Cost of living comparison

compared to

Mexico City vs. Playa del Carmen Cost of Living Summary

Mexico City is 16.5% more expensive than Playa del Carmen.

Restaurants: pay 5.8% less in Mexico City
Groceries: pay 11.7% more in Mexico City
Transportation: pay 36.0% less in Mexico City
Housing: pay 0.1% less in Mexico City
Childcare: pay 2.1 times more in Mexico City
Entertainment and Sports: pay 9.2% more in Mexico City
Clothing: pay 29.5% more in Mexico City

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

Mexico City vs. Playa del Carmen Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 5.8% less for restaurants

	Playa del Carmen	Mexico City
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$11.90 MX$214.28	$10.86 MX$195.57	-8.7%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$10.83 MX$195.11	$8.82 MX$158.90	-18.6%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.62 MX$29.24	$1.73 MX$31.20	+6.7%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$1.34 MX$24.17	$1.30 MX$23.49	-2.8%
Average			-5.8%

Playa del Carmen vs. Mexico City - Cost of restaurants

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pay 11.7% more for groceries

	Playa del Carmen	Mexico City
Bread 1 loaf	$1.98 MX$35.62	$2.63 MX$47.29	+32.8%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$4.33 MX$78.04	$5.04 MX$90.79	+16.3%
Milk (1 gallon)	$5.50 MX$99.04	$6.54 MX$117.78	+18.9%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.27 MX$40.85	$2.61 MX$46.96	+15.0%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$3.76 MX$67.72	$3.80 MX$68.54	+1.2%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.30 MX$23.34	$1.37 MX$24.66	+5.7%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.64 MX$11.59	$0.80 MX$14.41	+24.3%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.90 MX$16.15	$0.97 MX$17.53	+8.6%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.94 MX$16.88	$0.91 MX$16.32	-3.3%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.85 MX$15.34	$0.96 MX$17.27	+12.6%
Onions (1 lb)	$1.02 MX$18.44	$0.99 MX$17.91	-2.9%
Average			+11.7%

Playa del Carmen vs. Mexico City - Cost of groceries

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pay 36.0% less for transportation

	Playa del Carmen	Mexico City
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$5.02 MX$90.51	$5.14 MX$92.54	+2.3%
Monthly public transit pass	$27.08 MX$487.76	$19.54 MX$352.03	-27.8%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$31,003.27 MX$558,489.75	$20,030.45 MX$360,826.57	-35.4%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$25.93 MX$467.05	$4.42 MX$79.70	-82.9%
Average			-36.0%

Playa del Carmen vs. Mexico City - Cost of transportation

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pay 0.1% less for housing

	Playa del Carmen	Mexico City
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$30.51 MX$549.55	$30.93 MX$557.23	+1.4%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$1,072.23 MX$19,315.05	$1,079.15 MX$19,439.65	+0.6%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$484.68 MX$8,730.98	$677.25 MX$12,199.84	+39.7%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$64.40 MX$1,160.10	$37.36 MX$673.03	-42.0%
Average			-0.1%

Playa del Carmen vs. Mexico City - Cost of housing

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pay 2.1 times more for childcare

	Playa del Carmen	Mexico City
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$204.43 MX$3,682.62	$430.39 MX$7,752.95	+110.5%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$5,361.26 MX$96,577.27	$10,897.53 MX$196,307.02	+103.3%
Average			+106.9%

Playa del Carmen vs. Mexico City - Cost of childcare

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pay 9.2% more for entertainment and sports

	Playa del Carmen	Mexico City
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$3.12 MX$56.20	$3.26 MX$58.67	+4.4%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.46 MX$62.34	$3.81 MX$68.70	+10.2%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$4.17 MX$75.12	$4.34 MX$78.23	+4.1%
Monthly membership at local gym	$60.49 MX$1,089.73	$58.44 MX$1,052.82	-3.4%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$4.98 MX$89.79	$6.51 MX$117.34	+30.7%
Average			+9.2%

Playa del Carmen vs. Mexico City - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 29.5% more for clothing

	Playa del Carmen	Mexico City
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$43.98 MX$792.24	$60.95 MX$1,097.86	+38.6%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$41.89 MX$754.55	$48.08 MX$866.05	+14.8%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$75.82 MX$1,365.74	$105.72 MX$1,904.43	+39.4%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$88.61 MX$1,596.30	$110.91 MX$1,997.92	+25.2%
Average			+29.5%

Playa del Carmen vs. Mexico City - 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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