Cost of living comparison

United States

compared to

Mexico

Playa del Carmen vs. Cedar Rapids Cost of Living Summary

Playa del Carmen is 27.9% cheaper than Cedar Rapids.

Restaurants: pay 13.3% less in Playa del Carmen
Groceries: pay 18.1% less in Playa del Carmen
Transportation: pay 20.6% more in Playa del Carmen
Housing: pay 39.4% less in Playa del Carmen
Childcare: pay 72.5% less in Playa del Carmen
Entertainment and Sports: pay 44.6% less in Playa del Carmen
Clothing: pay 27.9% less in Playa del Carmen

Expenses including childcare, entertainment and sports, housing, clothing, groceries, and restaurants are lower in Playa del Carmen.

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Playa del Carmen vs. Cedar Rapids Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 13.3% less for restaurants

	Cedar Rapids	Playa del Carmen
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$15.00	$11.90 MX$208.65	-20.7%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$11.50	$10.83 MX$189.98	-5.8%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.92	$1.62 MX$28.48	-15.4%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$1.52	$1.34 MX$23.54	-11.5%
Average			-13.3%

Cedar Rapids vs. Playa del Carmen - Cost of restaurants

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pay 18.1% less for groceries

	Cedar Rapids	Playa del Carmen
Bread 1 loaf	$2.64	$1.98 MX$34.69	-25.1%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$7.12	$4.33 MX$75.99	-39.2%
Milk (1 gallon)	$3.07	$5.50 MX$96.44	+78.9%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.83	$2.27 MX$39.77	-19.9%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$4.93	$3.76 MX$65.94	-23.8%
Apples (1 lb)	$2.25	$1.30 MX$22.73	-42.4%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.54	$0.64 MX$11.28	+18.4%
Oranges (1 lb)	$2.41	$0.90 MX$15.73	-62.7%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$2.13	$0.94 MX$16.44	-56.0%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$1.16	$0.85 MX$14.94	-26.4%
Onions (1 lb)	$1.04	$1.02 MX$17.95	-1.4%
Average			-18.1%

Cedar Rapids vs. Playa del Carmen - Cost of groceries

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pay 20.6% more for transportation

	Cedar Rapids	Playa del Carmen
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$2.98	$5.02 MX$88.13	+68.6%
Monthly public transit pass	$30.00	$27.08 MX$474.95	-9.7%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$37,383.69	$31,003.27 MX$544K	-17.1%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$18.41	$25.93 MX$454.78	+40.8%
Average			+20.6%

Cedar Rapids vs. Playa del Carmen - Cost of transportation

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pay 39.4% less for housing

	Cedar Rapids	Playa del Carmen
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$71.33	$30.51 MX$535.11	-57.2%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$1,140.00	$1,072.23 MX$18,807.57	-5.9%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$750.00	$484.68 MX$8,501.58	-35.4%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$157.02	$64.40 MX$1,129.62	-59.0%
Average			-39.4%

Cedar Rapids vs. Playa del Carmen - Cost of housing

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pay 72.5% less for childcare

	Cedar Rapids	Playa del Carmen
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$968.00	$204.43 MX$3,585.86	-78.9%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$15,795.00	$5,361.26 MX$94,039.78	-66.1%
Average			-72.5%

Cedar Rapids vs. Playa del Carmen - Cost of childcare

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pay 44.6% less for entertainment and sports

	Cedar Rapids	Playa del Carmen
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$4.50	$3.12 MX$54.73	-30.7%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$5.46	$3.46 MX$60.70	-36.6%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$9.26	$4.17 MX$73.14	-54.9%
Monthly membership at local gym	$100.50	$60.49 MX$1,061.10	-39.8%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$12.75	$4.98 MX$87.43	-60.9%
Average			-44.6%

Cedar Rapids vs. Playa del Carmen - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 27.9% less for clothing

	Cedar Rapids	Playa del Carmen
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$62.47	$43.98 MX$771.42	-29.6%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$63.33	$41.89 MX$734.72	-33.9%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$128.26	$75.82 MX$1,329.86	-40.9%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$95.67	$88.61 MX$1,554.36	-7.4%
Average			-27.9%

Cedar Rapids 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: July 2026

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