Cheapest cities in the Americas for a first trip 💸

Every figure here is a mid-range daily budget per person — a room, food, local transport and sights, excluding flights. Cheapest first. How we work these out.

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The short answer

Across 19 city guides in the Americas, a day costs between $40–80 in Oaxaca (Mexico) and $130–260 in New York City (United States). The median is about $115 a day, and 1 of the 19 come in at $60 a day or less.

Ranked by daily budget

#	City	Daily budget	Cheap meal	Mid-range hotel	Transit	Avg. monthly salary
1	🇲🇽 Oaxaca Mexico	$40–80	$3–5	$60–120	$0.40	≈ $500
2	🇲🇽 Guadalajara Mexico	$40–85	$3–5	$65–130	$0.45	≈ $700
3	🇲🇽 Mérida Mexico	$45–90	$3–5	$65–130	$0.35	≈ $600
4	🇵🇪 Arequipa Peru	$45–90	$2.50–5.00	$35–75	$0.30–0.50	≈ $610
5	🇲🇽 Mexico City Mexico	$55–100	$3–5	$85–170	$0.30	≈ $850
6	🇵🇪 Lima Peru	$55–110	$3–6	$45–95	$0.40–0.80	≈ $940
7	🇵🇪 Cusco Peru	$60–120	$3–6	$45–95	$0.30–0.60	≈ $520
8	🇲🇽 Puerto Vallarta Mexico	$65–140	$4–7	$90–180	$0.35	≈ $650
9	🇲🇽 Playa del Carmen Mexico	$70–150	$5–8	$100–200	$0.45	≈ $550
10	🇲🇽 Cancún Mexico	$70–160	$4–7	$110–220	$0.65	≈ $550
11	🇲🇽 San Miguel de Allende Mexico	$75–170	$5–9	$110–230	$0.30	≈ $700
12	🇲🇽 Tulum Mexico	$70–170	$5–8	$120–260	$0.50	≈ $550
13	🇺🇸 Miami United States	$100–200	$8–14	$160–280	$2.25	≈ $4,300
14	🇺🇸 Seattle United States	$110–210	$8–14	$180–300	$2.75	≈ $6,200
15	🇺🇸 Los Angeles United States	$110–220	$6–14	$180–320	$1.75	≈ $5,200
16	🇲🇽 Los Cabos Mexico	$100–250	$7–12	$150–350	$0.60	≈ $750
17	🇺🇸 Las Vegas United States	$100–250	$8–15	$90–220	$6	≈ $3,900
18	🇺🇸 San Francisco United States	$130–250	$8–15	$220–350	$2.50	≈ $6,800
19	🇺🇸 New York City United States	$130–260	$5–12	$220–400	$2.90	≈ $5,800