Every figure below was looked up in September 2026 and is attributed. Prices are in Mexican pesos, converted at the mid-market rate of 17.5 pesos to the dollar quoted by Xe on 24 September 2026.
What a furnished month costs, and where
Two rental markets run side by side here and they do not agree on price. The local one is unfurnished, on a year lease, with a deposit and usually a guarantor. In a survey published on 16 September 2026, The Rio Times put a one-bedroom at 5,000–7,000 pesos a month (about $285–$400) in the Centro Histórico, 5,500–8,000 in Jalatlaco, 4,000–5,500 in Xochimilco and 3,000–4,000 further out.
The furnished, month-by-month market sits well above that. Numbeo's Oaxaca de Juárez page, updated 17 September 2026, gives 12,875 pesos (about $735) for a one-bedroom in the centre and 8,875 pesos (about $505) outside it, with three-bedrooms at 22,000 and 16,000. Numbeo warns the city has few contributors and some values are estimated. Furnished listings at Oaxaca Houses in September 2026: 11,000 pesos for a two-bedroom in Xochimilco, 22,500 for a two-bedroom in the Centro, 23,000–25,000 in San Felipe del Agua, 30,000 for a three-bedroom house in Xochimilco.
Centro Histórico and Jalatlaco cost the most; San Felipe del Agua, up the hill, is priced with them. Twenty to thirty minutes' walk out, the same money buys more floor area.
Which bills come with the rent, and which do not
There is no standard here. Settle each of these in writing before money moves:
- Electricity — CFE, billed every two months, usually in the owner's name. Ask for the last twelve months of bills.
- Water and gas — the municipal water bill, who pays for pipas, and who replaces the gas cylinder.
- Internet — whether a line already exists; installing one for a three-month stay is not realistic.
- Cleaning — some furnished places include a weekly clean, most do not.
Utilities in practice
Numbeo's 17 September 2026 reading puts basic utilities — electricity, water and rubbish for an 85 m² flat — at about 1,120 pesos a month, roughly $64. It is low because of altitude: at 1,555 metres, nobody runs air conditioning.
Households keep CFE's subsidised tariff while their twelve-month rolling average stays under 250 kWh a month on Tarifa 1. Infobae reported on 1 May 2026 that crossing it moves you onto the DAC tariff — 142.41 pesos a month fixed, plus six to seven pesos per kWh unsubsidised, up to five times the normal rate — and it takes twelve months under the limit to get back off.
Gas is LP, in cylinders, repriced weekly by region. For 13–19 September 2026 the published maximum for the Santiago del Río region of Oaxaca was 20.02 pesos a kilo, per Infobae — about 600 pesos, roughly $34, for a 30 kg cylinder.
Water is the one to press on. NVI Noticias reported on 11 February 2026 that the tandeo — the rationed delivery cycle — was running past 30 to 40 days in the worst-served areas: Jalatlaco, Cinco Señores, the Cerro Juárez subsystem, parts of the Centro Histórico. Households buy pipas, priced in that report at up to 2,500 pesos (about $143) for 5,000 litres. El Imparcial reported on 25 August 2026 that 40,000 people across some 40 colonias went a week without water during repairs to the main line, paying up to 700 pesos a pipa. Ask the size of the cistern and who pays for pipas.
Internet is cheap. Expansión listed on 15 September 2026 Telmex at 389 pesos a month for 120 Mbps, Totalplay at 390 for 100 Mbps and Izzi at 579 for 120 Mbps.
Markets, supermarkets and eating out
The markets are Benito Juárez and 20 de Noviembre in the centre, La Merced a few blocks east, Sánchez Pascuas in Barrio Xochimilco. They do not always beat the supermarket, and produce swings hard: El Imparcial de Oaxaca reported tomatoes at up to 55 pesos a kilo and miltomate at up to 70 at Mercado Benito Juárez during the March 2026 produce inflation. The markets win reliably on the everyday Oaxacan basket — tortillas by the kilo, quesillo, dried chillies, herbs, eggs by the piece, mole pastes. Chedraui or Soriana wins on packaged goods, cleaning products and imports.
Numbeo's September 2026 readings: milk 24.75 pesos a litre, a dozen eggs 31, chicken breast 102.50 a kilo. The Rio Times puts tortillas at 24.50 pesos a kilo, a comida corrida at 80–120 pesos ($4.60–$6.90) and a mid-range restaurant main at 150–250 pesos; Numbeo puts dinner for two with drinks at around 600 pesos, about $34. Between a market comedor and a restaurant on Alcalá the gap is roughly five to one.
Getting around, and getting to the coast
The urban bus fare is 10 pesos, raised from 8 when the state consolidated the CityBus network. Taxis are not metered, so agree the fare first; The Rio Times puts a ride inside the centre at 70–100 pesos. Colectivos — shared taxis to Etla, Tlacolula, Ocotlán or Mitla — went up in April 2026, when the state authorised rises of up to 40% on taxis foráneos; the Santiaguito Etla run into the city went from 25 to 35 pesos a person, per El Universal Oaxaca.
The Barranca Larga–Ventanilla motorway cut Oaxaca to Puerto Escondido from about six and a half hours to roughly three. Driving, the two tolls come to 470–490 pesos each way for a car, about $27–$28 (casetas.com.mx quotes 234 each, Heraldo de México Oaxaca 245, after the CAPUFE rise of 13 April 2026). By bus, fares on CheckMyBus and Busbud in 2026 run from about 355 to 480 pesos.
Costs that catch people out here
- Pipas. A dry-season month in a badly served colonia can add a few thousand pesos nobody mentioned when the rent was agreed.
- Cold nights in unheated rooms. Weather Spark's January averages are a high near 26°C and a low near 9°C, and nothing here is heated. People buy blankets, or the electric heater that pushes a household over the CFE threshold.
- Festival pricing. Over the eleven days of Guelaguetza in July 2026 the capital ran at 79% hotel occupancy (NVI Noticias, 28 July 2026); on 31 October and 1 November 2025 it averaged 88.36% (Quadratín Oaxaca, 3 November 2025). Rooms, taxis and restaurants price for those weeks.
Prices move, and some move fast: gas is repriced weekly, electricity tariffs monthly, pipas climb through the dry season. Everything above was checked in September 2026. Ask the owner for the actual bills before you commit.