Cost of living comparison

compared to

Playa del Carmen vs. Mexico Cost of Living Summary

Playa del Carmen is 9.2% more expensive than Mexico overall.

Restaurants: pay 23.4% more in Playa del Carmen
Groceries: pay 2.5% less in Playa del Carmen
Transportation: pay 14.2% more in Playa del Carmen
Housing: pay 31.6% more in Playa del Carmen
Childcare: pay 8.7% less in Playa del Carmen
Entertainment and Sports: pay 14.4% more in Playa del Carmen
Clothing: pay 8.3% less in Playa del Carmen

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

Playa del Carmen vs. Mexico Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 23.4% more for restaurants

	Mexico	Playa del Carmen
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$10.13 MX$185.42	$11.90 MX$217.62	+17.4%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$8.37 MX$153.09	$10.83 MX$198.15	+29.4%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.38 MX$25.18	$1.62 MX$29.70	+18.0%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$1.04 MX$19.08	$1.34 MX$24.55	+28.7%
Average			+23.4%

Mexico vs. Playa del Carmen - Cost of restaurants

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pay 2.5% less for groceries

	Mexico	Playa del Carmen
Bread 1 loaf	$2.62 MX$47.88	$1.98 MX$36.18	-24.4%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$4.26 MX$77.96	$4.33 MX$79.26	+1.7%
Milk (1 gallon)	$5.95 MX$108.83	$5.50 MX$100.59	-7.6%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.45 MX$44.82	$2.27 MX$41.48	-7.4%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$3.68 MX$67.25	$3.76 MX$68.78	+2.3%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.27 MX$23.18	$1.30 MX$23.71	+2.3%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.67 MX$12.31	$0.64 MX$11.77	-4.4%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.93 MX$16.95	$0.90 MX$16.40	-3.2%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.83 MX$15.10	$0.94 MX$17.14	+13.6%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.90 MX$16.43	$0.85 MX$15.58	-5.2%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.98 MX$17.91	$1.02 MX$18.72	+4.6%
Average			-2.5%

Mexico vs. Playa del Carmen - Cost of groceries

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pay 14.2% more for transportation

	Mexico	Playa del Carmen
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$5.00 MX$91.52	$5.02 MX$91.92	+0.4%
Monthly public transit pass	$28.70 MX$525.08	$27.08 MX$495.38	-5.7%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$23,996.60 MX$439,017.76	$31,003.27 MX$567,204.77	+29.2%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$19.51 MX$356.97	$25.93 MX$474.34	+32.9%
Average			+14.2%

Mexico vs. Playa del Carmen - Cost of transportation

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pay 31.6% more for housing

	Mexico	Playa del Carmen
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$29.35 MX$537.00	$30.51 MX$558.12	+3.9%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$587.67 MX$10,751.35	$1,072.23 MX$19,616.46	+82.5%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$443.50 MX$8,113.74	$484.68 MX$8,867.22	+9.3%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$49.22 MX$900.56	$64.40 MX$1,178.20	+30.8%
Average			+31.6%

Mexico vs. Playa del Carmen - Cost of housing

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pay 8.7% less for childcare

	Mexico	Playa del Carmen
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$236.91 MX$4,334.27	$204.43 MX$3,740.08	-13.7%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$5,569.03 MX$101,885.42	$5,361.26 MX$98,084.32	-3.7%
Average			-8.7%

Mexico vs. Playa del Carmen - Cost of childcare

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pay 14.4% more for entertainment and sports

	Mexico	Playa del Carmen
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$2.44 MX$44.57	$3.12 MX$57.08	+28.1%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.34 MX$61.09	$3.46 MX$63.31	+3.6%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$4.42 MX$80.80	$4.17 MX$76.29	-5.6%
Monthly membership at local gym	$39.27 MX$718.39	$60.49 MX$1,106.74	+54.1%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$5.43 MX$99.41	$4.98 MX$91.19	-8.3%
Average			+14.4%

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

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pay 8.3% less for clothing

	Mexico	Playa del Carmen
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$53.04 MX$970.34	$43.98 MX$804.60	-17.1%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$40.66 MX$743.79	$41.89 MX$766.32	+3.0%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$95.33 MX$1,744.14	$75.82 MX$1,387.05	-20.5%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$87.49 MX$1,600.60	$88.61 MX$1,621.21	+1.3%
Average			-8.3%

Mexico 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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