Cost of living comparison

compared to

Playa del Carmen vs. Cancun Cost of Living Summary

Playa del Carmen is 1.6% cheaper than Cancun.

Restaurants: pay 7.2% more in Playa del Carmen
Groceries: pay 10.0% less in Playa del Carmen
Transportation: pay 0.6% less in Playa del Carmen
Housing: pay 0.4% more in Playa del Carmen
Entertainment and Sports: pay 21.7% more in Playa del Carmen
Clothing: pay 28.2% less in Playa del Carmen

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

Playa del Carmen vs. Cancun Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 7.2% more for restaurants

	Cancun	Playa del Carmen
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$12.59 MX$227.07	$11.90 MX$214.52	-5.5%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$10.83 MX$195.32	$10.83 MX$195.32
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.62 MX$29.22	$1.62 MX$29.28	+0.2%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$1.06 MX$19.08	$1.34 MX$24.20	+26.9%
Average			+7.2%

Cancun vs. Playa del Carmen - Cost of restaurants

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pay 10.0% less for groceries

	Cancun	Playa del Carmen
Bread 1 loaf	$2.55 MX$45.93	$1.98 MX$35.66	-22.3%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$5.45 MX$98.30	$4.33 MX$78.13	-20.5%
Milk (1 gallon)	$5.50 MX$99.20	$5.50 MX$99.15
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.27 MX$40.92	$2.27 MX$40.89	-0.1%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$3.77 MX$67.90	$3.76 MX$67.80	-0.1%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.40 MX$25.19	$1.30 MX$23.37	-7.2%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.67 MX$12.17	$0.64 MX$11.60	-4.7%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.44 MX$25.89	$0.90 MX$16.17	-37.5%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.94 MX$16.92	$0.94 MX$16.90	-0.1%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.89 MX$16.11	$0.85 MX$15.36	-4.7%
Onions (1 lb)	$1.05 MX$18.90	$1.02 MX$18.46	-2.4%
Average			-10.0%

Cancun vs. Playa del Carmen - Cost of groceries

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pay 0.6% less for transportation

	Cancun	Playa del Carmen
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$5.06 MX$91.17	$5.02 MX$90.61	-0.6%
Monthly public transit pass	$27.08 MX$488.31	$27.08 MX$488.31
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$31,003.27 MX$559,112.91	$31,003.27 MX$559,112.91
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$25.93 MX$467.57	$25.93 MX$467.57
Average			-0.6%

Cancun vs. Playa del Carmen - Cost of transportation

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pay 0.4% more for housing

	Cancun	Playa del Carmen
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$37.91 MX$683.63	$30.51 MX$550.16	-19.5%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$665.32 MX$11,998.43	$1,072.23 MX$19,336.60	+61.2%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$433.23 MX$7,812.93	$484.68 MX$8,740.72	+11.9%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$133.90 MX$2,414.73	$64.40 MX$1,161.39	-51.9%
Average			+0.4%

Cancun vs. Playa del Carmen - Cost of housing

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pay (unknown) more for childcare

	Cancun	Playa del Carmen
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$204.43 MX$3,686.73	$204.43 MX$3,686.73
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$5,361.26 MX$96,685.03	$5,361.26 MX$96,685.03

Cancun vs. Playa del Carmen - Cost of childcare

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pay 21.7% more for entertainment and sports

	Cancun	Playa del Carmen
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$3.12 MX$56.35	$3.12 MX$56.27	-0.1%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.46 MX$62.41	$3.46 MX$62.41
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$4.33 MX$78.13	$4.17 MX$75.20	-3.7%
Monthly membership at local gym	$27.06 MX$488.06	$60.49 MX$1,090.95	+123.5%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$7.42 MX$133.80	$4.98 MX$89.89	-32.8%
Average			+21.7%

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

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pay 28.2% less for clothing

	Cancun	Playa del Carmen
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$64.99 MX$1,171.94	$43.98 MX$793.12	-32.3%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$51.43 MX$927.54	$41.89 MX$755.39	-18.6%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$75.82 MX$1,367.26	$75.82 MX$1,367.26
Men's business shoes (leather)	$133.56 MX$2,408.66	$88.61 MX$1,598.08	-33.7%
Average			-28.2%

Cancun 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: December 2025

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