Cost of living comparison

Mexico City, Mexico

compared to

Busan, South Korea

Busan vs. Mexico City Cost of Living Summary

Busan is 50.3% more expensive than Mexico City.

Restaurants: pay 19.1% more in Busan
Groceries: pay 2.1 times more in Busan
Transportation: pay 94.2% more in Busan
Housing: pay 13.7% more in Busan
Childcare: pay 44.4% more in Busan
Entertainment and Sports: pay 31.5% more in Busan
Clothing: pay 39.4% more in Busan

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

Busan vs. Mexico City Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 19.1% more for restaurants

	Mexico City	Busan
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$9.93 MX$201.61	$6.45 ₩9,161	-35.1%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$7.45 MX$151.20	$5.91 ₩8,397	-20.6%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.08 MX$21.92	$1.84 ₩2,608	+70.0%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.77 MX$15.69	$1.25 ₩1,781	+62.2%
Average			+19.1%

Mexico City vs. Busan - Cost of restaurants

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 2.1 times more for groceries

	Mexico City	Busan
Bread 1 loaf	$2.45 MX$49.79	$3.58 ₩5,089	+46.1%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$4.87 MX$98.82	$5.10 ₩7,252	+4.9%
Milk (1 gallon)	$5.51 MX$111.83	$8.49 ₩12,062	+54.1%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.18 MX$44.32	$3.20 ₩4,553	+46.8%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$3.57 MX$72.51	$3.64 ₩5,171	+1.9%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.22 MX$24.81	$3.74 ₩5,309	+205.8%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.67 MX$13.59	$1.41 ₩2,004	+110.7%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.80 MX$16.22	$3.27 ₩4,644	+309.0%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.83 MX$16.80	$2.33 ₩3,306	+181.1%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.85 MX$17.28	$2.27 ₩3,232	+167.3%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.83 MX$16.81	$1.50 ₩2,135	+81.5%
Average			+109.9%

Mexico City vs. Busan - Cost of groceries

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 94.2% more for transportation

	Mexico City	Busan
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$4.64 MX$94.16	$4.38 ₩6,231	-5.5%
Monthly public transit pass	$17.87 MX$362.89	$42.97 ₩61,071	+140.5%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$18,615.02 MX$378,011.91	$27,023.07 ₩38,404,776	+45.2%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$3.47 MX$70.56	$10.31 ₩14,657	+196.8%
Average			+94.2%

Mexico City vs. Busan - Cost of transportation

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 13.7% more for housing

	Mexico City	Busan
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$24.38 MX$495.06	$16.11 ₩22,902	-33.9%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$893.52 MX$18,144.57	$471.50 ₩670,089	-47.2%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$544.24 MX$11,051.69	$286.48 ₩407,143	-47.4%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$30.31 MX$615.53	$85.90 ₩122,073	+183.4%
Average			+13.7%

Mexico City vs. Busan - Cost of housing

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 44.4% more for childcare

	Mexico City	Busan
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$381.33 MX$7,743.52	$477.47 ₩678,572	+25.2%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$8,426.99 MX$171,125.39	$13,786.91 ₩19,593,754	+63.6%
Average			+44.4%

Mexico City vs. Busan - Cost of childcare

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 31.5% more for entertainment and sports

	Mexico City	Busan
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$2.73 MX$55.44	$3.58 ₩5,089	+31.2%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.01 MX$61.05	$3.82 ₩5,433	+27.2%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$3.92 MX$79.63	$3.22 ₩4,580	-17.8%
Monthly membership at local gym	$53.69 MX$1,090.22	$50.13 ₩71,250	-6.6%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$4.96 MX$100.80	$11.10 ₩15,777	+123.6%
Average			+31.5%

Mexico City vs. Busan - Cost of entertainment and sports

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 39.4% more for clothing

	Mexico City	Busan
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$56.36 MX$1,144.40	$100.27 ₩142,500	+77.9%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$41.06 MX$833.78	$64.46 ₩91,607	+57.0%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$91.99 MX$1,868.08	$90.24 ₩128,250	-1.9%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$91.93 MX$1,866.79	$114.59 ₩162,857	+24.7%
Average			+39.4%

Mexico City vs. Busan - Cost of clothing

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

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: April 2025

More cost comparisons

Mexico City vs.

Ankara

Mexico City vs.

Dodoma

Mexico City vs.

Dublin

Mexico City vs.

Washington

Mexico City vs.

Ottawa

Mexico City vs.

Bangkok

Mexico City vs.

Paris

Mexico City vs.

Manila

Share this

Compare countries by overall cost of living

See the cost of living in Mexico vs. South Korea. This provides a comparison of the average cost of living from cities within Mexico and South Korea.

Help us improve these prices

MyLifeElsewhere is a collaborative project. Please enter price information for your location to help assist us in making these comparisons more accurate. Learn more

Add prices for Mexico City

Add prices for Busan

ASK THE ELSEWHERE COMMUNITY

Join the Elsewhere community and ask a question about Busan or Mexico City. It's a free, question-and-answer based forum to discuss what life is like in countries and cities around the world.