Cost of living comparison

Japan

compared to

Mexico

Playa del Carmen vs. Saitama Cost of Living Summary

Playa del Carmen is 22.7% more expensive than Saitama.

Restaurants: pay 2.0 times more in Playa del Carmen
Groceries: pay 10.8% less in Playa del Carmen
Transportation: pay 21.4% more in Playa del Carmen
Housing: pay 61.6% more in Playa del Carmen
Childcare: pay 69.9% less in Playa del Carmen
Entertainment and Sports: pay 8.0% less in Playa del Carmen
Clothing: pay 43.5% more in Playa del Carmen

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

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Playa del Carmen vs. Saitama Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 2.0 times more for restaurants

	Saitama	Playa del Carmen
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$5.69 ¥900	$11.13 MX$205.76	+95.4%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$4.74 ¥750	$11.94 MX$220.72	+151.5%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.71 ¥112	$1.34 MX$24.83	+88.7%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.62 ¥97	$0.82 MX$15.25	+33.7%
Average			+104.8%

Saitama vs. Playa del Carmen - Cost of restaurants

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pay 10.8% less for groceries

	Saitama	Playa del Carmen
Bread 1 loaf	$1.70 ¥268	$2.30 MX$42.51	+35.3%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$5.18 ¥819	$3.80 MX$70.30	-26.6%
Milk (1 gallon)	$5.37 ¥849	$5.64 MX$104.29	+5.0%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.04 ¥322	$2.53 MX$46.87	+24.4%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.50 ¥395	$3.67 MX$67.89	+46.9%
Apples (1 lb)	$2.58 ¥408	$1.31 MX$24.17	-49.4%
Bananas (1 lb)	$1.00 ¥158	$0.66 MX$12.13	-34.5%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.31 ¥206	$1.20 MX$22.24	-7.9%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.90 ¥300	$0.97 MX$17.89	-49.1%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$1.17 ¥185	$0.91 MX$16.82	-22.2%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.72 ¥113	$0.89 MX$16.46	+24.1%
Average			-10.8%

Saitama vs. Playa del Carmen - Cost of groceries

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pay 21.4% more for transportation

	Saitama	Playa del Carmen
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$4.11 ¥649	$5.72 MX$105.85	+39.3%
Monthly public transit pass	??	$27.82 MX$514.40
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$21,434.36 ¥3M	$21,528.95 MX$398K	+0.4%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$24.67 ¥3,899	$32.66 MX$604.00	+32.4%
Average			+21.4%

Saitama vs. Playa del Carmen - Cost of transportation

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pay 61.6% more for housing

	Saitama	Playa del Carmen
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$32.16 ¥5,082	$29.02 MX$536.69	-9.8%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$411.23 ¥64,980	$998.64 MX$18,467.72	+142.8%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$237.25 ¥37,488	$386.21 MX$7,142.10	+62.8%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$101.00 ¥15,960	$65.50 MX$1,211.29	-35.1%
Average			+61.6%

Saitama vs. Playa del Carmen - Cost of housing

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pay 69.9% less for childcare

	Saitama	Playa del Carmen
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$632.30 ¥99,913	$210.01 MX$3,883.69	-66.8%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$14,725.05 ¥2M	$4,005.49 MX$74,073.10	-72.8%
Average			-69.9%

Saitama vs. Playa del Carmen - Cost of childcare

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pay 8.0% less for entertainment and sports

	Saitama	Playa del Carmen
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$2.53 ¥400	$3.17 MX$58.59	+25.2%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.01 ¥475	$3.84 MX$71.02	+27.8%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$3.80 ¥600	$4.45 MX$82.30	+17.2%
Monthly membership at local gym	$62.63 ¥9,897	$64.07 MX$1,184.89	+2.3%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$11.07 ¥1,749	$5.00 MX$92.42	-54.9%
Average			-8.0%

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

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pay 43.5% more for clothing

	Saitama	Playa del Carmen
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$34.80 ¥5,498	$44.85 MX$829.44	+28.9%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$25.31 ¥3,999	$42.62 MX$788.17	+68.4%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$55.36 ¥8,747	$76.03 MX$1,406.02	+37.3%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$63.27 ¥9,997	$90.05 MX$1,665.28	+42.3%
Average			+43.5%

Saitama vs. Playa del Carmen - 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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