VacationSelector
The Metropolitan Cathedral on the Zócalo, Mexico City
Mexico CityThe Metropolitan Cathedral on the Zócalo
Camelback Mountain above the city, Scottsdale
ScottsdaleCamelback Mountain above the city

Photos: Mexico City by Oscar Dominguez, Pexels License; Scottsdale by Visitor7, CC BY-SA 3.0, cropped.

Mexico City or Scottsdale?

Our verdict in twelve categories, each scored against the same fixed benchmark cities, and the climate month by month, so you can choose for your trip.

Choose Mexico City for

  • culture and sights
  • food and drink
  • prices

What lies behind each score is written up on Mexico City’s own page.

Choose Scottsdale for

  • wellness
  • nature and the outdoors
  • beaches

What lies behind each score is written up on Scottsdale’s own page.

Scoreboard

Twelve categories on one fixed scale from 0 to 100. The shaded stretch is the gap between the two.

Beaches & swimming. Mexico City 5, Scottsdale 8: Scottsdale leads by 3 points.
Food & drink. Mexico City 90, Scottsdale 46: Mexico City leads by 44 points.
Culture & sights. Mexico City 88, Scottsdale 38: Mexico City leads by 50 points.
Nightlife. Mexico City 80, Scottsdale 52: Mexico City leads by 28 points.
Nature & outdoors. Mexico City 50, Scottsdale 68: Scottsdale leads by 18 points.
Day trips. Mexico City 75, Scottsdale 50: Mexico City leads by 25 points.
Good for families. Mexico City 58, Scottsdale 60: Scottsdale leads by 2 points.
Getting around. Mexico City 50, Scottsdale 20: Mexico City leads by 30 points.
Shopping & style. Mexico City 76, Scottsdale 60: Mexico City leads by 16 points.
Affordability. Mexico City 75, Scottsdale 32: Mexico City leads by 43 points.
Live music & performing arts. Mexico City 72, Scottsdale 40: Mexico City leads by 32 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Mexico City 40, Scottsdale 72: Scottsdale leads by 32 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Mexico City and Scottsdale.

Your match

Pick a travel style or drag the sliders, and both match scores follow your weighting.

Mexico City
Best match
63match

Wins on culture and sights and food and drink with your weighting.

Scottsdale
46match

Wins on wellness and nature and the outdoors with your weighting.

What matters to you?

When should you go?

Pick your month. The climate figures are measured averages, not a forecast.

Mexico City in July

25 °Cdaytime high
13 °Cnight-time low
176 mmrain in the month
6 hsunshine a day
13 hdaylight a day

Scottsdale in July

41 °Cdaytime high
29 °Cnight-time low
23 mmrain in the month
No recordsunshine a day
14 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°50°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

050100150200JFMAMJJASOND
Mexico CityScottsdale

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Mexico City: 1991-2020 normals, Mexico Central, D. F. (7.9 km from centre). Scottsdale: 1991-2020 normals, Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport (13.3 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureMexico CityScottsdale
Official languageSpanish, Nahuatl, Yucatec Maya-
CurrencyMexican Peso (MXN)US Dollar (USD)
SocketsAB127 V, 60 HzAB120 V, 60 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTC-6UTC-7
Emergency number911911
Elevation2,240 m380 m
Main airportMexico City Benito Juárez International Airport (MEX)7 km from centre109 non-stop destinationsPhoenix Sky Harbor International Airport (PHX)10 km from centre148 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year9 days12 days

By the numbers

MeasureMexico CityScottsdale
City population9,209,944241,361
People per km²6,202-
Museums within 10 km10810
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km61

Where else could you go?

Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow Mexico City or Scottsdale somewhere new.

Browse every destination

Sources

Structured data from Wikidata (CC0). Weather data by Meteostat. Meteorological data provided by NOAA, DWD and others. Rainfall where no rain gauge is within 25 km is from the TerraClimate 1991-2020 climatology (Abatzoglou et al. 2018, Scientific Data), read at the city. Airport data from OurAirports (public domain). Public holidays from Nager.Date (MIT). Exchange rates via Frankfurter, based on European Central Bank reference rates. Non-stop route lists from the "Airlines and destinations" tables on English Wikipedia airport articles, by Wikipedia contributors, reused under CC BY-SA 4.0. Currency from the ISO 4217 register maintained by SIX, cross-checked against country data from GeoNames (CC BY 4.0). Price level from World Bank open data (PPP conversion factor for private consumption and official exchange rate), CC BY 4.0. Time zones from GeoNames (CC BY 4.0); clock offsets computed from the IANA time zone database. Daylight hours computed from each destination's latitude using the NOAA solar position algorithm.

Category scores are our editorial verdict under rubric v3, each placed against the same fixed benchmark cities; the climate figures are measured. How the scores are set. Snapshot generated 2026-11-01. Daily budgets are estimates from country price levels.