1.85/5
150 reviews
Photo by Spencer Watson via Unsplash

Cost of Living in San Cristóbal de las Casas

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great

cris

dangerous

nomads

population

San Cristobal is a unique destination with a mix of strong positives and some notable drawbacks. It's highly affordable compared to other Mexican cities like Mexico City or Oaxaca, making it a popular pick for cost-conscious travelers. The climate is generally pleasant with warm days and cooler evenings, which many visitors appreciate. There's a growing nomad and expat presence, along with an active local and indigenous community. Dining and entertainment options are strong, with plenty of cafes, restaurants, bars, and live music venues to choose from.

However, internet connectivity can be unreliable, though coworking spaces are starting to become more available. Traffic can be surprising for such a small city, and some visitors report food and water safety issues. Most notably, safety concerns are frequently mentioned, with reports of growing violence and instability in the region. This may not affect visitors who remain in tourist areas, but it's an important consideration for long-term stays.

Overall, San Cristobal can be a great location for budget travelers and digital nomads, but those considering an extended stay should research current safety conditions and be prepared for infrastructure limitations.

AI-generated summary of reviews

San Cris is actually dangerous and getting more dangerous, so know that if you go there. Of course, nomads in their bubbles will rarely see it but do a simple google search of news related, there's been a huge uptick in violence over the past few years. I experienced it while living there. Personally really wouldn't recommend to people unless you like the idea of being in a city that is going to eventually become a warzone

2 years ago

San Cris is one of the undiscovered gems of Mexico - it's growing fast, with lots of great places to stay (see Casa Satoshi on Instagram). There are loads of coworking spaces now, the climate is awesome (warm days and cool evenings), there are a tonne of great restaurants, cafes, bars. There's multiple options for live music and events every night, and the population is a wonderful mix of nomads, locals and indigenous population. The local region has lots to do - hikes, lakes, waterfalls, even the opportunity to visit rebel-held territory, currently under EZLN control. I can't recommend it enough.

Oh, and by the way, the cost of living on here is totally off. It's WAY cheaper than places like CDMX/Guadalajara/Oaxaca. In fact, it's the cheapest *great* city in Mexico. A must visit :)

2 years ago

San Cristobal is more suitable for vacation and backpackers. It is complicated to find a good wifi and mobile internet connection, but there are some coworkings. Didn’t like the town itself - too much traffic for such a small place, not to mention that a lot of tourists got food poisoned from food/water, but it’s worth visiting because of marvellous nature of Chiapas

2 years ago

✅ Very affordable

✅ Good climate

✅ Lots of restaurants and cafes

✅ Growing nomad and expat community

✅ Affordable to live

✅ Fast internet

✅ Warm now

✅ Warm all year round

✅ Good air quality on average

✅ Many Nomads.com members have been

✅ Spacious and not crowded

✅ Very easy to make friends

✅ Easy to do business

✅ Roads are pretty safe

✅ Democratic

✅ Safe for women

✅ Very friendly to LGBTQ+

✅ Not many people smoke tobacco

✅ (Medical) marijuana MAY be legal, unenforced or decriminalized (always double check this)

❌ Poor internet

❌ Food and water safety concerns

❌ Traffic and congestion

❌ Increasing safety concerns

❌ Freedom of speech is weak

❌ Not very safe

❌ Not much to do

❌ Nomads.com members really didn't like going here

❌ Not many Nomads.com members right now

❌ Quality of education is low

❌ Hospitals are bad

❌ People don't speak English well

❌ Not family friendly

Jan

Feb

Mar

Apr

May

Jun

Jul

Aug

Sep

Oct

Nov

Dec

Feels (median)

17°C / 63°F cool

18°C / 64°F cool

20°C / 68°F mild

21°C / 70°F mild

20°C / 68°F mild

19°C / 66°F mild

18°C / 64°F cool

Real (median)

17°C / 63°F
cool

18°C / 64°F
cool

20°C / 67°F
mild

21°C / 70°F
mild

20°C / 68°F
mild

19°C / 66°F
mild

19°C / 65°F
mild

18°C / 64°F
cool

Humidity

damp
86%

nice
74%

nice
77%

nice
75%

nice
94%

nice
99%

nice
93%

nice
97%

nice
98%

nice
95%

nice
88%

damp
79%

Most common

☀️ Clear

☔️ Rain

☀️ Clear

Rain

dry
8mm

dry
6mm

dry
11mm

dry
28mm

rainy
229mm

rainy
493mm

rainy
305mm

rainy
368mm

rainy
435mm

rainy
237mm

rainy
63mm

dry
11mm

Cloud

pockets
38%

pockets
24%

pockets
28%

pockets
38%

pockets
47%

cloudy
58%

pockets
48%

cloudy
50%

cloudy
53%

pockets
44%

pockets
39%

pockets
25%

Sun

avoid sun
7 UVI

avoid sun
10 UVI

avoid sun
8 UVI

avoid sun
7 UVI

avoid sun
8 UVI

avoid sun
7 UVI

Remote workers

444 people

429 people

578 people

375 people

520 people

233 people

533 people

280 people

500 people

457 people

314 people

571 people

Green is good. Red is bad. Values shown are the medians of all daily highs in a month based on past few years, not necessarily current numbers. Remote worker count is estimated based on the total amount of trips logged by Nomads.com members.

