Cost of living comparison

Turkey

compared to

Mexico

Playa del Carmen vs. Istanbul Cost of Living Summary

Playa del Carmen is 13.1% cheaper than Istanbul.

Restaurants: pay 5.6% more in Playa del Carmen
Groceries: pay 47.4% more in Playa del Carmen
Transportation: pay 27.6% less in Playa del Carmen
Housing: pay 16.8% less in Playa del Carmen
Childcare: pay 82.2% less in Playa del Carmen
Entertainment and Sports: pay 18.6% less in Playa del Carmen
Clothing: pay 10.2% less in Playa del Carmen

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

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Playa del Carmen vs. Istanbul Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 5.6% more for restaurants

	Istanbul	Playa del Carmen
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$12.19 TRY603.79	$11.13 MX$205.76	-8.8%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$9.35 TRY462.91	$11.94 MX$220.72	+27.7%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.73 TRY85.71	$1.34 MX$24.83	-22.4%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.58 TRY28.65	$0.82 MX$15.25	+42.6%
Average			+5.6%

Istanbul vs. Playa del Carmen - Cost of restaurants

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pay 47.4% more for groceries

	Istanbul	Playa del Carmen
Bread 1 loaf	$0.92 TRY45.58	$2.30 MX$42.51	+149.7%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$5.28 TRY261.28	$3.80 MX$70.30	-28.0%
Milk (1 gallon)	$4.69 TRY231.97	$5.64 MX$104.29	+20.4%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.41 TRY119.39	$2.53 MX$46.87	+5.1%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.54 TRY125.71	$3.67 MX$67.89	+44.6%
Apples (1 lb)	$0.85 TRY42.16	$1.31 MX$24.17	+53.5%
Bananas (1 lb)	$1.03 TRY50.86	$0.66 MX$12.13	-36.2%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.57 TRY28.34	$1.20 MX$22.24	+110.1%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.84 TRY41.37	$0.97 MX$17.89	+15.8%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.31 TRY15.36	$0.91 MX$16.82	+193.2%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.29 TRY14.17	$0.89 MX$16.46	+211.1%
Average			+47.4%

Istanbul vs. Playa del Carmen - Cost of groceries

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pay 27.6% less for transportation

	Istanbul	Playa del Carmen
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$5.43 TRY269.03	$5.72 MX$105.85	+5.3%
Monthly public transit pass	$67.03 TRY3,318.85	$27.82 MX$514.40	-58.5%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$50,810.11 TRY3M	$21,528.95 MX$398K	-57.6%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$8.40 TRY416.09	$32.66 MX$604.00	+288.7%
Average			-27.6%

Istanbul vs. Playa del Carmen - Cost of transportation

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pay 16.8% less for housing

	Istanbul	Playa del Carmen
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$16.15 TRY799.42	$29.02 MX$536.69	+79.7%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$996.85 TRY49,357.64	$998.64 MX$18,467.72	+0.2%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$647.83 TRY32,076.47	$386.21 MX$7,142.10	-40.4%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$68.87 TRY3,410.06	$65.50 MX$1,211.29	-4.9%
Average			-16.8%

Istanbul vs. Playa del Carmen - Cost of housing

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pay 82.2% less for childcare

	Istanbul	Playa del Carmen
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$1,021.62 TRY50,584.39	$210.01 MX$3,883.69	-79.4%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$25,999.20 TRY1M	$4,005.49 MX$74,073.10	-84.6%
Average			-82.2%

Istanbul vs. Playa del Carmen - Cost of childcare

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pay 18.6% less for entertainment and sports

	Istanbul	Playa del Carmen
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$4.78 TRY236.49	$3.17 MX$58.59	-33.7%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$4.31 TRY213.63	$3.84 MX$71.02	-11.0%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$2.34 TRY115.73	$4.45 MX$82.30	+90.4%
Monthly membership at local gym	$76.22 TRY3,773.70	$64.07 MX$1,184.89	-15.9%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$8.13 TRY402.53	$5.00 MX$92.42	-38.5%
Average			-18.6%

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

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pay 10.2% less for clothing

	Istanbul	Playa del Carmen
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$53.35 TRY2,641.33	$44.85 MX$829.44	-15.9%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$39.62 TRY1,961.62	$42.62 MX$788.17	+7.6%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$99.91 TRY4,947.03	$76.03 MX$1,406.02	-23.9%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$95.52 TRY4,729.71	$90.05 MX$1,665.28	-5.7%
Average			-10.2%

Istanbul vs. Playa del Carmen - Cost of clothing

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We average the price of thousands of data points entered by users across the world. Sources: MyLifeElsewhere's cost-of-living dataset (prices updated October 2026). How we calculate this

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