Cost of living comparison

compared to

Playa del Carmen vs. Beijing Cost of Living Summary

Playa del Carmen is 57.3% more expensive than Beijing.

Restaurants: pay 3.2 times more in Playa del Carmen
Groceries: pay 45.9% more in Playa del Carmen
Transportation: pay 2.3 times more in Playa del Carmen
Housing: pay 52.6% more in Playa del Carmen
Childcare: pay 74.1% less in Playa del Carmen
Entertainment and Sports: pay 32.1% more in Playa del Carmen
Clothing: pay 9.3% less in Playa del Carmen

The cost of restaurants, transportation, housing, groceries, and entertainment and sports in Playa del Carmen are more expensive than in Beijing. Expenses including childcare and clothing are lower in Playa del Carmen. Notably, restaurants and transportation are significantly more expensive in Playa del Carmen.

Playa del Carmen vs. Beijing Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Playa del Carmen instead of Beijing, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 3.2 times more for restaurants

	Beijing	Playa del Carmen
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$4.21 CN¥29.18	$11.90 MX$205.36	+182.8%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$4.91 CN¥34.05	$10.83 MX$186.98	+120.7%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.48 CN¥3.33	$1.62 MX$28.03	+238.4%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.31 CN¥2.13	$1.34 MX$23.17	+337.1%
Average			+219.8%

Beijing vs. Playa del Carmen - Cost of restaurants

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pay 45.9% more for groceries

	Beijing	Playa del Carmen
Bread 1 loaf	$1.71 CN¥11.84	$1.98 MX$34.14	+15.9%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$7.47 CN¥51.82	$4.33 MX$74.79	-42.0%
Milk (1 gallon)	$6.64 CN¥46.09	$5.50 MX$94.92	-17.2%
Eggs 1 dozen	$1.78 CN¥12.33	$2.27 MX$39.14	+27.6%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$1.53 CN¥10.63	$3.76 MX$64.90	+145.5%
Apples (1 lb)	$0.98 CN¥6.82	$1.30 MX$22.37	+31.9%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.77 CN¥5.34	$0.64 MX$11.11	-16.4%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.80 CN¥5.55	$0.90 MX$15.48	+12.0%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.60 CN¥4.18	$0.94 MX$16.18	+55.7%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.35 CN¥2.42	$0.85 MX$14.70	+144.3%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.41 CN¥2.86	$1.02 MX$17.67	+148.1%
Average			+45.9%

Beijing vs. Playa del Carmen - Cost of groceries

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pay 2.3 times more for transportation

	Beijing	Playa del Carmen
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$4.21 CN¥29.22	$5.02 MX$86.74	+19.3%
Monthly public transit pass	$31.54 CN¥218.89	$27.08 MX$467.45	-14.2%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$18,225.66 CN¥126K	$31,003.27 MX$535K	+70.1%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$4.63 CN¥32.10	$25.93 MX$447.60	+460.4%
Average			+133.9%

Beijing vs. Playa del Carmen - Cost of transportation

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pay 52.6% more for housing

	Beijing	Playa del Carmen
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$12.93 CN¥89.73	$30.51 MX$526.66	+135.9%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$935.23 CN¥6,489.54	$1,072.23 MX$18,510.56	+14.6%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$504.41 CN¥3,500.05	$484.68 MX$8,367.32	-3.9%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$39.27 CN¥272.46	$64.40 MX$1,111.78	+64.0%
Average			+52.6%

Beijing vs. Playa del Carmen - Cost of housing

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pay 74.1% less for childcare

	Beijing	Playa del Carmen
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$710.76 CN¥4,931.96	$204.43 MX$3,529.23	-71.2%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$23,242.73 CN¥161K	$5,361.26 MX$92,554.71	-76.9%
Average			-74.1%

Beijing vs. Playa del Carmen - Cost of childcare

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pay 32.1% more for entertainment and sports

	Beijing	Playa del Carmen
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$1.12 CN¥7.78	$3.12 MX$53.86	+178.2%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.90 CN¥20.14	$3.46 MX$59.74	+19.2%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$4.21 CN¥29.18	$4.17 MX$71.99	-0.9%
Monthly membership at local gym	$57.84 CN¥401.32	$60.49 MX$1,044.34	+4.6%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$8.41 CN¥58.37	$4.98 MX$86.05	-40.7%
Average			+32.1%

Beijing vs. Playa del Carmen - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 9.3% less for clothing

	Beijing	Playa del Carmen
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$62.30 CN¥432.29	$43.98 MX$759.24	-29.4%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$36.37 CN¥252.39	$41.89 MX$723.12	+15.2%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$81.74 CN¥567.19	$75.82 MX$1,308.85	-7.2%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$105.53 CN¥732.27	$88.61 MX$1,529.81	-16.0%
Average			-9.3%

Beijing vs. Playa del Carmen - Cost of clothing

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The statistics used to build this comparison are calculated using data from users just like you. We average the price of thousands of data points entered by users across the world. Learn more about our data sources. Page last updated: February 2026

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