If you'd like to filter destinations based on their climate, try Nomads.com's Climate Finder

Based on San Cristóbal de las Casas's cost of living, here's selected remote jobs that would cover your costs:

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Help pick the best photos for San Cristóbal de las Casas and improve this page's look by tappingclicking on them and the site saves your feedback Vote photos

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Members who have been here

Values shown are estimated visits by traveling remote workers based on the total amount of trips logged by Nomads.com members. Visits to a place are only counted once per year per user, even if they visit more in that year. Visits are also normalized by overall trips added per month on the site, so if site usage goes up or down it does not affect trends. Not all digital nomads are on Nomads.com, and not all Nomads.com members log their trips. So the data is only indicative.

The chart below shows visitors by nationality normalized for population size. This means we take all trips logged on Nomads.com, check which country of origin the user is from, then divide that total visit count by the country of origin's population. If we didn't, it'd just show the big countries like US, Brazil and India always on top. Instead, this shows which nationalities worldwide proportionally visit more or less, which is more useful.

⭐️ Total score	1.85/5 (Rank #1286) 150 reviews
❤️ Liked by members	👍1 liked it 👎2 disliked it
👍 Quality of life score	Okay
👶 Family score	Bad
🎒 Community score	Okay
💵 Cost	😙 Affordable: $1,334 / mo
📡 Internet	🙂 Good: 25Mbps (avg)
😝 Fun	Okay
⛅️ Temperature (now)	🥵 Hot: 25°C77°F (feels 25°C77°F)
💦 Humidity (now)	😊 Comfy: 70%
👌 Safety	Bad
🤮 Food safety*	Great
👮‍♀️ Lack of crime*	Bad
🤝 Lack of racism*	Okay
🎓 Education level*	Mediocre
⚡️ Power grid	Great
🌊 Vulnerability to climate change	Great
💰 Income level*	Very low: $704 / mo
🙊 English speaking*	Bad
🚶 Walkability	Great
🚦 Traffic safety*	Okay
✈️ Airline scores*	Okay
🧳 Lost luggage*	Bad
😄 Happiness*	Bad
🍸 Nightlife	Okay
📶 Free WiFi in city	Okay
🖥 Places to work from	Bad
🗯 Freedom of speech*	Okay
👩 Female friendly	Okay
🌈 LGBTQ+ friendly	Great
🎅 Startup Score	Bad

🌍 Continent	Latin America
🚩 Country	Mexico
🗓️ Average trip length	13 days
📡 Internet speed (avg)	25 Mbps
⛅️ Weather (now)	🌧 25°C 77°F + 😊 Comfy (70%) = feels 25°C 77°F
🔌 Power	115V 60Hz
🚕 Best taxi app*	Uber
🚑 Travel medical insurance	Safetywing
💸 100 MXN in USD	USD 5.14
🏧 Suggested ATM take out:	MXN 10,000 = USD 514
💸 Tipping	No
💳 Cashless	💵 No, cash only (esp. for foreigners)
☕️ Best coffee place	Café Bar 500 noches
🚰 Tap water	🚫 No, not drinkable
♻️ Return rate	👍10% of visitors return
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Population	190,000 people
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 GDP per capita*	$8,444 / year
👫 Gender ratio (population)	👨 45% 👱‍♀️ 55%
👫 Gender ratio (young adults)	👨 51% 👱‍♀️ 49%
👫 Gender ratio (nomads)	👨 75% 👱‍♀️ 25%
🏞 Foreign land ownership allowed	Yes
⛪️ Religious government	Non-religious
💻 Online electronics shop	Linio
🏠 Apartment listings	Comparto Depa
✈️ Best int'l air carrier	Aero Mexico

💵 Cost of living for nomad	$1,334 / month
💵 Cost of living for expat	$754 / month
💵 Cost of living for family	$1,696 / month
💵 Cost of living for local	$485 / month
🏨 Hotel (median price)	$731 / month
🏡 Airbnb (median price)	$928 / month
🏠 1br studio rent in center	$279 / month
🏠 Median home price	$97,719
🏨 Hotel (median price)	$34 / night
🏠 Airbnb (median price)	$30 / night
🏢 Coworking hot desk	$184 / month
🍛 Dinner	$4
🥤 Coca-Cola (0.3L)	$1
🍺 Beer in cafe (0.5L)	$2
☕️ Coffee in cafe	$2
👩‍🏫 International school	$2,057 / year
📱 Mobile data (~10GB)	$10 / month
🚕 Taxi price (avg trip ~3km/2mi)	$6 / trip