Cost of living comparison

South Africa

compared to

Mexico

Playa del Carmen vs. Johannesburg Cost of Living Summary

Playa del Carmen is 1.9% more expensive than Johannesburg.

Restaurants: pay 15.7% more in Playa del Carmen
Groceries: pay 16.5% more in Playa del Carmen
Transportation: pay 26.4% less in Playa del Carmen
Housing: pay 8.4% more in Playa del Carmen
Childcare: pay 20.4% less in Playa del Carmen
Entertainment and Sports: pay 24.2% more in Playa del Carmen
Clothing: pay 18.9% less in Playa del Carmen

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

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Playa del Carmen vs. Johannesburg Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 15.7% more for restaurants

	Johannesburg	Playa del Carmen
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$12.02 ZAR198.22	$11.13 MX$205.76	-7.4%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$7.21 ZAR118.93	$11.94 MX$220.72	+65.5%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.20 ZAR19.75	$1.34 MX$24.83	+12.1%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.89 ZAR14.70	$0.82 MX$15.25	-7.5%
Average			+15.7%

Johannesburg vs. Playa del Carmen - Cost of restaurants

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pay 16.5% more for groceries

	Johannesburg	Playa del Carmen
Bread 1 loaf	$1.25 ZAR20.56	$2.30 MX$42.51	+84.4%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$4.31 ZAR71.09	$3.80 MX$70.30	-11.8%
Milk (1 gallon)	$5.00 ZAR82.53	$5.64 MX$104.29	+12.7%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.67 ZAR44.10	$2.53 MX$46.87	-5.2%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.50 ZAR41.25	$3.67 MX$67.89	+46.8%
Apples (1 lb)	$0.93 ZAR15.38	$1.31 MX$24.17	+40.1%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.83 ZAR13.71	$0.66 MX$12.13	-21.1%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.83 ZAR13.63	$1.20 MX$22.24	+45.5%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.94 ZAR15.50	$0.97 MX$17.89	+3.0%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.76 ZAR12.57	$0.91 MX$16.82	+19.3%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.84 ZAR13.80	$0.89 MX$16.46	+6.4%
Average			+16.5%

Johannesburg vs. Playa del Carmen - Cost of groceries

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pay 26.4% less for transportation

	Johannesburg	Playa del Carmen
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$5.77 ZAR95.18	$5.72 MX$105.85	-0.8%
Monthly public transit pass	$90.13 ZAR1,486.64	$27.82 MX$514.40	-69.1%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$35,391.94 ZAR584K	$21,528.95 MX$398K	-39.2%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$8.05 ZAR132.81	$32.66 MX$604.00	+305.6%
Average			-26.4%

Johannesburg vs. Playa del Carmen - Cost of transportation

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pay 8.4% more for housing

	Johannesburg	Playa del Carmen
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$35.90 ZAR592.10	$29.02 MX$536.69	-19.2%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$498.84 ZAR8,227.92	$998.64 MX$18,467.72	+100.2%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$425.42 ZAR7,016.95	$386.21 MX$7,142.10	-9.2%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$174.98 ZAR2,886.07	$65.50 MX$1,211.29	-62.6%
Average			+8.4%

Johannesburg vs. Playa del Carmen - Cost of housing

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pay 20.4% less for childcare

	Johannesburg	Playa del Carmen
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$242.74 ZAR4,003.77	$210.01 MX$3,883.69	-13.5%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$5,468.16 ZAR90,191.79	$4,005.49 MX$74,073.10	-26.7%
Average			-20.4%

Johannesburg vs. Playa del Carmen - Cost of childcare

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pay 24.2% more for entertainment and sports

	Johannesburg	Playa del Carmen
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$2.25 ZAR37.17	$3.17 MX$58.59	+40.6%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.44 ZAR40.27	$3.84 MX$71.02	+57.3%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$3.30 ZAR54.51	$4.45 MX$82.30	+34.7%
Monthly membership at local gym	$36.60 ZAR603.73	$64.07 MX$1,184.89	+75.0%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$7.81 ZAR128.84	$5.00 MX$92.42	-36.0%
Average			+24.2%

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

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pay 18.9% less for clothing

	Johannesburg	Playa del Carmen
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$57.63 ZAR950.55	$44.85 MX$829.44	-22.2%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$45.77 ZAR754.99	$42.62 MX$788.17	-6.9%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$108.45 ZAR1,788.73	$76.03 MX$1,406.02	-29.9%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$105.86 ZAR1,746.13	$90.05 MX$1,665.28	-14.9%
Average			-18.9%

Johannesburg 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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