2.73 MX$52.17	+6.8%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.12 ZAR37.78	$3.01 MX$57.45	+41.5%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$2.95 ZAR52.52	$3.92 MX$74.94	+32.8%
Monthly membership at local gym	$39.65 ZAR705.17	$53.69 MX$1,025.93	+35.4%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$6.82 ZAR121.21	$4.96 MX$94.86	-27.2%
Average			+17.9%

Cape Town vs. Mexico City - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 11.3% more for clothing

	Cape Town	Mexico City
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$53.53 ZAR951.89	$56.36 MX$1,076.91	+5.3%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$30.86 ZAR548.73	$41.06 MX$784.61	+33.1%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$104.97 ZAR1,866.57	$91.99 MX$1,757.91	-12.4%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$77.06 ZAR1,370.39	$91.93 MX$1,756.71	+19.3%
Average			+11.3%

Cape Town vs. Mexico City - 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: June 2025

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