The essentials
- Our city budgets and rent ranges are editorial estimates, not the results of a survey or a documented sample of listings.
- They describe a comfortable lifestyle in the neighborhoods foreigners most often choose, in US dollars per month, at 18 MXN per USD.
- The cost calculator scales those city figures with fixed multipliers for household size, lifestyle and options — all published below.
More things to know
- The plan is to replace these estimates with a dated sample of real rental listings and resident budgets, labeling which figures come from it.
In this guide
What the numbers describe
| Figure | Definition |
|---|---|
| Couple, all-in | Total monthly spending for two adults living comfortably, including rent, in USD. |
| Single person, all-in | The same for one adult. |
| 1- and 2-bedroom rent | Monthly rent on a long-term (typically 12-month) lease in neighborhoods popular with foreigners. Furnished and unfurnished homes aren't separated, and these are asking-price ranges, not negotiated rents. |
| Currency | US dollars at 18 Mexican pesos per dollar. When the peso strengthens, dollar costs rise. |
| Period | 2026 prices, last reviewed October 2026. |
How they were produced
Each range is an editorial judgment of typical long-term prices and spending in that city, compiled in October 2026. They weren't calculated from a defined set of listings or from a survey of residents, and we don't yet publish an underlying dataset. That's why we show ranges rather than single numbers, and why each city page tells you which neighborhoods the figures assume.
Local-style living — outside the expat neighborhoods, with local brands and markets — usually costs noticeably less than these ranges.
What's not included
- One-time moving costs: shipping, furniture, deposits, a car purchase
- Residency fees and renewals (see the renewal guide for current fees)
- Flights home and international travel
- Major medical events beyond insurance premiums and routine out-of-pocket care
- Private school fees, except in the calculator's family-of-four option
- Taxes on your income
How the cost calculator works
The calculator starts from the selected city's figures and applies fixed rules:
| Input | Rule |
|---|---|
| Rent | Lean: low end of the city's rent range. Comfortable: midpoint. Upscale: high end × 1.35. Singles use the 1-bedroom range, others the 2-bedroom; families × 1.25. |
| City price level | Groceries, dining, utilities, household help and out-of-pocket health scale with the city's couple-budget midpoint divided by $2,500. |
| Household | Spending categories × 0.6 (single), × 1 (couple) or × 1.55 (family of four). |
| Lifestyle | × 0.75 (lean), × 1 (comfortable) or × 1.6 (upscale). |
| Health insurance | Per adult per month: $0 (self-insure / IMSS), $110 (under 50), $260 (50–64), $520 (65+); families add $120 for children. |
| Car | Transport becomes a flat $260 a month. |
| Heavy air-conditioning | Adds $110 a month to utilities before scaling. |
Every line is rounded to the nearest $5. The insurance and car figures are editorial assumptions, like the city ranges.
How we're improving the data
The next step is a dated sample, so the ranges can be checked and updated. For each rental it will record:
- Date collected, city and neighborhood
- Bedrooms, furnished or unfurnished, and lease length
- Asking rent in pesos, and the type of source (listing site, agent, or resident report)
Resident budgets will be recorded the same way: city, household, month and categories. As figures move from editorial estimates to sample-based ranges, each city page will say which it is and how many data points stand behind it.
Help us get it right
If you live in one of our cities and our numbers don't match your experience, we want to hear it: email corrections@movingtomexicoguide.com with your city, household and typical monthly costs.