Cost of living comparison

Mexico

compared to

Dominican Republic

Punta Cana vs. Playa del Carmen Cost of Living Summary

Punta Cana is 6.2% cheaper than Playa del Carmen.

Restaurants: pay 39.7% less in Punta Cana
Groceries: pay 13.6% less in Punta Cana
Transportation: pay 10.6% less in Punta Cana
Housing: pay 5.4% more in Punta Cana
Childcare: pay 19.4% more in Punta Cana
Entertainment and Sports: pay 3.9% less in Punta Cana
Clothing: pay 0.5% less in Punta Cana

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

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Punta Cana vs. Playa del Carmen Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 39.7% less for restaurants

	Playa del Carmen	Punta Cana
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$11.90 MX$208.65	$8.05 DOP471.26	-32.3%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$10.83 MX$189.98	$7.25 DOP424.14	-33.1%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.62 MX$28.48	$0.97 DOP56.94	-40.1%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$1.34 MX$23.54	$0.63 DOP36.76	-53.2%
Average			-39.7%

Playa del Carmen vs. Punta Cana - Cost of restaurants

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pay 13.6% less for groceries

	Playa del Carmen	Punta Cana
Bread 1 loaf	$1.98 MX$34.69	$1.50 DOP87.59	-24.3%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$4.33 MX$75.99	$3.66 DOP213.99	-15.6%
Milk (1 gallon)	$5.50 MX$96.44	$5.00 DOP292.56	-9.1%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.27 MX$39.77	$2.39 DOP140.04	+5.5%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$3.76 MX$65.94	$2.47 DOP144.70	-34.2%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.30 MX$22.73	$1.17 DOP68.33	-9.9%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.64 MX$11.28	$0.38 DOP22.51	-40.2%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.90 MX$15.73	$1.27 DOP74.15	+41.3%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.94 MX$16.44	$0.78 DOP45.68	-16.7%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.85 MX$14.94	$0.51 DOP29.69	-40.4%
Onions (1 lb)	$1.02 MX$17.95	$0.97 DOP56.55	-5.6%
Average			-13.6%

Playa del Carmen vs. Punta Cana - Cost of groceries

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pay 10.6% less for transportation

	Playa del Carmen	Punta Cana
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$5.02 MX$88.13	$4.68 DOP274.12	-6.8%
Monthly public transit pass	$27.08 MX$474.95	??
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$31,003.27 MX$544K	$29,626.22 DOP2M	-4.4%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$25.93 MX$454.78	$20.61 DOP1,206.43	-20.5%
Average			-10.6%

Playa del Carmen vs. Punta Cana - Cost of transportation

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pay 5.4% more for housing

	Playa del Carmen	Punta Cana
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$30.51 MX$535.11	$32.44 DOP1,898.72	+6.3%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$1,072.23 MX$18,807.57	$813.68 DOP47,631.17	-24.1%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$484.68 MX$8,501.58	$645.22 DOP37,769.61	+33.1%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$64.40 MX$1,129.62	$68.45 DOP4,006.70	+6.3%
Average			+5.4%

Playa del Carmen vs. Punta Cana - Cost of housing

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pay 19.4% more for childcare

	Playa del Carmen	Punta Cana
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$204.43 MX$3,585.86	$225.42 DOP13,195.38	+10.3%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$5,361.26 MX$94,039.78	$6,891.32 DOP403K	+28.5%
Average			+19.4%

Playa del Carmen vs. Punta Cana - Cost of childcare

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pay 3.9% less for entertainment and sports

	Playa del Carmen	Punta Cana
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$3.12 MX$54.73	$2.42 DOP141.38	-22.6%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.46 MX$60.70	$2.36 DOP138.05	-31.9%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$4.17 MX$73.14	$5.64 DOP329.88	+35.1%
Monthly membership at local gym	$60.49 MX$1,061.10	$62.37 DOP3,650.78	+3.1%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$4.98 MX$87.43	$4.83 DOP282.76	-3.1%
Average			-3.9%

Playa del Carmen vs. Punta Cana - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 0.5% less for clothing

	Playa del Carmen	Punta Cana
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$43.98 MX$771.42	$28.94 DOP1,693.82	-34.2%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$41.89 MX$734.72	$48.04 DOP2,811.87	+14.7%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$75.82 MX$1,329.86	$61.70 DOP3,611.99	-18.6%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$88.61 MX$1,554.36	$120.75 DOP7,068.17	+36.3%
Average			-0.5%

Playa del Carmen vs. Punta Cana - 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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