Cost of living comparison

Mexico

compared to

Malaysia

Kuala Lumpur vs. Playa del Carmen Cost of Living Summary

Kuala Lumpur is 9.6% cheaper than Playa del Carmen.

Restaurants: pay 56.4% less in Kuala Lumpur
Groceries: pay 2.9% less in Kuala Lumpur
Transportation: pay 37.0% less in Kuala Lumpur
Housing: pay 29.6% less in Kuala Lumpur
Childcare: pay 48.7% more in Kuala Lumpur
Entertainment and Sports: pay 0.8% more in Kuala Lumpur
Clothing: pay 9.4% more in Kuala Lumpur

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

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Kuala Lumpur vs. Playa del Carmen Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 56.4% less for restaurants

	Playa del Carmen	Kuala Lumpur
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$11.90 MX$208.65	$4.74 MYR19.41	-60.2%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$10.83 MX$189.98	$4.74 MYR19.41	-56.2%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.62 MX$28.48	$0.89 MYR3.63	-45.4%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$1.34 MX$23.54	$0.49 MYR1.99	-63.7%
Average			-56.4%

Playa del Carmen vs. Kuala Lumpur - Cost of restaurants

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pay 2.9% less for groceries

	Playa del Carmen	Kuala Lumpur
Bread 1 loaf	$1.98 MX$34.69	$0.98 MYR4.00	-50.7%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$4.33 MX$75.99	$7.13 MYR29.19	+64.5%
Milk (1 gallon)	$5.50 MX$96.44	$7.98 MYR32.67	+45.1%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.27 MX$39.77	$2.23 MYR9.12	-1.8%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$3.76 MX$65.94	$2.09 MYR8.58	-44.3%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.30 MX$22.73	$1.32 MYR5.41	+1.9%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.64 MX$11.28	$0.75 MYR3.06	+16.3%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.90 MX$15.73	$1.22 MYR5.00	+36.1%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.94 MX$16.44	$0.69 MYR2.83	-26.2%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.85 MX$14.94	$0.57 MYR2.32	-33.6%
Onions (1 lb)	$1.02 MX$17.95	$0.62 MYR2.54	-39.4%
Average			-2.9%

Playa del Carmen vs. Kuala Lumpur - Cost of groceries

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pay 37.0% less for transportation

	Playa del Carmen	Kuala Lumpur
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$5.02 MX$88.13	$1.87 MYR7.65	-62.8%
Monthly public transit pass	$27.08 MX$474.95	$11.85 MYR48.53	-56.2%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$31,003.27 MX$544K	$40,284.36 MYR165K	+29.9%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$25.93 MX$454.78	$10.66 MYR43.68	-58.9%
Average			-37.0%

Playa del Carmen vs. Kuala Lumpur - Cost of transportation

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pay 29.6% less for housing

	Playa del Carmen	Kuala Lumpur
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$30.51 MX$535.11	$25.49 MYR104.39	-16.5%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$1,072.23 MX$18,807.57	$573.16 MYR2,347.62	-46.5%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$484.68 MX$8,501.58	$350.71 MYR1,436.48	-27.6%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$64.40 MX$1,129.62	$46.59 MYR190.83	-27.7%
Average			-29.6%

Playa del Carmen vs. Kuala Lumpur - Cost of housing

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pay 48.7% more for childcare

	Playa del Carmen	Kuala Lumpur
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$204.43 MX$3,585.86	$264.45 MYR1,083.18	+29.4%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$5,361.26 MX$94,039.78	$9,004.74 MYR36,882.51	+68.0%
Average			+48.7%

Playa del Carmen vs. Kuala Lumpur - Cost of childcare

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pay 0.8% more for entertainment and sports

	Playa del Carmen	Kuala Lumpur
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$3.12 MX$54.73	$4.27 MYR17.47	+36.7%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.46 MX$60.70	$3.06 MYR12.54	-11.6%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$4.17 MX$73.14	$4.27 MYR17.47	+2.3%
Monthly membership at local gym	$60.49 MX$1,061.10	$46.43 MYR190.16	-23.3%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$4.98 MX$87.43	$4.98 MYR20.38	-0.2%
Average			+0.8%

Playa del Carmen vs. Kuala Lumpur - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 9.4% more for clothing

	Playa del Carmen	Kuala Lumpur
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$43.98 MX$771.42	$61.66 MYR252.55	+40.2%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$41.89 MX$734.72	$37.10 MYR151.98	-11.4%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$75.82 MX$1,329.86	$87.80 MYR359.62	+15.8%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$88.61 MX$1,554.36	$82.47 MYR337.81	-6.9%
Average			+9.4%

Playa del Carmen vs. Kuala Lumpur - 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: July 2026

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