Cost of living comparison
compared to
Iowa City vs. Playa del Carmen Cost of Living Summary
Iowa City is 49.8% more expensive than Playa del Carmen.
Iowa City vs. Playa del Carmen Cost Breakdown
If you lived in Iowa City instead of Playa del Carmen, you would:
pay 19.3% more for restaurants
|
Playa del Carmen
|
Iowa City
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant |
$11.13
MX$205.76
|
$14.00
|
|
|
Fast food combo meal
McDonalds, or similar
|
$11.94
MX$220.72
|
$9.00
|
|
| Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz) |
$1.34
MX$24.83
|
$2.83
|
|
| Bottle of water (11 fl. oz) |
$0.82
MX$15.25
|
$2.19
|
|
Playa del Carmen vs. Iowa City - Cost of restaurants
pay 13.0% more for groceries
|
Playa del Carmen
|
Iowa City
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Bread
1 loaf
|
$2.30
MX$42.51
|
$2.71
|
|
| Local cheese (8 oz) |
$3.80
MX$70.30
|
$4.65
|
|
| Milk (1 gallon) |
$5.64
MX$104.29
|
$3.02
|
|
|
Eggs
1 dozen
|
$2.53
MX$46.87
|
$3.51
|
|
| Boneless chicken breast (1 lb) |
$3.67
MX$67.89
|
$4.77
|
|
| Apples (1 lb) |
$1.31
MX$24.17
|
$1.52
|
|
| Bananas (1 lb) |
$0.66
MX$12.13
|
$0.54
|
|
| Oranges (1 lb) |
$1.20
MX$22.24
|
$1.24
|
|
| Tomatoes (1 lb) |
$0.97
MX$17.89
|
$2.20
|
|
| Potatoes (1 lb) |
$0.91
MX$16.82
|
$0.92
|
|
| Onions (1 lb) |
$0.89
MX$16.46
|
$1.08
|
|
Playa del Carmen vs. Iowa City - Cost of groceries
pay 16.3% less for transportation
|
Playa del Carmen
|
Iowa City
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Gasoline (1 gallon) |
$5.72
MX$105.85
|
$3.83
|
|
| Monthly public transit pass |
$27.82
MX$514.40
|
$16.00
|
|
| New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition) |
$21,528.95
MX$398K
|
$35,473.37
|
|
| Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles) |
$32.66
MX$604.00
|
$20.00
|
|
Playa del Carmen vs. Iowa City - Cost of transportation
pay 2.0 times more for housing
|
Playa del Carmen
|
Iowa City
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Internet connection
50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl
|
$29.02
MX$536.69
|
$82.25
|
|
| 1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area |
$998.64
MX$18,467.72
|
$1,199.75
|
|
| 1-Bedroom apartment outside city center |
$386.21
MX$7,142.10
|
$1,075.75
|
|
|
Utilities for two
(700 sq ft apartment)
including electric, gas, water, heating
|
$65.50
MX$1,211.29
|
$206.36
|
|
Playa del Carmen vs. Iowa City - Cost of housing
pay 5.9 times more for childcare
|
Playa del Carmen
|
Iowa City
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Private preschool for 1 child, monthly |
$210.01
MX$3,883.69
|
$1,266.67
|
|
| Middle school for 1 child, two semesters |
$4,005.49
MX$74,073.10
|
$23,429.75
|
|
Playa del Carmen vs. Iowa City - Cost of childcare
pay 52.4% more for entertainment and sports
|
Playa del Carmen
|
Iowa City
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Domestic/local beer (1 pint) |
$3.17
MX$58.59
|
$5.00
|
|
| Cappuccino in mid-range area |
$3.84
MX$71.02
|
$5.67
|
|
|
Pack of cigarettes
Marlboro or similar
|
$4.45
MX$82.30
|
$8.89
|
|
| Monthly membership at local gym |
$64.07
MX$1,184.89
|
$49.33
|
|
| Movie ticket to theater/cinema |
$5.00
MX$92.42
|
$13.50
|
|
Playa del Carmen vs. Iowa City - Cost of entertainment and sports
pay 30.0% more for clothing
|
Playa del Carmen
|
Iowa City
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Regular jeans
Levi's brand
|
$44.85
MX$829.44
|
$64.22
|
|
|
Regular dress
from H&M or similar store
|
$42.62
MX$788.17
|
$50.56
|
|
|
Running shoes
Nike or Adidas
|
$76.03
MX$1,406.02
|
$100.00
|
|
| Men's business shoes (leather) |
$90.05
MX$1,665.28
|
$115.00
|
|
Playa del Carmen vs. Iowa City - Cost of clothing
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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