Cost of living comparison

compared to

Playa del Carmen vs. Nairobi Cost of Living Summary

Playa del Carmen is 48.5% more expensive than Nairobi.

Restaurants: pay 2.1 times more in Playa del Carmen
Groceries: pay 61.8% more in Playa del Carmen
Transportation: pay 19.0% more in Playa del Carmen
Housing: pay 89.0% more in Playa del Carmen
Childcare: pay 23.9% less in Playa del Carmen
Entertainment and Sports: pay 23.3% more in Playa del Carmen
Clothing: pay 61.6% more in Playa del Carmen

The cost of restaurants, housing, groceries, clothing, entertainment and sports, and transportation in Playa del Carmen are more expensive than in Nairobi. Notably, restaurants and housing are significantly more expensive in Playa del Carmen.

Playa del Carmen vs. Nairobi Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 2.1 times more for restaurants

	Nairobi	Playa del Carmen
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$5.80 KES746.65	$11.90 MX$205.36	+104.9%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$6.97 KES895.98	$10.83 MX$186.98	+55.5%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.70 KES90.28	$1.62 MX$28.03	+131.3%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.55 KES70.64	$1.34 MX$23.17	+144.3%
Average			+109.0%

Nairobi vs. Playa del Carmen - Cost of restaurants

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pay 61.8% more for groceries

	Nairobi	Playa del Carmen
Bread 1 loaf	$0.55 KES70.29	$1.98 MX$34.14	+261.9%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$5.57 KES716.02	$4.33 MX$74.79	-22.2%
Milk (1 gallon)	$3.36 KES431.65	$5.50 MX$94.92	+63.8%
Eggs 1 dozen	$1.64 KES211.53	$2.27 MX$39.14	+37.9%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.92 KES375.38	$3.76 MX$64.90	+28.8%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.41 KES180.93	$1.30 MX$22.37	-7.9%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.47 KES61.06	$0.64 MX$11.11	+35.5%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.89 KES114.43	$0.90 MX$15.48	+0.8%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.46 KES58.68	$0.94 MX$16.18	+105.4%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.49 KES63.14	$0.85 MX$14.70	+73.5%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.51 KES65.15	$1.02 MX$17.67	+102.1%
Average			+61.8%

Nairobi vs. Playa del Carmen - Cost of groceries

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pay 19.0% more for transportation

	Nairobi	Playa del Carmen
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$5.40 KES694.44	$5.02 MX$86.74	-6.9%
Monthly public transit pass	$30.96 KES3,982.13	$27.08 MX$467.45	-12.5%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$21,671.83 KES3M	$31,003.27 MX$535K	+43.1%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$17.03 KES2,190.17	$25.93 MX$447.60	+52.3%
Average			+19.0%

Nairobi vs. Playa del Carmen - Cost of transportation

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pay 89.0% more for housing

	Nairobi	Playa del Carmen
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$39.86 KES5,127.42	$30.51 MX$526.66	-23.5%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$476.96 KES61,347.35	$1,072.23 MX$18,510.56	+124.8%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$206.31 KES26,536.08	$484.68 MX$8,367.32	+134.9%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$29.32 KES3,771.83	$64.40 MX$1,111.78	+119.6%
Average			+89.0%

Nairobi vs. Playa del Carmen - Cost of housing

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pay 23.9% less for childcare

	Nairobi	Playa del Carmen
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$224.14 KES28,828.96	$204.43 MX$3,529.23	-8.8%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$8,775.09 KES1M	$5,361.26 MX$92,554.71	-38.9%
Average			-23.9%

Nairobi vs. Playa del Carmen - Cost of childcare

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pay 23.3% more for entertainment and sports

	Nairobi	Playa del Carmen
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$2.32 KES298.66	$3.12 MX$53.86	+34.4%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.37 KES304.82	$3.46 MX$59.74	+46.0%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$3.10 KES398.21	$4.17 MX$71.99	+34.7%
Monthly membership at local gym	$45.30 KES5,826.35	$60.49 MX$1,044.34	+33.5%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$7.35 KES945.76	$4.98 MX$86.05	-32.2%
Average			+23.3%

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

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pay 61.6% more for clothing

	Nairobi	Playa del Carmen
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$19.62 KES2,523.97	$43.98 MX$759.24	+124.1%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$24.88 KES3,199.93	$41.89 MX$723.12	+68.4%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$67.92 KES8,735.80	$75.82 MX$1,308.85	+11.6%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$62.28 KES8,010.05	$88.61 MX$1,529.81	+42.3%
Average			+61.6%

Nairobi 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: February 2026

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