Cost of living comparison

compared to

Playa del Carmen vs. Quito Cost of Living Summary

Playa del Carmen is 31.5% more expensive than Quito.

Restaurants: pay 77.8% more in Playa del Carmen
Groceries: pay 37.5% more in Playa del Carmen
Transportation: pay 59.7% more in Playa del Carmen
Housing: pay 89.1% more in Playa del Carmen
Childcare: pay 35.2% less in Playa del Carmen
Entertainment and Sports: pay 9.2% more in Playa del Carmen
Clothing: pay 17.5% less in Playa del Carmen

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

Playa del Carmen vs. Quito Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 77.8% more for restaurants

	Quito	Playa del Carmen
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$5.00	$11.90 MX$205.36	+137.9%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$7.38	$10.83 MX$186.98	+46.9%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.13	$1.62 MX$28.03	+43.2%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.73	$1.34 MX$23.17	+83.0%
Average			+77.8%

Quito vs. Playa del Carmen - Cost of restaurants

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pay 37.5% more for groceries

	Quito	Playa del Carmen
Bread 1 loaf	$1.62	$1.98 MX$34.14	+21.9%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$4.18	$4.33 MX$74.79	+3.6%
Milk (1 gallon)	$4.06	$5.50 MX$94.92	+35.3%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.43	$2.27 MX$39.14	-6.8%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$3.52	$3.76 MX$64.90	+6.9%
Apples (1 lb)	$0.98	$1.30 MX$22.37	+32.8%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.51	$0.64 MX$11.11	+26.1%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.48	$0.90 MX$15.48	+88.7%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.59	$0.94 MX$16.18	+60.2%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.68	$0.85 MX$14.70	+25.3%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.47	$1.02 MX$17.67	+118.0%
Average			+37.5%

Quito vs. Playa del Carmen - Cost of groceries

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pay 59.7% more for transportation

	Quito	Playa del Carmen
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$2.63	$5.02 MX$86.74	+91.4%
Monthly public transit pass	$27.00	$27.08 MX$467.45	+0.3%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$20,000.00	$31,003.27 MX$535K	+55.0%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$13.50	$25.93 MX$447.60	+92.1%
Average			+59.7%

Quito vs. Playa del Carmen - Cost of transportation

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pay 89.1% more for housing

	Quito	Playa del Carmen
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$28.44	$30.51 MX$526.66	+7.3%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$448.12	$1,072.23 MX$18,510.56	+139.3%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$317.19	$484.68 MX$8,367.32	+52.8%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$25.07	$64.40 MX$1,111.78	+156.9%
Average			+89.1%

Quito vs. Playa del Carmen - Cost of housing

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pay 35.2% less for childcare

	Quito	Playa del Carmen
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$283.25	$204.43 MX$3,529.23	-27.8%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$9,360.00	$5,361.26 MX$92,554.71	-42.7%
Average			-35.2%

Quito vs. Playa del Carmen - Cost of childcare

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pay 9.2% more for entertainment and sports

	Quito	Playa del Carmen
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$2.38	$3.12 MX$53.86	+31.4%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.96	$3.46 MX$59.74	+17.1%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$6.00	$4.17 MX$71.99	-30.5%
Monthly membership at local gym	$38.55	$60.49 MX$1,044.34	+56.9%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$7.00	$4.98 MX$86.05	-28.8%
Average			+9.2%

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

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pay 17.5% less for clothing

	Quito	Playa del Carmen
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$60.15	$43.98 MX$759.24	-26.9%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$46.83	$41.89 MX$723.12	-10.6%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$105.42	$75.82 MX$1,308.85	-28.1%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$92.78	$88.61 MX$1,529.81	-4.5%
Average			-17.5%

Quito vs. Playa del Carmen - 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: February 2026

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