Cost of living comparison

Malaysia

compared to

Mexico

Playa del Carmen vs. Kuala Lumpur Cost of Living Summary

Playa del Carmen is 38.7% more expensive than Kuala Lumpur.

Restaurants: pay 2.3 times more in Playa del Carmen
Groceries: pay 20.2% more in Playa del Carmen
Transportation: pay 2.0 times more in Playa del Carmen
Housing: pay 45.8% more in Playa del Carmen
Childcare: pay 31.6% less in Playa del Carmen
Entertainment and Sports: pay 2.9% more in Playa del Carmen
Clothing: pay 5.5% 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 Kuala Lumpur. Expenses including childcare and clothing are lower in Playa del Carmen. Notably, restaurants and transportation are significantly more expensive in Playa del Carmen.

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Playa del Carmen vs. Kuala Lumpur Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 2.3 times more for restaurants

	Kuala Lumpur	Playa del Carmen
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$4.74 MYR19.41	$11.90 MX$208.65	+151.0%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$4.74 MYR19.41	$10.83 MX$189.98	+128.5%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.89 MYR3.63	$1.62 MX$28.48	+83.2%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.49 MYR1.99	$1.34 MX$23.54	+175.8%
Average			+134.6%

Kuala Lumpur vs. Playa del Carmen - Cost of restaurants

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pay 20.2% more for groceries

	Kuala Lumpur	Playa del Carmen
Bread 1 loaf	$0.98 MYR4.00	$1.98 MX$34.69	+102.7%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$7.13 MYR29.19	$4.33 MX$75.99	-39.2%
Milk (1 gallon)	$7.98 MYR32.67	$5.50 MX$96.44	-31.1%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.23 MYR9.12	$2.27 MX$39.77	+1.8%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.09 MYR8.58	$3.76 MX$65.94	+79.5%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.32 MYR5.41	$1.30 MX$22.73	-1.8%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.75 MYR3.06	$0.64 MX$11.28	-14.0%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.22 MYR5.00	$0.90 MX$15.73	-26.5%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.69 MYR2.83	$0.94 MX$16.44	+35.5%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.57 MYR2.32	$0.85 MX$14.94	+50.6%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.62 MYR2.54	$1.02 MX$17.95	+64.9%
Average			+20.2%

Kuala Lumpur vs. Playa del Carmen - Cost of groceries

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pay 2.0 times more for transportation

	Kuala Lumpur	Playa del Carmen
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$1.87 MYR7.65	$5.02 MX$88.13	+169.2%
Monthly public transit pass	$11.85 MYR48.53	$27.08 MX$474.95	+128.5%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$40,284.36 MYR165K	$31,003.27 MX$544K	-23.0%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$10.66 MYR43.68	$25.93 MX$454.78	+143.1%
Average			+104.4%

Kuala Lumpur vs. Playa del Carmen - Cost of transportation

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pay 45.8% more for housing

	Kuala Lumpur	Playa del Carmen
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$25.49 MYR104.39	$30.51 MX$535.11	+19.7%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$573.16 MYR2,347.62	$1,072.23 MX$18,807.57	+87.1%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$350.71 MYR1,436.48	$484.68 MX$8,501.58	+38.2%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$46.59 MYR190.83	$64.40 MX$1,129.62	+38.2%
Average			+45.8%

Kuala Lumpur vs. Playa del Carmen - Cost of housing

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pay 31.6% less for childcare

	Kuala Lumpur	Playa del Carmen
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$264.45 MYR1,083.18	$204.43 MX$3,585.86	-22.7%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$9,004.74 MYR36,882.51	$5,361.26 MX$94,039.78	-40.5%
Average			-31.6%

Kuala Lumpur vs. Playa del Carmen - Cost of childcare

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pay 2.9% more for entertainment and sports

	Kuala Lumpur	Playa del Carmen
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$4.27 MYR17.47	$3.12 MX$54.73	-26.9%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.06 MYR12.54	$3.46 MX$60.70	+13.1%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$4.27 MYR17.47	$4.17 MX$73.14	-2.2%
Monthly membership at local gym	$46.43 MYR190.16	$60.49 MX$1,061.10	+30.3%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$4.98 MYR20.38	$4.98 MX$87.43	+0.2%
Average			+2.9%

Kuala Lumpur vs. Playa del Carmen - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 5.5% less for clothing

	Kuala Lumpur	Playa del Carmen
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$61.66 MYR252.55	$43.98 MX$771.42	-28.7%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$37.10 MYR151.98	$41.89 MX$734.72	+12.9%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$87.80 MYR359.62	$75.82 MX$1,329.86	-13.6%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$82.47 MYR337.81	$88.61 MX$1,554.36	+7.4%
Average			-5.5%

Kuala Lumpur 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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