Cost of living comparison

Mexico

compared to

China

Shenzhen vs. Playa del Carmen Cost of Living Summary

Shenzhen is 15.3% cheaper than Playa del Carmen.

Restaurants: pay 61.7% less in Shenzhen
Groceries: pay 20.2% less in Shenzhen
Transportation: pay 27.9% less in Shenzhen
Housing: pay 9.3% less in Shenzhen
Childcare: pay 3.9 times more in Shenzhen
Entertainment and Sports: pay 13.4% less in Shenzhen
Clothing: pay 2.6% more in Shenzhen

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

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Shenzhen vs. Playa del Carmen Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 61.7% less for restaurants

	Playa del Carmen	Shenzhen
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$11.13 MX$205.76	$3.73 CN¥24.95	-66.5%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$11.94 MX$220.72	$5.22 CN¥34.93	-56.3%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.34 MX$24.83	$0.56 CN¥3.72	-58.6%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.82 MX$15.25	$0.34 CN¥2.27	-58.9%
Average			-61.7%

Playa del Carmen vs. Shenzhen - Cost of restaurants

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pay 20.2% less for groceries

	Playa del Carmen	Shenzhen
Bread 1 loaf	$2.30 MX$42.51	$1.60 CN¥10.72	-30.3%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$3.80 MX$70.30	$10.53 CN¥70.43	+176.9%
Milk (1 gallon)	$5.64 MX$104.29	$5.97 CN¥39.92	+5.8%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.53 MX$46.87	$1.72 CN¥11.52	-32.1%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$3.67 MX$67.89	$1.53 CN¥10.22	-58.4%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.31 MX$24.17	$1.03 CN¥6.90	-21.1%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.66 MX$12.13	$0.72 CN¥4.82	+9.8%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.20 MX$22.24	$0.87 CN¥5.79	-28.0%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.97 MX$17.89	$0.66 CN¥4.39	-32.2%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.91 MX$16.82	$0.48 CN¥3.21	-47.2%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.89 MX$16.46	$0.57 CN¥3.85	-35.4%
Average			-20.2%

Playa del Carmen vs. Shenzhen - Cost of groceries

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pay 27.9% less for transportation

	Playa del Carmen	Shenzhen
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$5.72 MX$105.85	$5.01 CN¥33.51	-12.5%
Monthly public transit pass	$27.82 MX$514.40	$22.37 CN¥149.69	-19.6%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$21,528.95 MX$398K	$19,374.76 CN¥130K	-10.0%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$32.66 MX$604.00	$4.65 CN¥31.14	-85.8%
Average			-27.9%

Playa del Carmen vs. Shenzhen - Cost of transportation

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pay 9.3% less for housing

	Playa del Carmen	Shenzhen
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$29.02 MX$536.69	$16.39 CN¥109.66	-43.5%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$998.64 MX$18,467.72	$759.98 CN¥5,084.90	-23.9%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$386.21 MX$7,142.10	$476.09 CN¥3,185.43	+23.3%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$65.50 MX$1,211.29	$48.84 CN¥326.76	-25.4%
Average			-9.3%

Playa del Carmen vs. Shenzhen - Cost of housing

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pay 3.9 times more for childcare

	Playa del Carmen	Shenzhen
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$210.01 MX$3,883.69	$528.93 CN¥3,539.00	+151.9%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$4,005.49 MX$74,073.10	$24,029.94 CN¥161K	+499.9%
Average			+288.7%

Playa del Carmen vs. Shenzhen - Cost of childcare

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pay 13.4% less for entertainment and sports

	Playa del Carmen	Shenzhen
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$3.17 MX$58.59	$1.49 CN¥9.98	-52.9%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.84 MX$71.02	$3.31 CN¥22.16	-13.7%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$4.45 MX$82.30	$4.47 CN¥29.94	+0.5%
Monthly membership at local gym	$64.07 MX$1,184.89	$49.66 CN¥332.26	-22.5%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$5.00 MX$92.42	$7.45 CN¥49.85	+49.1%
Average			-13.4%

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

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pay 2.6% more for clothing

	Playa del Carmen	Shenzhen
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$44.85 MX$829.44	$54.66 CN¥365.75	+21.9%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$42.62 MX$788.17	$39.75 CN¥265.95	-6.7%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$76.03 MX$1,406.02	$72.46 CN¥484.85	-4.7%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$90.05 MX$1,665.28	$91.98 CN¥615.39	+2.1%
Average			+2.6%

Playa del Carmen vs. Shenzhen - 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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