Cost of living comparison

compared to

Lima vs. Playa del Carmen Cost of Living Summary

Lima is 12.2% cheaper than Playa del Carmen.

Restaurants: pay 46.9% less in Lima
Groceries: pay 16.1% less in Lima
Transportation: pay 16.0% less in Lima
Housing: pay 27.9% less in Lima
Childcare: pay 23.6% more in Lima
Entertainment and Sports: pay 3.9% less in Lima
Clothing: pay 1.7% more in Lima

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

Lima vs. Playa del Carmen Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 46.9% less for restaurants

	Playa del Carmen	Lima
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$11.90 MX$216.19	$4.28 PEN14.40	-64.0%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$10.83 MX$196.85	$7.14 PEN24.00	-34.1%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.62 MX$29.50	$1.01 PEN3.38	-38.1%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$1.34 MX$24.39	$0.65 PEN2.19	-51.4%
Average			-46.9%

Playa del Carmen vs. Lima - Cost of restaurants

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pay 16.1% less for groceries

	Playa del Carmen	Lima
Bread 1 loaf	$1.98 MX$35.94	$2.67 PEN8.96	+34.8%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$4.33 MX$78.74	$4.52 PEN15.19	+4.3%
Milk (1 gallon)	$5.50 MX$99.93	$5.76 PEN19.35	+4.7%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.27 MX$41.21	$2.96 PEN9.96	+30.7%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$3.76 MX$68.33	$2.63 PEN8.85	-30.0%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.30 MX$23.55	$1.02 PEN3.41	-21.7%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.64 MX$11.69	$0.51 PEN1.71	-21.1%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.90 MX$16.30	$0.58 PEN1.94	-35.8%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.94 MX$17.03	$0.56 PEN1.89	-39.9%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.85 MX$15.48	$0.46 PEN1.55	-45.8%
Onions (1 lb)	$1.02 MX$18.60	$0.43 PEN1.46	-57.6%
Average			-16.1%

Playa del Carmen vs. Lima - Cost of groceries

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pay 16.0% less for transportation

	Playa del Carmen	Lima
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$5.02 MX$91.31	$5.20 PEN17.47	+3.4%
Monthly public transit pass	$27.08 MX$492.12	$22.85 PEN76.80	-15.6%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$31,003.27 MX$563,471.97	$19,990.85 PEN67,196.30	-35.5%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$25.93 MX$471.22	$21.70 PEN72.96	-16.3%
Average			-16.0%

Playa del Carmen vs. Lima - Cost of transportation

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pay 27.9% less for housing

	Playa del Carmen	Lima
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$30.51 MX$554.45	$24.99 PEN83.99	-18.1%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$1,072.23 MX$19,487.36	$661.42 PEN2,223.28	-38.3%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$484.68 MX$8,808.86	$374.24 PEN1,257.94	-22.8%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$64.40 MX$1,170.45	$43.53 PEN146.32	-32.4%
Average			-27.9%

Playa del Carmen vs. Lima - Cost of housing

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pay 23.6% more for childcare

	Playa del Carmen	Lima
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$204.43 MX$3,715.47	$192.22 PEN646.12	-6.0%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$5,361.26 MX$97,438.82	$8,215.29 PEN27,614.48	+53.2%
Average			+23.6%

Playa del Carmen vs. Lima - Cost of childcare

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pay 3.9% less for entertainment and sports

	Playa del Carmen	Lima
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$3.12 MX$56.70	$2.28 PEN7.68	-26.8%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.46 MX$62.90	$2.61 PEN8.79	-24.5%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$4.17 MX$75.79	$5.71 PEN19.20	+37.0%
Monthly membership at local gym	$60.49 MX$1,099.45	$31.13 PEN104.63	-48.5%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$4.98 MX$90.59	$7.14 PEN24.00	+43.2%
Average			-3.9%

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

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pay 1.7% more for clothing

	Playa del Carmen	Lima
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$43.98 MX$799.31	$51.07 PEN171.67	+16.1%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$41.89 MX$761.28	$35.74 PEN120.12	-14.7%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$75.82 MX$1,377.92	$83.99 PEN282.33	+10.8%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$88.61 MX$1,610.54	$83.70 PEN281.35	-5.5%
Average			+1.7%

Playa del Carmen vs. Lima - 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: December 2025

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