Cost of living comparison

Mexico

compared to

South Africa

Johannesburg vs. Playa del Carmen Cost of Living Summary

Johannesburg is 1.9% cheaper than Playa del Carmen.

Restaurants: pay 13.5% less in Johannesburg
Groceries: pay 14.2% less in Johannesburg
Transportation: pay 35.8% more in Johannesburg
Housing: pay 7.8% less in Johannesburg
Childcare: pay 25.6% more in Johannesburg
Entertainment and Sports: pay 19.5% less in Johannesburg
Clothing: pay 23.3% more in Johannesburg

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

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Johannesburg vs. Playa del Carmen Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 13.5% less for restaurants

	Playa del Carmen	Johannesburg
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$11.13 MX$205.76	$12.02 ZAR198.22	+8.0%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$11.94 MX$220.72	$7.21 ZAR118.93	-39.6%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.34 MX$24.83	$1.20 ZAR19.75	-10.8%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.82 MX$15.25	$0.89 ZAR14.70	+8.1%
Average			-13.5%

Playa del Carmen vs. Johannesburg - Cost of restaurants

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pay 14.2% less for groceries

	Playa del Carmen	Johannesburg
Bread 1 loaf	$2.30 MX$42.51	$1.25 ZAR20.56	-45.8%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$3.80 MX$70.30	$4.31 ZAR71.09	+13.4%
Milk (1 gallon)	$5.64 MX$104.29	$5.00 ZAR82.53	-11.3%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.53 MX$46.87	$2.67 ZAR44.10	+5.5%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$3.67 MX$67.89	$2.50 ZAR41.25	-31.9%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.31 MX$24.17	$0.93 ZAR15.38	-28.6%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.66 MX$12.13	$0.83 ZAR13.71	+26.8%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.20 MX$22.24	$0.83 ZAR13.63	-31.3%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.97 MX$17.89	$0.94 ZAR15.50	-2.9%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.91 MX$16.82	$0.76 ZAR12.57	-16.2%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.89 MX$16.46	$0.84 ZAR13.80	-6.0%
Average			-14.2%

Playa del Carmen vs. Johannesburg - Cost of groceries

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pay 35.8% more for transportation

	Playa del Carmen	Johannesburg
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$5.72 MX$105.85	$5.77 ZAR95.18	+0.8%
Monthly public transit pass	$27.82 MX$514.40	$90.13 ZAR1,486.64	+224.0%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$21,528.95 MX$398K	$35,391.94 ZAR584K	+64.4%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$32.66 MX$604.00	$8.05 ZAR132.81	-75.3%
Average			+35.8%

Playa del Carmen vs. Johannesburg - Cost of transportation

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pay 7.8% less for housing

	Playa del Carmen	Johannesburg
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$29.02 MX$536.69	$35.90 ZAR592.10	+23.7%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$998.64 MX$18,467.72	$498.84 ZAR8,227.92	-50.0%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$386.21 MX$7,142.10	$425.42 ZAR7,016.95	+10.2%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$65.50 MX$1,211.29	$174.98 ZAR2,886.07	+167.1%
Average			-7.8%

Playa del Carmen vs. Johannesburg - Cost of housing

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pay 25.6% more for childcare

	Playa del Carmen	Johannesburg
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$210.01 MX$3,883.69	$242.74 ZAR4,003.77	+15.6%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$4,005.49 MX$74,073.10	$5,468.16 ZAR90,191.79	+36.5%
Average			+25.6%

Playa del Carmen vs. Johannesburg - Cost of childcare

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pay 19.5% less for entertainment and sports

	Playa del Carmen	Johannesburg
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$3.17 MX$58.59	$2.25 ZAR37.17	-28.9%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.84 MX$71.02	$2.44 ZAR40.27	-36.4%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$4.45 MX$82.30	$3.30 ZAR54.51	-25.7%
Monthly membership at local gym	$64.07 MX$1,184.89	$36.60 ZAR603.73	-42.9%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$5.00 MX$92.42	$7.81 ZAR128.84	+56.3%
Average			-19.5%

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

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pay 23.3% more for clothing

	Playa del Carmen	Johannesburg
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$44.85 MX$829.44	$57.63 ZAR950.55	+28.5%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$42.62 MX$788.17	$45.77 ZAR754.99	+7.4%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$76.03 MX$1,406.02	$108.45 ZAR1,788.73	+42.6%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$90.05 MX$1,665.28	$105.86 ZAR1,746.13	+17.6%
Average			+23.3%

Playa del Carmen vs. Johannesburg - 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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