Cost of living comparison

Mexico

compared to

Japan

Saitama vs. Playa del Carmen Cost of Living Summary

Saitama is 18.5% cheaper than Playa del Carmen.

Restaurants: pay 51.2% less in Saitama
Groceries: pay 12.1% more in Saitama
Transportation: pay 17.6% less in Saitama
Housing: pay 38.1% less in Saitama
Childcare: pay 3.3 times more in Saitama
Entertainment and Sports: pay 8.7% more in Saitama
Clothing: pay 30.3% less in Saitama

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

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Saitama vs. Playa del Carmen Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 51.2% less for restaurants

	Playa del Carmen	Saitama
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$11.13 MX$205.76	$5.69 ¥900	-48.8%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$11.94 MX$220.72	$4.74 ¥750	-60.2%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.34 MX$24.83	$0.71 ¥112	-47.0%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.82 MX$15.25	$0.62 ¥97	-25.2%
Average			-51.2%

Playa del Carmen vs. Saitama - Cost of restaurants

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pay 12.1% more for groceries

	Playa del Carmen	Saitama
Bread 1 loaf	$2.30 MX$42.51	$1.70 ¥268	-26.1%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$3.80 MX$70.30	$5.18 ¥819	+36.3%
Milk (1 gallon)	$5.64 MX$104.29	$5.37 ¥849	-4.8%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.53 MX$46.87	$2.04 ¥322	-19.6%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$3.67 MX$67.89	$2.50 ¥395	-31.9%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.31 MX$24.17	$2.58 ¥408	+97.6%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.66 MX$12.13	$1.00 ¥158	+52.7%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.20 MX$22.24	$1.31 ¥206	+8.6%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.97 MX$17.89	$1.90 ¥300	+96.5%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.91 MX$16.82	$1.17 ¥185	+28.5%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.89 MX$16.46	$0.72 ¥113	-19.4%
Average			+12.1%

Playa del Carmen vs. Saitama - Cost of groceries

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pay 17.6% less for transportation

	Playa del Carmen	Saitama
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$5.72 MX$105.85	$4.11 ¥649	-28.2%
Monthly public transit pass	$27.82 MX$514.40	??
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$21,528.95 MX$398K	$21,434.36 ¥3M	-0.4%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$32.66 MX$604.00	$24.67 ¥3,899	-24.5%
Average			-17.6%

Playa del Carmen vs. Saitama - Cost of transportation

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pay 38.1% less for housing

	Playa del Carmen	Saitama
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$29.02 MX$536.69	$32.16 ¥5,082	+10.8%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$998.64 MX$18,467.72	$411.23 ¥64,980	-58.8%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$386.21 MX$7,142.10	$237.25 ¥37,488	-38.6%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$65.50 MX$1,211.29	$101.00 ¥15,960	+54.2%
Average			-38.1%

Playa del Carmen vs. Saitama - Cost of housing

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pay 3.3 times more for childcare

	Playa del Carmen	Saitama
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$210.01 MX$3,883.69	$632.30 ¥99,913	+201.1%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$4,005.49 MX$74,073.10	$14,725.05 ¥2M	+267.6%
Average			+232.7%

Playa del Carmen vs. Saitama - Cost of childcare

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pay 8.7% more for entertainment and sports

	Playa del Carmen	Saitama
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$3.17 MX$58.59	$2.53 ¥400	-20.1%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.84 MX$71.02	$3.01 ¥475	-21.8%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$4.45 MX$82.30	$3.80 ¥600	-14.7%
Monthly membership at local gym	$64.07 MX$1,184.89	$62.63 ¥9,897	-2.2%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$5.00 MX$92.42	$11.07 ¥1,749	+121.5%
Average			+8.7%

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

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pay 30.3% less for clothing

	Playa del Carmen	Saitama
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$44.85 MX$829.44	$34.80 ¥5,498	-22.4%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$42.62 MX$788.17	$25.31 ¥3,999	-40.6%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$76.03 MX$1,406.02	$55.36 ¥8,747	-27.2%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$90.05 MX$1,665.28	$63.27 ¥9,997	-29.7%
Average			-30.3%

Playa del Carmen vs. Saitama - 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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