This guide converts at 17.5 Mexican pesos to the US dollar, the mid-market rate on XE on 24 September 2026. Listings here are priced in dollars; almost everything else you pay in pesos, so both are given.
Rent: the expensive colonias and the rest
Numbeo's Mexico City page, updated 25 August 2026 from 1,370 entries by 141 contributors, puts a one-bedroom in the centre at about MX$19,200 a month (roughly US$1,100) and the same flat outside the centre at about MX$12,200 (US$700). A three-bedroom is about MX$42,900 central, MX$22,200 outside.
The average hides what decides your budget: the colonia. A HolaNeo rent survey from March 2026 gives these monthly ranges for unfurnished flats, one bedroom then two:
- Polanco — MX$20,000–30,000; MX$28,000–45,000
- Condesa — MX$15,000–22,000; MX$20,000–30,000
- Roma Norte — MX$14,000–20,000; MX$18,000–28,000
- Del Valle — MX$11,000–16,000; MX$14,000–22,000
- Coyoacán — MX$10,000–15,000; MX$13,000–20,000
- Escandón — MX$9,000–14,000; MX$12,000–18,000
- Narvarte — MX$9,000–13,000; MX$11,000–17,000
In dollars, Condesa one-bedrooms run about US$860 to US$1,260, Narvarte about US$510 to US$740. Juárez and Santa María la Ribera were not in it; a Sección Amarilla guide from July 2025 put Juárez with Polanco at MX$20,000 to MX$30,000 and above, Santa María la Ribera near MX$14,000, one-bedrooms MX$8,000 to MX$12,000. Those are over a year old, so treat them as a floor. A two-bedroom in Narvarte or Escandón costs roughly half the Condesa equivalent, twenty minutes away by Metro.
Why furnished monthly rents sit above the local market
Two premiums stack. HolaNeo puts furnished flats 20 to 40 per cent above a comparable unfurnished one, and a one-to-six-month lease prices above a year-long contract, because the owner is pricing in the empty weeks. Mexican portals in September 2026 showed a furnished 80 m² Roma Norte flat at MX$32,000 with mantenimiento included (about US$1,830), furnished Condesa lofts from MX$45,000 and two-bedrooms there at MX$55,000. Further out the gap narrows: furnished Coyoacán flats were commonly listed at MX$15,000 to MX$18,000.
This is a live political argument, worth knowing before you sign. Anti-gentrification marches in July 2025 targeted Roma and Condesa; Mexico News Daily reported 14 businesses damaged and 40 more tagged with graffiti. An August 2025 Inter-American Dialogue analysis counted roughly 26,000 Airbnb units in the city and more than 20,000 low-income households pushed out each year. The city has proposed capping rent rises at inflation, with enforcement reportedly held back until after the 2026 World Cup. Renting in Narvarte, Escandón or Santa María la Ribera is cheaper and less contested.
What the rent does not include
Ask in writing which of these are in the price. Most are not.
- Electricity (CFE) — billed bimonthly. On the 2026 domestic tariff 1, the first 75 kWh cost MX$1.125 each, the next 65 kWh MX$1.369, everything above MX$4.004. Flats here have no heating and rarely air conditioning, so most stay in the cheap blocks. HolaNeo's two-bedroom estimate: MX$500 to MX$800 a month.
- Water — bimonthly. The 2026 domestic blocks run from MX$4.22 per m³ for the first 10 m³ to MX$25.10 above 60 m³, plus a fixed MX$82.40 charge. A typical household pays MX$350 to MX$500 a bimester before the subsidy most users get.
- Gas — LP, for the stove and water heater. The Comisión Nacional de Energía sets a weekly ceiling: MX$20.05 per kilo in Mexico City for 20 to 26 September 2026, so MX$384.80 for a 20 kg tank.
- Internet — Expansión's 15 September 2026 comparison had Telmex from MX$389 a month for 120 Mbps, Izzi from MX$379, Totalplay from about MX$390.
- Mantenimiento — the building fee. Expansión's Obras reported the city average rising from about MX$2,200 to about MX$3,200 a month over two years; buildings under 50 units averaged MX$3,789, very large complexes MX$493, and walk-ups often MX$500 to MX$1,500. Get the figure before you commit: MX$3,000 on a MX$15,000 flat adds a fifth.
Numbeo's August 2026 utilities bundle for an 85 m² flat is about MX$1,120 a month, US$64. Cleaning is separate.
Food: the mercado, the tianguis, the supermarket and the fonda
Numbeo's August 2026 supermarket basket: a litre of milk MX$32, a dozen eggs MX$51, a kilo of chicken breast MX$174, a kilo of tomatoes MX$41, a kilo of apples MX$58. Buy produce instead at a mercado público, the covered market most colonias have, or a tianguis, the street market that sets up on a fixed weekday and is gone by evening, and it costs noticeably less: 2026 reporting had tomatoes near MX$13 a kilo in a market against MX$20 to MX$25 in a supermarket. The city's economy ministry tracks basket prices across supermarkets, mercados sobre ruedas, public markets and the Central de Abasto; markets win on produce almost every time. Packaged goods and beer are cheaper in the supermarket.
Eating out splits the same way. A comida corrida at a fonda costs MX$50 to MX$150 according to the city's own guide to fondas; January 2026 reporting put the typical price near MX$100, MX$60 to MX$70 in Cuauhtémoc and MX$100 to MX$110 in Condesa. Numbeo has an inexpensive restaurant meal at MX$210 and a mid-range dinner for two at MX$900, US$51.
Getting around, and what a month of commuting costs
The Metro fare is MX$5 a trip, and the city confirmed in December 2025 it holds there through 2026. Metrobús is MX$6, the Tren Ligero MX$3, Cablebús MX$7. The Tarjeta de Movilidad Integrada covers all of them plus Ecobici and costs MX$15 plus your first top-up, sold at Metro windows and station machines.
Two trips a day for twenty-two days is MX$220 on the Metro alone, MX$250 to MX$300 mixing in Metrobús — US$13 to US$17 a month. A 2026 fare breakdown for Mexico City puts UberX at a MX$7 base, MX$3.57 per kilometre and MX$1.80 per minute, minimum MX$35; a central trip runs MX$80 to MX$180, the airport to the centre MX$130 to MX$200. Peak-hour surge of 1.3 to 1.8 is normal, and DiDi runs 10 to 15 per cent under Uber. Budget MX$1,200 to MX$2,500 a month, US$70 to US$145.
The costs that catch people out here
Drinking water. Nobody drinks the tap water. Households buy 20-litre garrafones, listed at roughly MX$50 to MX$65 by Bonafont and the supermarkets, or MX$20 to MX$30 at a neighbourhood purificadora that refills your bottle. The empty bottle costs over MX$100, because after that you swap one for one.
Cash. Mercados, tianguis, fondas and many small shops take no cards, so the cheapest food here reaches only those carrying pesos. We found no reliable figure for Mexican ATM fees; check your bank's.
Prices and dates move. Every figure above was checked in September 2026 against the source named beside it, at 17.5 pesos to the dollar. Check the current rate before you budget.