Cost of living comparison

Mexico

compared to

Portugal

Albufeira vs. Playa del Carmen Cost of Living Summary

Albufeira is 41.8% more expensive than Playa del Carmen.

Restaurants: pay 9.2% more in Albufeira
Groceries: pay 0.1% less in Albufeira
Transportation: pay 38.4% more in Albufeira
Housing: pay 85.3% more in Albufeira
Childcare: pay 2.5 times more in Albufeira
Entertainment and Sports: pay 5.3% more in Albufeira
Clothing: pay 44.6% more in Albufeira

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

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Albufeira vs. Playa del Carmen Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 9.2% more for restaurants

	Playa del Carmen	Albufeira
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$11.13 MX$205.76	$13.44 €11.96	+20.8%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$11.94 MX$220.72	$10.07 €8.96	-15.6%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.34 MX$24.83	$1.52 €1.35	+13.1%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.82 MX$15.25	$1.36 €1.21	+65.3%
Average			+9.2%

Playa del Carmen vs. Albufeira - Cost of restaurants

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pay 0.1% less for groceries

	Playa del Carmen	Albufeira
Bread 1 loaf	$2.30 MX$42.51	$1.24 €1.10	-46.2%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$3.80 MX$70.30	$7.74 €6.88	+103.5%
Milk (1 gallon)	$5.64 MX$104.29	$3.99 €3.55	-29.2%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.53 MX$46.87	$3.08 €2.74	+21.4%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$3.67 MX$67.89	$3.60 €3.21	-1.8%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.31 MX$24.17	$1.15 €1.02	-12.0%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.66 MX$12.13	$0.58 €0.52	-11.1%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.20 MX$22.24	$0.86 €0.77	-28.5%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.97 MX$17.89	$1.44 €1.28	+48.7%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.91 MX$16.82	$0.79 €0.71	-12.6%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.89 MX$16.46	$1.31 €1.16	+47.0%
Average			-0.1%

Playa del Carmen vs. Albufeira - Cost of groceries

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pay 38.4% more for transportation

	Playa del Carmen	Albufeira
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$5.72 MX$105.85	$7.88 €7.02	+37.7%
Monthly public transit pass	$27.82 MX$514.40	$55.87 €49.73	+100.9%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$21,528.95 MX$398K	$33,640.22 €29,941.00	+56.3%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$32.66 MX$604.00	$12.60 €11.21	-61.4%
Average			+38.4%

Playa del Carmen vs. Albufeira - Cost of transportation

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pay 85.3% more for housing

	Playa del Carmen	Albufeira
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$29.02 MX$536.69	$35.09 €31.23	+20.9%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$998.64 MX$18,467.72	$1,301.69 €1,158.55	+30.3%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$386.21 MX$7,142.10	$1,231.71 €1,096.27	+218.9%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$65.50 MX$1,211.29	$84.04 €74.80	+28.3%
Average			+85.3%

Playa del Carmen vs. Albufeira - Cost of housing

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pay 2.5 times more for childcare

	Playa del Carmen	Albufeira
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$210.01 MX$3,883.69	$475.89 €423.56	+126.6%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$4,005.49 MX$74,073.10	$11,182.80 €9,953.09	+179.2%
Average			+151.5%

Playa del Carmen vs. Albufeira - Cost of childcare

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pay 5.3% more for entertainment and sports

	Playa del Carmen	Albufeira
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$3.17 MX$58.59	$3.36 €2.99	+6.0%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.84 MX$71.02	$2.52 €2.24	-34.4%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$4.45 MX$82.30	$6.27 €5.58	+40.9%
Monthly membership at local gym	$64.07 MX$1,184.89	$52.91 €47.09	-17.4%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$5.00 MX$92.42	$8.68 €7.72	+73.6%
Average			+5.3%

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

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pay 44.6% more for clothing

	Playa del Carmen	Albufeira
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$44.85 MX$829.44	$107.49 €95.67	+139.7%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$42.62 MX$788.17	$45.16 €40.20	+6.0%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$76.03 MX$1,406.02	$82.11 €73.08	+8.0%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$90.05 MX$1,665.28	$143.70 €127.90	+59.6%
Average			+44.6%

Playa del Carmen vs. Albufeira - 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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