Cost of living comparison

compared to

Playa del Carmen vs. Phnom Penh Cost of Living Summary

Playa del Carmen is 46.3% more expensive than Phnom Penh.

Restaurants: pay 78.5% more in Playa del Carmen
Groceries: pay 6.4% more in Playa del Carmen
Transportation: pay 87.0% more in Playa del Carmen
Housing: pay 55.1% more in Playa del Carmen
Childcare: pay 27.6% less in Playa del Carmen
Entertainment and Sports: pay 79.1% more in Playa del Carmen
Clothing: pay 45.9% more in Playa del Carmen

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

Playa del Carmen vs. Phnom Penh Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 78.5% more for restaurants

	Phnom Penh	Playa del Carmen
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$5.00 KHR20,119.49	$11.90 MX$205.36	+137.9%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$7.00 KHR28,167.29	$10.83 MX$186.98	+54.7%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.93 KHR3,739.86	$1.62 MX$28.03	+74.7%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.91 KHR3,675.01	$1.34 MX$23.17	+46.9%
Average			+78.5%

Phnom Penh vs. Playa del Carmen - Cost of restaurants

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pay 6.4% more for groceries

	Phnom Penh	Playa del Carmen
Bread 1 loaf	$1.65 KHR6,641.50	$1.98 MX$34.14	+19.8%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$6.70 KHR26,960.12	$4.33 MX$74.79	-35.3%
Milk (1 gallon)	$8.17 KHR32,866.22	$5.50 MX$94.92	-32.7%
Eggs 1 dozen	$1.82 KHR7,319.02	$2.27 MX$39.14	+24.7%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.01 KHR8,081.63	$3.76 MX$64.90	+87.2%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.81 KHR7,285.64	$1.30 MX$22.37	-28.4%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.88 KHR3,559.16	$0.64 MX$11.11	-27.3%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.91 KHR7,702.39	$0.90 MX$15.48	-53.2%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.73 KHR2,956.84	$0.94 MX$16.18	+27.5%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.88 KHR3,528.74	$0.85 MX$14.70	-2.9%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.54 KHR2,159.83	$1.02 MX$17.67	+90.7%
Average			+6.4%

Phnom Penh vs. Playa del Carmen - Cost of groceries

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pay 87.0% more for transportation

	Phnom Penh	Playa del Carmen
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$4.33 KHR17,423.67	$5.02 MX$86.74	+16.0%
Monthly public transit pass	$9.60 KHR38,629.43	$27.08 MX$467.45	+182.1%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$49,000.00 KHR197M	$31,003.27 MX$535K	-36.7%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$9.05 KHR36,427.59	$25.93 MX$447.60	+186.4%
Average			+87.0%

Phnom Penh vs. Playa del Carmen - Cost of transportation

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pay 55.1% more for housing

	Phnom Penh	Playa del Carmen
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$21.29 KHR85,652.35	$30.51 MX$526.66	+43.3%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$481.60 KHR2M	$1,072.23 MX$18,510.56	+122.6%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$273.92 KHR1M	$484.68 MX$8,367.32	+76.9%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$82.99 KHR334K	$64.40 MX$1,111.78	-22.4%
Average			+55.1%

Phnom Penh vs. Playa del Carmen - Cost of housing

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pay 27.6% less for childcare

	Phnom Penh	Playa del Carmen
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$293.33 KHR1M	$204.43 MX$3,529.23	-30.3%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$7,141.67 KHR29M	$5,361.26 MX$92,554.71	-24.9%
Average			-27.6%

Phnom Penh vs. Playa del Carmen - Cost of childcare

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pay 79.1% more for entertainment and sports

	Phnom Penh	Playa del Carmen
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$1.21 KHR4,861.71	$3.12 MX$53.86	+158.2%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.53 KHR10,165.64	$3.46 MX$59.74	+37.0%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$1.88 KHR7,544.81	$4.17 MX$71.99	+122.4%
Monthly membership at local gym	$41.67 KHR168K	$60.49 MX$1,044.34	+45.2%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$3.75 KHR15,089.62	$4.98 MX$86.05	+32.9%
Average			+79.1%

Phnom Penh vs. Playa del Carmen - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 45.9% more for clothing

	Phnom Penh	Playa del Carmen
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$25.75 KHR104K	$43.98 MX$759.24	+70.8%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$23.33 KHR93,890.97	$41.89 MX$723.12	+79.5%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$88.00 KHR354K	$75.82 MX$1,308.85	-13.8%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$60.20 KHR242K	$88.61 MX$1,529.81	+47.2%
Average			+45.9%

Phnom Penh 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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